PAPER
COLLAGE
WORKSHOP

Samuel Price

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

How to Use This Book

Tools & Materials

Step-by-Step Projects

Color Circles

Color Wheel

Abstract Stripes

Silkscreen Flowers

Geometric Boxes

Color Abstraction

Fruit Still Life

Poppies

Sunflowers

Landscape in Color

Black-and-White Selfie

Painterly Portrait

Cat

Dog

Gallery

About the Artist

INTRODUCTION

WHO AM I?

My name is Samuel Price, and I am a professional collage artist and educator from San Francisco. I am best known for creating large, intricate, collage pet portraits made by hand with hundreds of tiny magazine squares on canvas.

For more than 20 years, I have been curating and developing my specialized collage technique by combining classical collage processes with my own specific analog grid method. This combination of techniques has helped me develop scale and precision in my portraits without the need for highly technical drawing or drafting skills. In the last several years, I have taught workshops all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and I show my work around the world at a wide range of shows and public art exhibitions.

Paper Collage Workshop is a comprehensive system of skill-based techniques and exercises taught in plain language that allows readers to follow along with ease. The captivating photographs and colorful artwork in the book are paired with clear, useful instructions that will help build confidence and gradually guide artists toward creating their own original mixed-media compositions.

This book offers art enthusiasts the ability to use their own animals and environments as inspiration for the artwork they can create. I will guide readers through the creative process, offering tips and strategies that have worked for me over the years. I also offer inspiring quotes and helpful educational resources.

This book is broken into lessons that are designed to develop your collage skills, challenge your creative resistance points, and fast-track your ability to get started right away using simple and inexpensive household materials.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

There are two specific ways that I recommend using this book, depending upon your prior experience making art.

If you are a relatively new artist or just want to experience each lesson in full, I recommend starting from the beginning of the book, reading each section thoroughly, and working your way through each chapter from start to finish.

I’ve built this book specifically to help you succeed by building your creative skills through short circuit-training sessions and giving you a well-rounded understanding of the fundamental techniques. Completing the book in this way will give you a solid range of artistic skills to help you grow as an artist, no matter where your starting point may be.

The early lessons in the book are geared toward getting you used to the medium of collage and allowing you to explore new hands-on ideas that are not too technically challenging or time consuming. As we move along into other projects, I will introduce you to a simple yet powerful grid technique that I use to help map out my collage portraits with mathematical precision.

If you feel confident enough to jump ahead or bounce around throughout the projects in the book or are familiar with other mediums like painting, quilting, or knitting, you may feel comfortable with the more technically involved areas of the book.

Please note that the projects toward the back of the book become more difficult because they take more time and are larger-scale projects. My aim is for you to succeed with each lesson, so choose your project with care if you plan to jump ahead.

The first section of the book is aimed to help you better understand basic concepts of collage and its intricate challenges. I encourage you to read this section thoroughly and use the tools I have provided to help you navigate if you get lost or need to take a step back for whatever reason.

No matter where you decide to start, I offer you a basic idea of the final goal for each lesson, some ways to get started quickly with the necessary tools, and key takeaways for you to consider before moving on to the next project.

These collage projects are meant to give you a range of applicable skills to be experimented with, analyzed, and put into action as best as you can. There are so many ways to enjoy these fun lessons and new ways to apply collage to other creative areas of your practice if you so choose.

I hope this book sparks a lifetime of learning and creative joy in you.

— Sam

TOOLS & MATERIALS

CUTTING TOOLS

The most important thing is choosing the right cutting tool for the job. Using improper tools—like cutting paper with scissors that are broken or dull or using scissors that are too big for your hand—can lead to mistakes and/or physical fatigue over time. This may seem relatively unimportant in the short-term, but it can lead to poor creative results if unchecked.

If you are working on a small technical area of your picture that requires tiny cuts in the paper, use small scissors or a craft knife to make the fine detailing look sharp. When doing bulk cutting or working with thicker paper, use heavier scissors.

SAFETY CAUTION

Always know where your sharp tools are located on the work station. It can be dangerous to lose sight of an open blade, so be careful. Have a routine spot where you always place the blade so you can see it and find it easily.

REFERENCE IMAGES

Tools for creating reference photos include smartphone grid apps, photo-editing software, and online printing services. Poster prints are a great way to print large-scale reference photos. Be sure to size your image correctly before you order your print. The ratio of your image needs to match the size of your canvas.

Many of the projects in this book use your own reference photo imagery. This is important because you make your own custom composition and use the skills in this book to adapt to new environments or ideas for years to come. Go out into nature and take photographs to use as references for your collage artwork.

We will also look to the great artistic masters who have come before us and who can teach us important lessons that would otherwise take years or generations to learn on our own. We can emulate their points of view into our own personal creative imagery and composition goals.

Here are some tips for taking reference photos. (I also talk about this within each lesson.)

The higher quality the image, the better the final results tend to be. Make photo-editing choices to enhance the image. Before you begin, study the photo and try to imagine how the image will translate into the final composition.

You don’t need to be a professional photographer to make strong compositions look picturesque. Use a smartphone to take incredible images that work well for these types of projects.

Pick images that are bright and in focus and that really speak to you.

When working with people or animals, I tend to focus on the subject's face because that’s where personality is best captured.

Experiment with what you would like to see in your reference photos, and focus on improving the composition, one square at a time.

RATIO 4:5

RATIO 2:3

RATIO 1:1

RATIO 3:4

ART SURFACES

The canvas size is very important. The image you work with must be oriented in a similar way.

There are a number of standard-size canvases that can be used as templates to compose and crop your photo with the same ratio (see here).

Double-check the requirements for the canvas suggestions within each lesson before starting your project. It's important to commit to the required parameters of your project from the start, as it’s difficult to adjust after you have begun.

THE GRID

The grid is a very simple visual tool that can be drawn with a ruler and pen on a canvas and on top of the photo reference image. Working from this starting point helps break down complex imagery into bite-size pieces of information. With the grid format in place, I can recreate what I see in the photograph using paper squares in my canvas.

Once the project is completed, the grid lines will disappear as they are covered with paper. The mystery of how the picture was created is hidden from sight.

This grid system allows you to pinpoint or focus on the relatively small nuances of your subject. However, because the ratio and the scaling stay the same, these collage compositions can be made into giant billboard-sized portraits if you are so inclined. Artists like Chuck Close, David Hockney, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and many others have used a form of grid system in their artwork to underpin their reference imagery.

Be sure to clearly label your grid to help anchor your picture, creating a visual map for you to study as you begin your collage portrait.

[picture]

Look at this reference image of a dog named Ruby, and notice how the grid helps translate her features.

MAGAZINES & PAPER

Collage artists are known to use a wide range of paper and mixed-media products for their art-making goals. This book emphasizes using magazine paper as the most effective way to build complex, original, handmade collage imagery.

I prefer using high-quality, heavy-duty magazine paper over any other type of paper because of the range of bright colors, textures, and unique imagery it provides. I also enjoy the low cost and the ease with which I can acquire these magazines based on how much art I make each month. Many times, friends or colleagues will donate their magazines to me, knowing that I can recycle them somehow. If you start asking around, most friends will be glad to donate stacks of past magazine issues.

Although paper is not always made in the same way, I prefer using fashion-design, travel and art, interior-design, and architectural magazines. They are often made with high-quality products and offer me an almost endless supply of curated, beautiful imagery to choose from.

Sometimes, I prefer to change the style of my background imagery by adding or combining different types of decorative art paper for a unique look.

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH MAGAZINES

Find or purchase two or three high-quality magazines with thick, colorful paper.

Avoid front or back magazine covers, flimsy catalogs, perfumed paper, or slick, waxy paper that will not absorb the acrylic glue properly.

The better your magazine selection, the easier it will be to quickly and efficiently find what you need for your project.

Experiment with using fine-art paper prints for large projects or to add a unique design element in a background.

It’s not always necessary to presort all the colors you might need for a collage project. Instead, be spontaneous and consider cutting the colors as you need them.

THE VIEWFINDER

A viewfinder is a simple tool that helps you see your reference image with more clarity. It’s just a 4˝ x 4˝ sheet of magazine paper with a 1-inch square window cut from the middle.

It’s designed to block out distracting peripheral information and focus your eyes on that single square. The viewfinder will simplify your work and help you visualize the information in small bites as you move the viewfinder from area to area.

THE VIEWFINDER TEMPLATE

Cut along the dotted lines, and fold on the red.

