52 weeks of collage, week 8

 

SOFT.

Full disclosure, natural fibers are the first things that come to mind when I think soft.  But I figured I should give you a break from the yarn fumes.  You can thank me later, haha.

In week 6 we did a teensy weensy bit of a background using a simple pencil.  Did you have fun with that?  Now we are going to do more with backgrounds including making collage paper.  Ready?  Let's go.

First layer, I used a pencil and wrote down all the things that come to mind when I think of the word SOFT.  Then I sprayed it with water a bit to smudge and lighten the pencil.  I want the pencil to be in the background.  In the picture above you can see the the pencil writing but its not prominent.  

dap of orange paint and white paint on parchment paper

Next, grab a sheet of parchment or wax paper.  You can also use tissue paper, but you have to be more gentle since tissue paper tears easier than wax or parchment paper.  Squeeze out a small dab of your color of choice and white.  I used the makeup sponge to mix the two colors together.  

Then use your cardboard tubes or cardboard scraps to add paint marks to the background.  I had two cardboard tubes, one the standard toilet paper tube and the other I have no idea of where its from, sorry!  But it was smaller than the toilet paper tube and as you can see I had much fun playing with the two sizes.  If you don't have a cardboard tube, what about a piece of corrugated cardboard that most shipping boxes are made from.  Tear one layer of the paper off and use the exposed corrugated section for mark making. I've never been able to get the corrugated section exposed in a even sort of way, and that is part of the awesomeness. Its fun!!!  Go ahead and try it.   

Now, lets get to the making our own collage paper parts!  I used the same cardboard tubes to stamp the leftover paint all over the rest of the parchment paper.  Then I decided to add some green just because!  

Easy beginner friendly collage paper.

If you have corrugated cardboard or other mark making tools you can mix the colors and marks!!!  Don't worry about going overboard on the parchment paper!!!  You are going to tear it up and use it in smaller pieces.   For example I know the piece above looks VERY busy.  Use your hand or a piece of paper to cover parts and imagine using only a small part at a time.  Then it seems much less busy.  And that is the most fun part of creating your own collage paper.  You are using the leftover paint and paper in future artwork, nothing is wasted.

Close up of the layered collage and tissue paper from the final collage.

What you are seeing in this picture is two pieces of the painted collage paper layered with a piece of colored tissue paper (from a Christmas gift) on top of the background.  

Final Collage.  Layer background with layers of handmade collage paper and tissue paper.

In the final collage, there is a strip of the collage paper on the left side edge, and another strip along the bottom.  See how the orange and green circles on the collage paper blend well with the orange circles in the background?  

How does a cup of cocoa with whipped cream and caramel tie in with soft?  Whipped cream is soft!  And hot chocolate feels smooth going down, soooo soft.  Ha!  I know my mind works in mysterious ways.

I'm looking forward to seeing your collage with handmade collage paper.  Have fun!!!\\

#52collages2021