52 Collages Week 9

 

Autumn

It was fun to think about Autumn in the middle of winter!  At least Autumn is full of color and texture.  Whereas winter is full of white or muddy blackish ice.  Well, unless you live somewhere with a more temperate winter than ours than perhaps you have color and texture all year and that's pretty awesome!

This week we are using the collage paper we made last week to start our background.  

The entire background is a mixture of recycled tissue paper and the collage paper I made in the last 2 week's of collage.  Just tear up that collage and tissue paper and glue it down.  Try to overlap some things.  Try to play with the over something and under something.  The fun and magic is in the layers.  However you'd like, it will look great!!

I suggest looking for your focal images and/or words and deciding where you want to put them now.  

Next, we're going to tone that background down a little.  We want to still see it, but we want it to be a background and not compete with our focal image.  We are going to accomplish that with white paint and gold paint.   As we are at week 9 maybe you have started adding to your arsenal?  Maybe you came across some gesso in a clearance bin and brought it home?  Now, would be a good time to use it.  You can also add paint to gesso!!!  How?  Grab a piece of parchment/wax paper to act as your palette.  Squeeze out maybe a quarter size amount.  If you're not from the USA, an amount about the size of the pad of your thumb.  Next add 1 small drop of paint.   Mix together.  Shizammm!! You have made colored gesso!!  Look at you go!!!  If you feel that's not enough color, giggles, I know that feeling.  Be careful.  Only 1 more drop.  Mix and test on the corner of the collage.  Let the test spot dry!  Then decide if you want to add more color.  Sometimes paint goes BLOPPPP when  all you wanted was a drop.  Use the excess paint to make more collage paper.  No worries you will use it.  

Now, I'm going to take my white paint, those with colored gesso are going to use that and add it to the background in a random sort of way.  If you know where you want your focal image and words to go, let that inform how much you push the background back.  Remember the point of this step is to push the background back so it doesn't compete/clash with our focal image.  So wherever your focal image is going you want to add more white to that area.  Leave me a comment if you have questions or glitches.  

I know I want my focal image to be kinda in the bottom center, so most of my white is in that central area.

Next, I added some gold here and there.  For interest.  Or just because I like a little shimmer.

The Final Collage.  

A few more subtle bits to point out.  I used the sponge that had wee bit of leftover gold and white to color the background of the words Autumn, Pasta, Pronto.  They were all too white!!   I also added a little more gold around the focal image in a few spots that were too bright.  

I hope you are enjoying these weekly lessons and becoming comfortable with playing with color and texture.  

Till next week...