GLUE

1. Archival spray varnish (satin)

2. Matte varnish spray

3. Acrylic polymer varnish

4. Matte varnish

5. Gloss medium

6. Gloss medium

7. Optional: secondary glue container

8. Optional: paintbrush for applying glue

Collage art relies on the use of glue or another adhesive product to bind the various paper materials onto a canvas or other physical surface.

When shopping for glue at your local art-supply store or online, you will see a wide range of brands, types, and prices. This can be somewhat confusing if you are unfamiliar with the slight differences that they provide. Only buy what you know how to use unless you are actively looking to experiment with glue products.

All glues are not made the same and some can damage your work if you aren’t careful. Read the labels carefully and keep your receipt to exchange the bottle of glue at the store if you make a purchasing mistake.

When you can, work with the highest-quality art products and materials to help maintain the overall longevity of the art. Using a high-quality glue is imperative to long-term preservation, especially with collage.

Sealing your picture with a final glaze at the completion of the project can also really help avoid any unnecessary environmental damage from moisture, dirt, or excessive sunlight.

The acrylic medium I use for every project in this book serves multiple purposes. The acrylic glue can be used both as an adhesive and as a final finish for the magazine paper once the artwork is complete.

ACRYLIC MEDIUM TIPS

Protect yourself at all times and use safety precautions when working with glue, such as gloves and proper clothing.

When working, pour a small amount glue into a secondary container or small tray at your art-making station so that it is easy to dip your paper and refill your tray with glue as needed.

Do not allow the glue to excessively drip onto your skin, furniture, or other valuables. Wipe up spilled glue with a damp rag before it dries.

While in general I applaud experimentation with different glue products, for this book, I highly suggest acrylic medium as the most effective glue adhesive product for this type of collage technique—it’s what works!

Be sure to read the glue bottle for specific usage and storage instructions, and refer to the bottle for all other safety precautions.

THE FINAL GLAZE

A final glaze seals and preserves your collage once you are finished with it. Here’s how to do it:

Pour a moderate amount of glue onto the canvas, like pouring hot syrup on pancakes—not too much, not too little. Make sure to push down and fill in any areas of magazine that did not get tacked down properly. Massage that glue into the nooks and crannies.

Spread the glue evenly over the canvas. Again, carefully push down any loose paper pieces.

Allow the glue to dry. It will leave a glossy finish.

Apply a layer of varnish. Varnish with a matte finish will remove the glossy glare.

Let the art dry overnight in a flat, dry area before handling. Be sure to read instructions on the varnish you have chosen for specific drying times.

COLOR CIRCLES

“Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, and the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays—touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibration in the soul.”

-Wassily Kandinsky

Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Wassily Kandinsky is considered one of the great pioneers of modern abstract painting. His work focuses on color and expresses a pure, unspoken emotion and a sense of spirituality unlike that of any other artist.

Kandinsky led an influential group of artists who were committed to challenging the conventions of modern art with their intuitive abstract painting style. To these artists, both sound and color took on a deeper meaning through expression. Kandinsky loved listening to music and transmuting what notes sounded like to him onto his bright, colorful canvases.

In this lesson, we will use Kandinsky’s timeless circles and primary colors as a template to help create your own simple version of a powerful abstract composition.

You will select your own palette of brightly colored magazine papers, cutting them into small, semicircular shapes and pasting them onto the canvas. They will resemble the rings of a tree and be filled in with magazine paper shapes.

This project is built piece by piece by filling in drawn spaces with magazine paper and contouring the cut shapes to fill in your original multi-circle design.

As you work on this project, I recommend putting on your favorite piece of music to help evoke your own creative inspiration. To some, this may seem corny or unconventional; to others, the act of listening to music while making art goes hand in hand at every studio session. Kandinsky thought that color evoked and enhanced sound, and vice versa. As an artist, you have the opportunity to capture the sounds you hear floating in the air as you create your work of art and bring that unique color onto your canvas.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

12˝ x 12˝ canvas

A range of bright magazine colors (5 to 7 shades)

Black permanent marker

Ruler

Scissors or a craft knife

Glue

COLOR PALETTE

Use bright, contrasting colors for a vibrant piece. Or consider working with a range of limited contrasting colors, as well as shades of gray. I like to see bright colors and use motifs that contrast with one another to evoke a mood that is greater than the sum of its parts.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Draw five to seven circles on your canvas with a pen, without the use of a circular template.

Fill each circle layer with different shades of brightly colored magazine paper, like a mosaic tiling, until the collage is complete.

This stage of color sorting may take some time. Don’t rush the process. By cutting and gluing your paper strips onto the canvas, you have begun the process of creating your own unique collage. Use precision and avoid overlapping the paper over your circular line drawing. Remember that it is always possible to go back over certain areas of your project if necessary.

Once you are done with your project, you can reflect on the uniqueness of your composition and make other variations.

If you enjoy this process, consider creating a whole series of 4 to 20 unique, individual collage panels to display your work as a team or group.

CUTTING PAPER

With your blade or scissors, cut thin, semicircular, 1-inch curved strips of paper. You can also use triangular shapes and fit the wedges neatly, depending on the size of the circle you are using.

Organize the colors in a pile in advance or cut as you need certain colors.

Avoid using overly large pieces of paper, as it can be challenging to spread glue evenly on the back of large pieces of paper and it may cause bubbling.

Avoid small shapes because they can be difficult to handle on the canvas.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Begin by drawing five to seven circles with a permanent marker onto your canvas, starting from the center point of the canvas or board. It’s OK if your circles aren’t perfect; in fact, it may look better, so don’t overcorrect your drawing. Just let the pen do the work.

Draw each circle larger and larger until you reach the borders of your canvas or board.

I like to start with the center of the canvas and work my way toward the edges, layer by layer. However, you may find that you like to work from the outside of the canvas in and that’s perfectly OK too.

STEP 2

Put on a pair of nitrile gloves as well as any other protective equipment you may want to wear while working.

Glue the clippings by cutting them to their appropriate size and dipping them lightly into a tray of glue, coating the back of the paper. Remove excess glue from the back of the paper by wiping it against the tray. Keep a small amount of glue on the paper, as well as on your fingertips, to help evenly coat the magazine square as you handle it gently and place it on the canvas.

Apply the magazine paper to the canvas in a gentle, mindful way. Set the paper directly where you prefer it to dry on the canvas. Do not overhandle the paper once you’ve placed it on the canvas or the colors can rip or fade.

If I find a certain color that I like and run out of it midstream, I try to find more of that color by looking through other magazines.

Otherwise, I need to consider an alternative color that can help finish my project. Think slightly ahead and fill the circles with precision. Place your clippings close against the lines and cover any of your own markings.

I like to use various clipping shapes and sizes, including not just squares shapes, but also asymmetrical shapes, rounded shapes, and smaller triangular shapes to fill my canvas. For smaller spaces, I carefully use a craft knife to create small cuts and shapes to fill the gaps as necessary.

Attention to detail will give your art a professional look. It may, however, require you to go back at a later time and make sure that there are no gaps or other rough edges that could be better smoothed out with extra magazine layers and mindful intention of your finished composition.

STEP 3

Finish the panel by pouring a large, silver-dollar sized dollop of glue onto the center of your canvas. With a gloved hand, spread the glue around so that it covers the entire canvas evenly, including the edges of the canvas. Gently work the glue into the nooks and crannies and make sure there is no pooling or unprotected areas of canvas left exposed.

Let the art dry for at least four to eight hours in a clean, dry area before you handle or hang the art on a wall.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

Try not to rush filling in your circles. Slow down the process by sorting your colors well, cutting them with care, and making sure that your edges look clean.

If you do hurry this process, the result is sometimes a lack of quality in your art. I love to work on a project for a series of hours or days and try not to put hard deadlines on my work if I can help it, because I think it makes a big difference in the final product.

For the sake of ergonomics and focus, I make sure to take tiny breaks in my practice that allow me to reset my critical eye and see my art more objectively when I return to my work.

These tiny breaks often allow me to reset my critical eye and see my work more objectively when I return. They also give me a chance to be kind and encouraging to myself when things are challenging.

VARIATIONS

You can always decide to change the colors you’re working with if you feel that the colors you chose aren’t working or “popping”—that’s the joy of collage!

If your project looks a bit boring or doesn’t have enough contrast for whatever reason, it’s OK to change your mind midstream and add that layer.

Find inspiration from other artists and see how they use color to brighten up their works. Emulate their color choices or style ideas to find your own expressive voice.

It’s all in the detailing. I find that as I approach the end of the art-making process, smoothing out the lines and tidying up the edges of the canvas makes a huge difference in judging the final product.

I look at the tiny extra details in my work, fill in the gaps, and add a little editorial imagery, making sure to finish the edges and cover any canvas or permanent marker that might be showing through.

This is also a great time to pin down any magazine edges with glue, going over the magazine paper that has flipped up or needs to be replaced with an extra coating.

Making one collage panel is fun, but I like to elevate this project by making a series of circle collage panels and adding cool variations to them.

What I love about this project is being able to let loose visually. The more I make of these pieces, the more ideas I have. I enjoy creating projects with a group or team. It’s a really fun personal project, but also a great team-building exercise and a way to form creative connections with friends.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Use bright primary colors and shapes to create expressive, colorful imagery. Refer to the color wheel for color-contrast suggestions.

Allow yourself to loosen up while working and not overplan the artistic process as you work. Be spontaneous and open to improvisation and staying flexible as you make art.

Try not to use all the colors at once. Show some restraint in your color choices by sticking to a limited color palette.

Stay within the lines you’ve created to make your art look clean and professional.

If you are doing multiple images, using a variation on a theme is a great way to create a unified rhythm. I recommend creating 8 to 20 small panels as a series.

Work with a group or team to make this a much bigger project. (It’s a great idea for a mural!)

Simplicity is powerful. Don’t overcomplicate things, and focus on working on one square at a time.

Don’t be boring—flare it up!

COLOR WHEEL

“Color and I are one. I am a painter.”

-Paul Klee

Understanding color theory and learning the ways in which the rules of color can be used to create compelling and imaginative work is a study that artists have undergone for centuries.

Vincent van Gogh, who studied color theory in depth and loved using yellow in his paintings, taught us that we should not look at one particular color as our favorite—we should understand the relationship that colors have with one another. What is a yellow flower petal without a blue shadow or an orange fleck of gold light to complement or contrast its rich beauty?

The color wheel is important because it shows us how to make our art more visually impactful with every picture that we attempt. When we know the rules of color theory, we can bend them and sometimes even break them altogether. We can learn quickly by studying other artists and mimicking how they use color combinations to solve complex challenges. When I have questions, I refer to the color wheel or my favorite artist to help guide me.

For the medium of collage, it is also important to understand that finding paper in any preferred shade has its own physical limitations. It may be easier to find some colors than others, especially in particular magazines. Certain magazines will offer you only a fixed palette of colors, so give yourself some options as you search. You may have to make substitutions for a particular shade. You might consider supplementing your stock of paper sources by sourcing colored paper to ensure that you have all the colors you will need before getting started.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

12˝ x 12˝ canvas

Circular template, such as a dinner plate or lid from a large pan

Ruler

Pencil

Paper

Glue

Paper ripped into small squares, cubes, and triangles

COLOR PALETTE

Gather a full range of colors and separate them into small piles according to color: purple, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and black for the edge.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Start by drawing a large circle on the canvas. You can use a dinner plate or large saucepan, placed in the center of the canvas, and trace it with a pencil.

STEP 2

Use a ruler to draw a straight line down the center of the circle, cutting it into two equal halves.

STEP 3

Use the vertical line to draw equal, opposing, 60-degree-angled lines on either side of your vertical line. When drawn correctly, these lines segment your circle into six equal parts or slices.

STEP 4

You can now begin pasting the collage paper onto the canvas.

Having first sorted out the colors, you can work from your color “buckets” to efficiently fill in the colors of the color wheel.

Fill each of the six spaces with the main colors of the color wheel. I like to start by focusing on the primary colors first—red, blue, and yellow—and then adding the secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. You can fill in your favorite colors of the rainbow in any order you choose, however.

STEP 5

Focus on blending the colors with a smooth transition from darker shades to lighter ones. You can achieve this seamless fading, or ombré effect, by cutting smaller and smaller squares that gradually blend from darker to lighter at the center of the circle.

STEP 6

Continue filling in the colors until the wheel is complete, making sure to be very precise and covering the pencil lines you have drawn.

Fill the area surrounding the circle with dark gray or black magazine paper.

Pour glue onto the canvas to cover the outside layer of paper with a thick coat of glue.

MORE TIPS

This project can be simple to prepare for and put into practice with relative ease. However, the true challenge for an artist at any level lies in focusing on getting the segmented colors tightly blended, balanced, and equally positioned within the circle.

Neat edges and blending colors from darker to lighter shades takes practice and a careful eye. Work slowly to avoid making any critical errors.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

If you make a small mistake or want to change something in your artwork, like the color in a particular area, add paper on top using a smooth blending effect. I refer to this technique as “fading,” or “the ombré effect.”

Practice this technique by blending each color, going from the darker shades near the outer edge of the circle toward the inner circle, layering each color with a slight variation in hue.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Art takes time. No project in this book needs to be completed in one sitting. It’s OK to come back to your art later. I often find that I see different things in magazines at different times of the day. Working on a project in multiple stages gives me the best opportunity to find what I need and not just settle for whatever is available at the moment.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Completing this project will serve as your own visual reference guide for success and begin the goal of understanding color theory more clearly.

Work on layering your art and using the fading, or ombré effect, with paper. If you make a mistake, quickly add new layers of color rather than erasing or completely reworking a particular area of the canvas.

Give yourself many options to choose from by having lots of different kinds of paper on hand. Use magazine, origami, and fine-art paper to help navigate the right colors that you’re looking for while you work.

Once you understand the rules of color theory, you can bend and sometimes even break them.

ABSTRACT STRIPES

Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.”

-Alma Thomas

Alma Thomas was in her eighties when she produced many of her most inspiring and important works of art. Before her call to fame, she taught art for many years.

Although the pain of arthritis pushed her to put down her paintbrushes for good, she was offered a prestigious retrospective art show that brought her out of retirement and inspired her to create something entirely new.

Thomas was inspired by the flowers in her garden and the vibrant colors of nature outside her door. She cultivated her own style of art and used abstraction to express her emotions. Thomas’ brushstrokes look like thick patches of bold color and were applied in long, vertical stripes or concentric circles, with tiny bits of the bare canvas showing through.

In this lesson, with collage as the medium, you can adopt a similar rip-and-paste technique to capture the vibrant, mosaiclike way that Thomas used to capture tight-knit precision with her paintbrush. In this composition, we will add visual wave effects to give the canvas fun complexity and movement.

Alma Thomas’ creative journey is an inspiration to me, not only because of what she accomplished at her late age, but also because she realized her own clear, personal vision and transmuted her wonderful ideas onto canvas. She is proof that it is never too late to get started working on your own fruitful art practice.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

16˝ x 16˝ or 24˝ x 24˝ canvas

Art paper

Glue

1¼-inch ripped squares and ⅛˝ x ½˝ ripped squares in a wide range of bright colors

COLOR PALETTE

Select a range colorful magazine, fine-art, or origami papers. Start by ripping long strips of paper, and then rip them into smaller pieces. Try to round out the edges as you rip.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

On your canvas, draw 12 evenly spaced, straight, vertical lines using a pencil and ruler.

STEP 2

Draw five smooth, curved lines down the canvas.

STEP 3

Draw similarly spaced curved lines throughout the rest of the canvas, as shown.

STEP 4

Begin gluing the smaller pieces of paper inside the curved lines on the canvas.

STEP 5

Carefully follow the curved lines as you lay down each square individually. Experiment with using different sizes of paper. The process of ripping collage papers is different than cutting with scissors and something you must feel with your fingers. By varying the sizes of your squares, you can significantly change the texture and rhythm of your composition.

Pay close attention to interlinking the pieces like a tightly knit fence of color without overlapping the pieces. Try to give each square its appropriate amount of space and breathing room. Carefully fill the remainder of your canvas with these ripped pieces of paper.

Watch as your new art slowly begins to take on a majestic, three-dimensional wave effect—it’s so much fun!

Make sure to leave room (at least 1/16 inch) between each ripped square; you should be able to see the canvas behind the squares.

MORE TIPS

Create tight, interlocking pieces that don’t overlap, and follow the template line you made to create movement. Don’t let the colors blend into each other or it will all start to look like big mess of color.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

It’s easy to patch over small problem areas using a layering technique. Simply apply a larger square of magazine paper over the problem, and make sure to let the area dry completely for an hour or so before working on that area again.

Allow time for the papers to dry fully once they are saturated with glue to showcase their full color. As the glue dries, colors may seem dark or uneven, but they will return to their normal pigmentation.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Experiment with the composition using horizontal lines and vertical lines, mandala circles, or other complex shapes. I like the wave pattern because of the movement that I can create with it. However, there are countless variations and ideas that you could try with this idea in mind.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It doesn’t take much to get started making beautiful art. Don’t make excuses or put off creating beauty in your own world; use this lesson and materials you have at your disposal to jump-start your creativity and make something beautiful!

Use big rips and little rips. You can create simple or complex patterns by varying the sizes of paper you use.

Create rhythm through color.

Set the parameters and trust that collage will take you on an interesting journey of discovery. You don’t always need to know how it’s going to turn out beforehand, and don’t worry about the result before you get started. Simply follow the lines and adjust your picture as you go square by square, and it will all work out. I promise!

SILKSCREEN FLOWERS

“Art is what you can get away with.”

-Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was a talented artist who pushed the envelope creatively to achieve what he could indeed “get away with” in the art world.

He snapped glitzy photos of his friends and made unique, colorful silkscreen portraits of the beautiful and famous people around him. Although his love of the selfie came many years before the meteoric rise of social media, Andy Warhol could see miles ahead of the rest of us when it came to celebrity culture, consumerism, and viral images.

Warhol began his career as an illustrator and quickly found his way into New York City’s thriving art scene. His provocative paintings had a wide range of themes. His use of color and mass-produced imagery appeared to be made for billboards rather than the walls of art galleries. But Andy Warhol was more than a provocateur—he was a true artist and visionary.

In this lesson, you will see how the idea of silkscreen and the way that Warhol transferred his flowers onto canvas can be translated into the design of your own floral collage composition. Let’s study his flower series and translate the simple shapes by making an outline and filling in the flowers with magazine paper. You will be using flat colors and round shapes. We’re not necessarily aiming to create a lifelike painting; rather, you can make something more illustrative and filled with rich color.

Draw the flowers or work from a template. Use the reference image here or your own flower image. Don’t worry about replicating one type of flower or another; instead, use your imagination to guide you as you work.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

16˝ x 16˝ canvas

Pen or pencil

Ruler

Magazines and fine-art paper for ¾-inch cubes, small triangles, and rounded, crescent-moon shapes

COLOR PALETTE

A range of shades in four main colors: pink, blue, purple and textured shades of green like grass.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

With a pen or pencil, draw a vertical line down the center of the canvas. Then draw a perpendicular horizontal line, forming four equal quadrants. Next, draw a five-point flower with a looping shape that covers the top left quadrant of the canvas.

STEP 2

Continue by sketching three more similarly sized flower shapes inside the other quadrants of the canvas.

STEP 3

Fill the first flower shape with a pink or purple shade of colored paper, making sure to get as close to the edges of your outline as possible. It’s OK to overlap the magazine paper inside the floral shape, and thinly stack the paper to fit specific spaces.

STEP 4

Fill the other flowers with different bright colors.

STEP 5

Fill the background with a textured, grassy-green color, again making sure to go right up against the floral shapes that you’ve drawn without overlapping or going over the lines.

MORE TIPS

Make sure to emphasize your flower petals with lots of curves. If you don’t emphasize the well-shaped lines of your flowers, they can look rather bloblike or undifferentiated.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

Make sure to cover the pencil or pen marks you used to draw the flowers with the magazine paper.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Consider changing the color scheme of the flowers, as well as the background color. Some of Warhol’s grassy backgrounds were actually done in black-and-white, and they provide an interesting contrast with the bright flower petals.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Observe flowers in nature or study flower photographs to help you draw your floral imagery.

Practice filling in your flower outline like it’s a coloring book.

Experiment with different magazine textures (for the grass) versus flat or solid textures (inside the flower petals).

Use an overlapping tiling technique to neatly lay down evenly blended shapes of color—both inside and outside the flowers.

Focus on the subtle details near the intersections of the flowers and the grassy background. It takes focus and attention to neatly lay shapes and small squares next to each other in just the right way. With a bit of practice, it will look great!

GEOMETRIC BOXES

“One learns about painting by looking at and imitating other painters.”

-Frank Stella

Frank Stella is an early pioneer of American contemporary painting who is best known for his minimalist concentric square compositions. Stella’s clean, controlled brushstrokes and large geometric canvases are deceptively simple, yet enjoyable to study and create using brightly colored strips of paper.

In this lesson, you can choose a wide variety of colors to scintillate the viewer. Adding a range of visual aids will help build depth and beauty once you set the parameters in motion by measuring out the basic guidelines.

Use a ruler to draw a large square graph on the canvas and begin the collage from there. Exploring your ideas requires an attention to detail and an almost meditative practice, while maintaining spontaneity and an open mind. I like to call it a downstream kind of work that allows me to focus on my art while carrying on a casual conversation with a friend or listening to a podcast, and simultaneously enjoying the mindful experience of using my hands to make art.

I have created many versions of these Stella-style canvases through the years, and I’ve learned to create them with more skill as I better trust my decision-making process. I don’t plan my entire project in advance because I’ve learned that it is easy to change colors quickly by going over the top of the previous layer if necessary. I don’t need to overthink it.

Be sure to work mindfully and strive to perfect the necessary geometric precision as you lay down each column. It is easier to measure twice and cut once, rather than vice versa.

I like to think of this project like building one long railroad track, line by line. Each row of color is a new opportunity to add variety and take your project one step closer to completion.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Paper cutter

Squeeze bottle of glue

Scissors

24˝ x 24˝ canvas

Pencil

Paper

Origami paper or fine-art paper ripped into ¾˝ x 2˝ rectangular column shapes and ¾-inch squares

COLOR PALETTE

Search through magazines for a range of paper colors, or use colorful origami or fine-art paper to ensure that you have lots of color options as you work. Black and white can offer bold contrast.

For this project, I like to use a large glue nozzle applicator that helps me place glue in a very specific area and also reduces bubbling. In addition, it prevents wasting glue and making large messes!

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Use a pencil and a ruler to draw ¾-inch columns on your canvas.

STEP 2

Draw ¾-inch horizontal lines over the vertical lines to create a well-defined grid on the canvas.

STEP 3

Before pasting your paper on the canvas, mock up a few different color pattern ideas for your project to see how it looks.

Once you have a good idea of the first few layers of the canvas, cut strips of paper with a paper cutter or scissors, and lay down the collage with glue.

Apply the glue in a straight line directly on the canvas and spread it evenly across the area you want to cover with paper.

Lay the paper on the canvas and press it into the glue slowly so that your paper absorbs the glue evenly and sets exactly where you want the paper to go.

STEP 4

Build your rows and squares and make adjustments as necessary.

I like to work from the outside in because I do the largest spaces on the canvas first. However, you may feel more comfortable working from inside out, and that’s OK too.

STEP 5

I never know exactly how I will complete a picture while I’m working on it. I work to improve it as I make it!

There is plenty of time to steer the project as you see fit, so you don’t need to overplan. Also, note that colors may change slightly once the glue saturates the paper, and in time, most colors return to their original luster.

MORE TIPS

It’s easier to cut clean, straight lines using a paper cutter than scissors.

In this project, I’ve used ¾˝ x 3˝ column shapes and sometimes cut them down to a smaller size for use around the corners of the squares on the grid.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

You may notice some bubbling in your paper if you use too much glue. A great way to fix that is by using a wet finger (with glue on it) and pushing down on the bubbled surface like a squeegee, thereby squeezing some of the excess glue out of those tiny pockets. Working these bubbles out when the project is still wet will help your picture lay flatter and more evenly. However, try not to overhandle your paper or you risk ripping the paper or dulling the color.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

I like to do this project on a very large scale, and I also do multiple variations of concentric squares like Frank Stella was known to do. This offers an opportunity for one design palette to have a dialogue with another design in an interesting way.

Consider creating a dynamic, four-part series of collages to hang together as a series.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Measure twice and cut once. You will benefit from not making time-consuming mistakes when measuring the grid lines on your canvas and cutting paper with precision by double-checking your work. Mistakes can be costly if you don’t catch a measurement error early. Always double-check your work when measuring your grid lines.

Slow down! This is a meditative process, not one of pure efficiency. Don’t try to finish your art all in one sitting. Go slowly and enjoy the process of building this image with patience and joy.

Be prepared. Make a basic layout of your project or canvas before starting, and make sure you have the necessary supplies. Knowing the scale of a project is important; this avoids having to stop in the middle of a critical moment to find alternate supplies.

Always be open to spontaneous art making—you don’t have to have it all planned out. Trust yourself to explore and experiment!

COLOR ABSTRACTION

“One who knows how to appreciate color relationships, the influence of one color with another, their contrasts and dissonances, is promised an infinite variety of images.”

-Sonia Delaunay

A Ukrainian-born artist, Sonia Delaunay was an influential figure in the avant-garde art movement in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. Along with her husband and fellow painter, Robert Delaunay, she sought to create a new visual language using color as the driving force for her work.

Sonia Delaunay painted a series of large circles that resemble giant clashing discs or vast orbits of stars colliding wildly, shooting sparks of color across the canvas. Like the planets in the sky, one can sense in Delaunay’s paintings a gentle, balanced order that allows the eye to consume her work with more detail.

Through Delaunay, you can learn to break free from the shackles of self-doubt and fear, and begin to cultivate your own original artistic voice. In this free-form-style art lesson, you will create our own mini-universe of color with paper collage. Start by drawing several overlapping lines and circles, and use templates and rulers to create your shapes. Then you will fill in these new, somewhat intricate visual intersections with the colors and patterns found in magazines.

Use the inspirational artwork of Sonia Delaunay as a high-level example to create your own original design.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Large dinner plate

20˝ x 20˝ canvas

Small dinner plate

Magazine and fine-art paper torn into small triangles and curved strips

Glue

Scissors

Pencil

Craft knife

COLOR PALETTE

I like using complementary pairs like Cartier® red and Tiffany Blue®, apple-green and purple, and blue and yellow, as well as black, white, and gray.

You can design a smaller model on paper before committing to a large canvas if that helps you.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

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The first few steps involve drawing a template on your canvas. You can follow my design here, or make your own! Once you have a template that you like, add your collage paper on the design following the steps you've already learned about in previous projects. You can view my color steps on the next pages.

[picture]

Add colorful paper and embellishments to your design.

MORE TIPS

When designing your composition, combine free-drawing techniques with the helpful tools of rulers and circle-shaped templates. This hybrid design requires a balance of shapes.

Also, try not to overfill your composition with too many lines and shapes—look for a balance in your work.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

If your piece looks too busy, reduce the number of boxes or spaces. I like to have some semblance of order as I work, so I use a template, but I also want some spontaneity built in.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Use repetition and variation in the shapes you choose to add your own style and personality to the work.

Avoid making your work boring or repetitive. Delaunay used a lot of bright colors and sought to heighten the contrast and emotion in her work because it enhanced her paintings, providing a powerful visual experience for the viewer.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Become comfortable using a range of drawing tools, such as templates and rulers, as well as free-hand drawing. Use them interchangeably to design your own custom project.

Learn to experiment with color, and find out the ways in which colors interact and connect.

Get comfortable making artistic decisions on the fly and fix elements that you may want to edit out.

Learn to be patient—there is no instant gratification. You must go slowly and build your project see your composition come to life.

FRUIT STILL LIFE

“Optics, developing in us through study, teach us to see.”

-Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne has been called a father of modern art. Although he was considered an Impressionist painter during his era, he existed for much of his career as an artistic outsider and was misunderstood and criticized for his art.

Cézanne was determined to prove his skills and moved in a new creative and personal direction different from the dominant trends of the era. He painted the same subjects over and over to gain new knowledge and perspective. Slowly he began to earn the respect of society that he felt he readily deserved.

As he aged, a self-imposed isolation inspired Cézanne’s artistic genius to blossom. Behind closed doors, he was able to truly perfect many of the brick-like, still-life, and figurative compositions he is well known for today.

This lesson studies Cézanne’s beautiful still-life fruit compositions and teaches you how to set up your own still-life image in the style of Cézanne. Let’s work step by step to create a scene that emulates some of the optical tricks and tools Cezanne used to make his still-life portraits feel almost three-dimensional.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

18˝ x 24˝ canvas

Scissors or craft knife

Magazine paper cut into 1-inch or smaller squares

Glue

Seasonal fruit

Smartphone

Light source

COLOR PALETTE

Gather a range of colorful art and design magazines. Look for images that have a similar color palette to your fruits.

I like to cut colors out of the pages inside the magazine as I need them, rather than stockpiling huge amounts of paper.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Choose a variety of colorful fruits to be arranged and placed on a table. Then display the fruits in a way that highlights their shape and beauty. For instance, some fruits might have brown spots that should be hidden.

Then do a quick study of Cézanne’s still lifes for compositional ideas and help with creating a mock-up of a similar still-life scene.

Use bright studio lighting to enhance your photo shoot or incorporate natural lighting into your image to ensure that the reference picture you take is well-lit and in focus.

Experiment with the composition and rearrange your fruits to add variety. Use different bowls, pottery, or other artifacts to enhance the shot. Be mindful of how you frame the image with your camera, and make sure to leave areas of foreground and background showing in your composition. I like to stand above and over the fruit and slightly tip the horizon line so that the fruit almost looks like it’s falling off the table.

Once you’ve photographed a lot of images and composition ideas, edit your images and choose your favorite one for the reference image.

Print the photo on a large sheet of colored paper, making sure the image fills the entire sheet of paper so you can use it to study. You may have to tape together two pieces of paper to get the whole image onto a single page.

Draw or add digitally a 1-inch grid over your chosen image. (1-inch spacing will correspond to the spacing on the canvas with the same number of squares on both surfaces.) Be very careful and measure your lines correctly to avoid making mistakes.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Pour a medium amount of glue into your glue tray. I usually pour enough to get started and add more as I continue to work to avoid wasting glue.

STEP 2

As with every complex project, start the collage process by choosing 15 individual anchor squares on the canvas. Scan the reference image and select a range of diverse colors to get your mind and hands moving.

Use a pen to mark out 15 to 20 square spaces with an X on the canvas. These markers are called “anchors” and will help you select your color palette and ensure accuracy.

STEP 3

Dip your paper in glue and apply it gently to the canvas. Apply glue to both sides of the paper with your fingers.

Always try to use the exact shade of color that you need according to your reference photo. If you can’t find a particular shade of color in a magazine, look somewhere else or make a reasonable substitution. Before gluing down your paper, double-check your work.

STEP 4

Use the grid to draw an outline of the fruit. This doesn’t have to be perfect; just sketch a very thin outline of the shapes as you see them.

Choose your next squares carefully, completing them one at a time. Carefully glue down each piece and add smaller layers of color like a stack to help complete the space. Sometimes you will need to visually break down squares into smaller units so that they fit like a mosaic in any small, detailed spaces.

STEP 5

Always identify the easiest areas of the canvas first and attack those before moving into more complex sections. Repeat these steps as many times as possible until your piece is close to complete.

Continue to use the reference image as a resource. Don’t simply rely on your drawing; use the grid image as your main resource.

As you get more technical and into the more challenging areas of the project, use smaller and smaller shapes to build the collage until the canvas is completely filled in.

STEP 6

Pour a thick final layer of glue over the entire surface of the canvas. Then allow your art to dry in a cool, flat area for 24 hours before handling it again or adding a layer of UV-resistant clear gloss.

MORE TIPS

As you get closer to finishing your collage, you will notice that the grid gradually disappears underneath the paper. Try to leave little keyholes or windows so that you can continue to use the grid without making mistakes until the final square is down.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

If you make a mistake, you may want to cover it, change your piece, or pivot into a new artistic direction. You can also rip the paper off the canvas if it hasn’t been glued down for too long. This technique is called “decollage.” This can, however, leave extra residue on the canvas and may confuse the flow, so I don’t recommend it unless you are doing it intentionally. Fill the space with new, clean paper and move on so you don’t get stuck.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

This lesson is highly technical and creating it accurately will take time and practice. You can play with the amount of realism and see what works through experimentation and occasional failure. If you are willing to take the time to pay close attention to your art, you will gradually learn to create a high level of likeness in your collage work.

However, you don’t always have to go for a realistic perspective. This lesson creates an almost photographic type of realism in my collage work, but you can also choose a loose, expressive approach instead.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Gather fresh fruit from your local market. Make this project your own by remaining a conscious part of the creative process.

Use your cell phone as a camera and experiment with your still-life composition by lighting the area and using shadows to give your picture a three-dimensional effect.

Crop your image as necessary to make your composition dynamic. You can’t go back and change the reference image while you’re working on your collage, so always make sure you have a well-lit, colorful reference image before you begin.

Work the grid; it’s your visual reference tool. Don’t guess what you see; look at your picture, and then go find what you are looking for in the magazine papers you have.

POPPIES

“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life—and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

-Georgia O’Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe was a modernist artist who found joy and inspiration in her work and in her solitude. She currently holds the world record for the highest amount of money paid at auction for an artwork by a female artist.

Whether working on flowers, landscapes, skyscrapers, or skeletons, she skillfully broke down her subjects with a curious clarity and precision that revealed their true inner beauty. O’Keeffe liked to paint objects larger than life to create more interest and so that viewers would experience the objects as she did.

This lesson uses a flower image of your own, which you will edit to zoom in tightly and capture the abstract essence and beauty of a flower. I suggest focusing on no more than one or two flowers in a single image to help highlight the inner abstraction that begins to take place as you work. It’s fun to experiment and problem solve this flower composition square by square and see what your efforts can create.

Georgia O'Keeffe liked to paint on large canvases which, interestingly, made her subjects look larger than in real life as well.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

14˝ x 14˝ canvas

Glue

Scissors or craft knife

Magazine paper in large 2˝ x 2˝ squares or rectangles, as well as triangular ¼-inch shapes for the center of the flower

COLOR PALETTE

Look for colors that will give you a range of options. I’m using a variety of bright reds, pinks, purples, oranges, textured colored black, and white paper for the center area of the flower, and some other contrasting and complementary bright colors for the background.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

To get inspired, if possible, go for a walk in your neighborhood or a local park. Bring your smartphone and look for flowers that could work as the subject of your next collage project. When you find a flower that you like, zoom in on it to capture its inner structure.

Shoot pictures “from the hip.” Smartphones are so good at capturing, storing, and editing images all in one place that you don’t even need to pick up or bring home flowers to capture their beauty. Take advantage of what you see around you and shoot on the spot!

When you compose the image for this project, be sure to get as close as you can to the flower to create a really zoomed-in colorful original template.

Match the canvas size with a composition and photograph that is similarly oriented, such as horizontal, vertical, or square.

STEP 2

Apply the grid to your image and to your canvas in a 1:1 ratio. This simple analog grid tool will help you visually break down the floral image into simple square colors. Mark out different sections and tiny squares on the canvas using a permanent marker.

Pour a small amount of glue into your glue tray to easily dip your strips of paper.

STEP 3

Chunk out similar colors and fill entire sections of the canvas quickly by identifying and batching these spaces. Take care not to be too casual about blindly filling in sections of the canvas that are not specifically marked the way your reference image tells you to.

STEP 4

The center of the flower is a key visual anchor that allows you to focus on finalizing the picture and capturing the essence of your subject. Using the grid, zero in on small, particular details that you can see and create abstract shapes and colors to recreate what you observe in the photo.

STEP 5

If you encounter a challenge, such as a complicated square that you don’t immediately know how to fill, you can work around the area slowly and observe new information that may help you simplify the issue instead of risking making a mistake.

When you zoom in and see complex textural areas of an image, sometimes things begin to look somewhat abstract—and that’s OK! Trust what you see. Try to recreate what you observe using abstract textural elements within the magazine pages you are working with, in new and fun ways.

Experiment: Open your eyes and take a chance on flowers you’ve never noticed before.

MORE TIPS

Don’t rush! It’s exciting and fun to make quick strides in creating your flower collage project, but speed is not the goal. By slowing down, you allow your mind to focus on the final detailing with precision. This also gives you extra time to make your composition look realistic and complete.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

What I love about collage is that you can add multiple layers as you work. These layers can be applied on top of one another, creating a subtle overlap with your tiles.

Just be sure that you’re doing this with mindfulness and not unintentionally overlapping paper, thereby covering up your otherwise perfect work. Be careful not to cover up your hard work due to sloppiness!

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Different flowers create different challenges. Choose a flower that you think you can complete. Working with overly detailed subject matter is a recipe for failure.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Take photos of your art as you work on it. Let it dry and hang it on the wall half finished. Place your art in the best natural light and look at it from across the room. You will be able to analyze it in a completely different way before continuing to the next stages.

Do your best. It goes without saying that sometimes when you’re working on a new project, it’s comforting to know that if you just do your best, it will all work out. If you can tell yourself that you’re doing the best that you can do with the information you have, it will help you push through uncertain moments. Keep pushing and you will see that your efforts pay off!

Paint your world! This project is about observing and enjoying your own space and environment in a new way. Spark your own creative ideas by observing the beauty in the world around you.

SUNFLOWERS

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

-Vincent van Gogh

Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh is best known for his colorful landscapes; haunting, psychologically charged self-portraits; and thick, swirling brushstrokes. After facing a series of personal rejections and disappointments in life, van Gogh found his true calling as a painter. Despite his temperamental persona and failing physical and mental health, van Gogh didn’t let criticism or self-doubt stop him from pursuing his passion. He loved nature and worked exhaustively to achieve his creative vision.

Tragically, van Gogh did not live to see the public recognition his paintings so deeply deserved. His work continues to collectively captivate the world, and his paintings consistently sell at record-breaking prices.

To study van Gogh’s complex work in detail, you first need to arrange a selection of sunflowers to photograph, or find a reference photo that you like. Make sure your image is well-lit and cleanly displayed. You may also want to study van Gogh’s iconic series of sunflower compositions so that you can arrange a bouquet that looks similar to his colorful aesthetic.

I like featuring a lot of flowers, but the rule of thumb is more flowers means a more complicated project. For a less-complicated artwork, choose three sunflowers instead of 12. Then apply a simple 20" x 20" grid on top of the image so that you have visual reference points as you analyze the image.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

20˝ x 20˝ canvas

Paper torn into 1-inch squares, as well as asymmetrical triangular or irregular shapes for the petals

Glue

Sunflowers

Vase

Smartphone

Light source

COLOR PALETTE

Gather a range of bright yellows and golds. Avoid neons or anything too orange. You will see it immediately if you lay down paper that does not match your reference photo, as it will stand out.

Also look for shades of brown and black or even dark red and green colors for the centers of the flowers, depending on your image. In addition, gather light green stem colors and the colors needed for your vase. Try using contrasting foreground and background colors to enhance the overall composition. When in doubt, use your grid to guide your decisionmaking process with colors as you work.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Choose a large seasonal bouquet of sunflowers; then arrange them and place in a vase. Arrange the sunflowers in a way that will highlight their beauty facing the camera.

Use bright studio lighting to enhance your photo shoot or incorporate natural lighting into your image to ensure that your reference photo is well-lit.

Play with the composition: Rearrange things; add or subtract flowers from the vase; and crop the image fairly tightly, leaving limited amounts of foreground and background showing in the composition.

Once you’re done shooting and editing your images, choose your favorite one.

Print the photo on large 11˝ x 17˝ colored paper. You may need to use two pieces of paper to split the image and tape it together manually to fit the entire image onto a single page.

Draw or digitally add a 1-inch grid over your chosen image. Measure your lines carefully. This spacing on the sunflower image will correspond to the spacing on the canvas, with the same exact number of squares on each surface.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Start with anchors. Choose 15 squares on the canvas that you can easily identify. Simply scan the reference image and select a range of diverse colors and areas that you see throughout the composition. Using a pen, mark out the designated spaces on the canvas with an X. These markers are called “anchors” and will help you get started quickly and choose the correct color palette.

Pour a medium amount of glue into your glue tray. Filled the marked spaces with magazine paper. Be meticulous with your cuts and how you lay the paper down onto the canvas in the proper orientation. Do your best to replicate the colors in the reference image.

It’s easy to make careless mistakes if you are not careful, are rushing, or feel overtired. The grid is there to help guide you.

STEP 2

Choose another set of 10 to 15 easily identifiable squares to lay down on the canvas. Continue choosing sets of squares, gluing down each square and adding layers of color to complete the spaces.

STEP 3

Go from the easiest squares to the most difficult ones, and repeat as many times as necessary to complete your piece.

MORE TIPS

It’s OK if your paper squares overlap in some areas. By overlapping or linking squares and laying papers next to each other in an offset way, you can blend the paper colors. This creates a visual effect that you may want to experiment with in other areas of the canvas.

After a few batches of anchor squares, you will want to find series of groupings called “island chains,” building up like the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

Play with how technically precise you want to make the size of the square you are cutting. Delicately place the paper squares on the canvas with your fingers in their proper position and orientation so that the squares don’t slip or fall off by mistake. I almost always glue as I go and work slowly.

Do not cover the outer edges of the canvas at the beginning of your project. Instead, use anchors that allow you to work on the central area of the canvas and gradually work your way to the outer edges of the canvas.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Van Gogh made many variations on his sunflowers, using different vases and numbers of flowers in different pieces. Try experimenting with different compositions and color patterns using the grid technique.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Use the best flowers you can find, and arrange them in a way that highlights them as the central subject of your piece.

Experiment with different ideas before you choose a final photo composition. Take many pictures and see what looks best. In my experience, a great reference photo usually makes a great collage.

Make sure to do the necessary editing and composition changes before you begin collaging your picture. It’s difficult to add or remove elements after the photograph is in use.

Tap into the expressive impasto style used by van Gogh to create movement in his art. Use layers of paper to build up flower petals with a three-dimensional quality.

LANDSCAPE IN COLOR

“We become intoxicated with color, with words that speak of color, and with the sun that makes colors brighter.”

-André Derain

A gifted French painter, André Derain worked with Henri Matisse at a key moment during a transitional period of modern art history. Together, Derain and Matisse would explore cutting-edge painting techniques and produce some of the world’s most transformative colorful landscape paintings.

Derain used short, choppy brushstrokes that looked like tiny grenades of color seeming to burst off the canvas like wild fireworks exploding in the sky. This nuanced style of painting known as “Fauvism” was somewhat short-lived, but it influenced future art movements.

This next art lesson will help you create your own version of a colorful Fauvist landscape. André Derain was a master artist who constructed his landscapes with care. It will take practice to see colors and transform them into something truly different, but it can be a fun challenge to seek a new or familiar picturesque destination and build your own collages.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

18˝ x 24˝ canvas

Paper torn into various rounded cloud shapes, teardrops, and columns

Glue

Smartphone or camera

High-quality reference photo of a colorful landscape that includes trees

COLOR PALETTE

Choose complementary colors, such as orange, purple, light and dark blue, brick red, and lime green. Avoid high-contrast black or white.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Using a smartphone as my only essential tool, I enjoy walking or hiking outside to photograph my favorite grove of local trees. I hope that you can take some time to capture your own uplifting landscape images.

You could also use a garden scene, house or building, neighborhood, or park. These are all great alternatives if there aren’t trees near you.

When you’re done, look through the images and choose the photo with the most interesting or dynamic composition.

Crop the image as you want, considering how Derain might have chosen to crop his image. Envision the colors you want to use and plan your artwork as much as possible before you get started.

This is a good time to autocorrect any colors in your image. You may want to saturate or alter the colors to give your photograph a new look or perspective.

Then print the image, or use a free app on your phone to apply a virtual color grid over the image.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Now it’s time to begin your artwork. If you want to build an accurate model based on your reference photo, use a similarly sized canvas and draw the same grid lines on the reference image, as well as on the canvas. If you are painting a larger landscape, you don’t need a larger reference photo. Just maintain your 1:1 ratio.

On your canvas, draw a 1-inch grid. Try to be as exact as possible, and be aware that not all canvases are perfectly straight. Then label your grid with letters and numbers. Do not cover the letters and numbers with paper until you are almost finished with the collage.

Using the reference image as a guide, carefully draw outlines of the trees and other details in your scene. Focus on the essential features of the landscape, without adding shading or lots of details.

Choose colors for each space. You can write the colors in the shapes if you like.

STEP 2

Pour glue and begin filling your landscape image with complementary colors from the magazines you have selected. Cut and paste your colors with even layers.

STEP 3

With collage, it’s important to work in stages. I like to use fairly small squares or pieces of paper so that my lines don’t overlap and I remain in control of how the image is developing.

While you are building your picture, don’t worry about adding shading or filling the picture with details. Instead, use flat colors. Use the grid to simplify the shapes and colors you see into something more basic and expressive.

STEP 4

Choose bright colors like a bright pink sky or lemon-lime grass to fill entire areas of the canvas.

Make sure to cut any sharp edges from the magazine paper before gluing onto the canvas for a softer, more delicate look.

Pour a final layer of glue over the canvas and the magazine paper once the art is finished. Allow it to dry overnight before handling.

MORE TIPS

A master artist can make a landscape painting look deceptively simple. However, it’s often an extra piece added at the end of the collage process that can change the entire artwork for the better.

Try simplifying the overall look of your project, rather than overworking it with too many layers. Avoid being too technically precise—this is art! Instead, choose bold, bright colors to capture a more romantic side of your subject.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

In my opinion, the real magic is the final 10 percent of squares added during the completion of the collage. Be patient and don’t give up before you have seen the real fruits of your labor.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Follow the reference grid as a roadmap. The grid gives you good visual parameters and will keep you from going too far outside the creative lines. If you get lost, you can always come back to the reference composition and fix any problems.

With that, I encourage you to step back from your work frequently. Avoid making big, spontaneous changes to your project if you are feeling uncertain about your progress. Sometimes it’s good to sleep on a major decision instead of making an impulsive decision that you may regret.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Your landscape image should be a color mash-up and need not reflect the true color tones in the photograph. Instead, be bold and have fun changing what you see into a new reality!

Experiment with using the grid and your chosen photo in a more fluid way. Don’t be afraid to go outside the lines or make edits to the composition as you see fit. Use your intuition to add or subtract distracting elements, without working from exactly what you see.

BLACK-AND-WHITE SELFIE

“Every idea occurs while you are working. If you are sitting around waiting for inspiration, you could sit there forever.”

-Chuck Close

Chuck Close was a world-renowned painter and photographer, best known for his large-scale portraiture and use of innovative photography techniques.

Like the pointillist painter Georges Seurat, Chuck Close discovered ways to painstakingly render a series of lines and dots onto the canvas. Close developed his own colorful type of eccentric geometric hieroglyph brushstroke pattern. Over and over, he painted a series of circles and lines on the canvas.

Close used a relatively simple grid technique to break down his photographic reference images into tiny, bite-sized sections. He drew simple graph lines on a photograph or positioned a laminate sheet over the top of his image, finding the perfect spacing to highlight special features in his subjects. Close found his authentic artistic voice by turning the camera lens on himself for inspiration and using the same image repeatedly.

In this project, you will explore using your own likeness as the inspiration for a black-and-white collage portrait. You will try to capture the tiny yet important features that you see, without losing sight of the bigger picture (yourself).

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

24˝ x 30˝ canvas

Magazine paper cut with scissors or craft knife into 1-inch (or smaller) squares

Glue

Scissors or craft knife

Optional: mirror

Smartphone

Viewfinder

COLOR PALETTE

Select black and white squares, as well as shades of gray.

PART 1: SETTING UP

There are many ways to take a self-image that you can use as a reference photo in this lesson. (Perhaps you have hundreds of images of your face stored on your phone, ready to be uploaded specifically with this project in mind!)

To capture my own self-portrait, I used my smartphone camera to get as close as possible. If you have a fancier studio setup or prefer natural light to get those good tones, that’s great too!

Take multiple images of yourself. Don’t be too picky yet; just take a range of faces and angles. I like to use a three-quarter pose to really capture my key features.

Do a quick study of Chuck Close’s paintings to better understand his composition style. Then choose your favorite image.

Use bright studio lighting to enhance your photo, or incorporate natural lighting into your image to make sure that it is well-lit.

With an editing app, adjust your image to a black-and-white filter setting. This may influence how you feel about the composition. Then print the image.

Draw or digitally add a 1-inch grid over your image. Measure your grid lines carefully! The spacing on your portrait will correspond with the spacing on the canvas, with the same exact squares on both pictures.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Pour a moderate amount of glue into your glue tray. Choose individual anchor squares on the canvas that you can easily identify. Because this image is black-and-white, it will help to focus on the most contrasting color squares on the canvas first.

STEP 2

Reassess your reference image, and choose the next set of 10 to 15 squares to cut and paste. Chunk out small sections of similarly colored squares using grayscale squares, connecting these strings of color together like island chains to anchor points throughout the canvas. Notice where specific landmarks line up along particular areas of the mouth, chin, and nose. These key identifiers will give you confidence as you build your portrait.

Use the viewfinder tool to find the simplest squares on the reference image. Finish those areas first so you can move on to the more complex spaces of the picture like a jigsaw puzzle.

STEP 3

Find a mental rhythm as you are cutting and pasting your picture. There is a natural rhythm in the art-making process and it becomes more enjoyable as you work. This is often called the “flow state” and I experience it frequently when I’m working on a project that I really enjoy.

In complex parts of the portrait, you can use stacked layers of paper for different visual effects.

Don’t try working on the most challenging sections of the canvas at the beginning of the project; this can be intimidating and may lead to failure. Instead, work your way around the more complex areas of your picture by first identifying the easiest sections and pasting those down, and then moving on.

STEP 4

It takes me about twelve 1-inch squares around each eye to give it true depth and a natural look.

Build it out. Once you have the first eye staring back at you, make both eyes in sections, and then bridge the face across the nose like a pair of goggles.

During this step, a likeness will most certainly emerge from your picture. You should begin to feel connected with your collage in a new way. If not, you need to continue to work on some of the extra details to enhance those signature traits to make the portrait stand out.

STEP 5

Use the skills you’ve learned so far to continue your portrait. Expand and attack other areas of the face that need more specific attention.

Next, focus on the nose, mouth, chin, neck, beard, ears, hairline, shoulders, and other areas. Address these one square at a time. These individual squares are the building blocks to capture larger features of the face. Build various layers and connect them to each other smoothly and accurately.

Other basic areas on the face are much more straightforward and flat, like the cheeks and forehead. Make sure the gray colors you are using blend smoothly and realistically.

Working analytically, you will see new insights emerge from your picture over time. With these new insights, you will have to make slight adjustments as you go. Adjust the image by adding papers slowly to avoid overcorrecting your artwork.

IF YOU GET STUCK

Sometimes you may not know how to move forward with your picture. It’s OK to put down a project for a few days or weeks. I have let some projects sit for weeks, not really understanding how to fix them or what is wrong.

Suddenly, I’ll get an instinct to change one or two squares, and I begin to unlock myself mentally and start working on the picture again. Sometimes one tiny change will allow me to continue the project with ease until it is complete.

STEP 6

Fill in the remaining squares on your canvas, connecting more and more of your picture as you move into its final phase of completion and adjust layers of colors as you go.

When the paper covers the entire canvas, the grid will naturally disappear. However, it’s always possible to reestablish that grid if you need it again for any reason. Keep this in mind as you make your final adjustments or change the picture for a greater sense of structure and security until you are really finished.

Pour a final layer of acrylic medium glue onto the canvas, spread it evenly with a gloved hand, and let it rest for at least six hours or a day before handling it or hanging on the wall.

MORE TIPS

Choosing and studying the image before you begin the artwork is an important part of the creative process.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

As you work on your picture, the grayscale can seem to shift as you add more shades of gray to different areas of the canvas. This mirage effect will possibly alter what you see at times. Go slowly, and don’t make the mistake of overediting your portrait or second-guessing your decision-making process. It takes a delicate balance to make subtle changes that can help or harm your picture as you make small changes to the face. Be careful!

Play with how technically precise you want to make the sizes of your squares. Make sure to place the paper squares delicately on the canvas with your fingers in their proper position and orientation so that they don’t slip or move by mistake.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

I don’t recommend trying this project as your first collage piece unless you feel very comfortable using paper collage. In my opinion, it really is one of the most analytical projects in the book and is best done in a slow, sequential fashion for best results.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Grayscale can be easier to use because you only have to deal with shadow shading, rather than the full spectrum of colors in the color wheel.

This is a fun selfie project, and it’s a bit of a mental challenge to dig deep and see yourself as the subject. You must first take a quality reference image of yourself with the idea of creating a piece of art using that image. Set yourself up for success by taking lots of images and choosing one wisely.

New values will come to light as you work. You can’t anticipate everything all at once; you have to work with the grid and see what needs to be adjusted later.

A project of this size and scale takes mental discipline. Set small goals and take frequent breaks to analyze your work. Document your work and make adjustments as you go.

PAINTERLY PORTRAIT

“Creativity takes courage.”

-Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse is one of the most well-known and influential painters of the contemporary modern era. He was a prolific French artist whose early work contributed to innovative ideas and concepts that remain as important today as when they were developed more than 100 years ago.

Matisse found that using complementary colors in his work and focusing on certain opposing color combinations could be used to create a brighter, bolder, and more impactful kind of imagery.

Matisse didn’t necessarily try to paint accurate landscapes or people. The faces of his subjects were colorful, brave interpretations of the people themselves, not anchored to reality but by his own loose interpretations of them.

After a successful career as a painter and in failing health, Matisse turned to collage art. He painted and cut large sheets of paper and pinned them to the wall in various colorful arrangements.

This next lesson combines many of Matisse’s key ideas and techniques to create your own original and colorful collage portrait. Use photography to capture a face, and then simplify the image in an almost childlike illustrative way. Strive to create a portrait that is painterly and that emphasizes emotional elements in the most simple, expressive way possible.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pen

18˝ x 24˝ canvas

Paper cut into a wide variety of sizes of squares and shapes

Glue

Smartphone or camera

Model or muse

COLOR PALETTE

Select light complementary colors, including variations of green, orange, pink, and purple.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Have a friend or family member sit down in a chair to be photographed. I like to take at least five to 10 close-up images of the person so that I have plenty of options. You may need to take more if the person seems guarded or uncomfortable.

Matisse advised his models to think about a funny story from beginning to end. This gave his models something to do as he painted their portrait or took their picture.

Choose your favorite image. You should avoid using multiple images or switching images once you have begun.

Crop the photo and correct any colors you may want to change. This photo will be your working reference image, so be sure to make any changes now.

Choose an appropriately sized canvas that corresponds with your reference image.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Using the reference image, draw a to-scale outline of your subject’s face on the canvas. Mark the canvas to help identify certain key items and colors.

Then pour your glue and put on gloves to protect your hands.

STEP 2

Begin with the face. Imagine a line down the center of it and divide the portrait into two equal, opposing sides with different colors.

Select two skin-tone colors (one lighter and one darker) and fill in the face with these two contrasting shades.

STEP 3

Work on the eyes. Using magazine paper to achieve a lifelike gaze can be a pivotal part of the portrait project. Carefully cut and paste one tiny square at a time and stack the magazine shapes on top of one another like a mosaic to achieve a realistic eye.

It can take many squares to build up the eye accurately. Make sure the tiny squares link up and connect like tightly fit puzzle pieces.

STEP 4

Texture is an important part of this portrait. The hair of the girl in my picture (who is my daughter Simone) offers a great opportunity to use real collage elements like flowers or other textiles. I’ve also used texture in her clothes to create an interesting juxtaposition. This contrasts with the smooth surfaces of her face and skin. Along with color, use your subject’s best qualities to balance key elements.

Finish up the details of the portrait by filling in the spaces of the canvas. Make sure that the paper squares on the face blend evenly. The skin of your subject should look smooth and seamless; don't leave blank canvas or marker lines exposed.

Pour a fine layer of glue over the canvas once you are finished. This can be done in multiple stages and layers throughout the collage-making process.

MORE TIPS

Study your reference image and consider the way that Matisse used complementary colors in his portraits. Always look to simplify the way you express the features of the face without making your art look too cartoonish or illustrative. This can be a delicate balance of features, especially in children.

Whether it’s in the hair, the subtlety of the eyelashes, or the center of the eye, the tiny extra pieces you add can really contribute to the picture you aspire to create as a whole. Try simplifying the overall look of your project rather than having your art seem overworked or too technically precise.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

This project is about simplicity and not getting caught up in the multitude of details. In terms of speed, this should be one of the more quickly created projects because it is not as technically driven. Rather, it’s a picture that relies on your quick impressions and creative flow.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS & VARIATIONS

Impressionists and Fauvists used flat, bold color to express emotional content. The eye is the window to the soul and key to your success. Use the magazine paper to help you achieve an accurate likeness.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Rather than relying solely on your drawing skills, use the grid to help develop a hybrid sketch of your subject (half grid/half freehand drawn). The grid can help you draw an accurate sketch.

You don’t have to produce the exact color schemes that you see in the reference photograph. Experiment by deliberately changing colors in the face as they are presented in your reference image. You can bend the rules or add your own type of visual color filters through the paper you select, as Matisse did.

Comparing and contrasting textures is a great way to develop interesting tension in your composition. Hair, skin, and clothes are all opportunities for this and can be highlighted differently.

Focus on making the eyes appear as realistic as possible with layering. Stack the paper shapes of color on top of each other, one square at a time.

Creating portraits of friends or relatives is an easy way to practice your craft. Use a smartphone to capture and edit a tightly composed close-up photograph.

CAT

“Is there a more mysterious idea than to imagine how nature is reflected in the eyes of animals?”

-Franz Marc

Franz Marc was a German expressionist artist who began his relatively short career as a painter after visiting Paris, where he befriended two important artists, Wassily Kandinsky and August Macke. Together, Franz Marc and his colleagues formed an influential art group called The Blue Rider. They used color as the basis for their ideas to form a kind of spiritual symbolism in their work.

Marc believed that colors held a deeper, more existential meaning. He also felt that animals possessed an intrinsic, “godlike” quality that he sought to capture in his paintings. Marc felt, as I do, that art can help heal humanity and connect people back to their forgotten spiritual roots.

This lesson uses primary colors to create an expressionist, emotionally charged animal portrait. I’ve used one of my favorite photographs of my own cat that I took using my smartphone. I’ve worked directly from my phone, using my reference image with a free smartphone grid app to which I’ve applied a simple 24" x 24" color grid.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

Ruler

Pencil or marker

24˝ x 24˝ canvas

Art paper and magazines torn into ½- and 1-inch square shapes for the detailed areas of the face of the cat. Use larger colored shapes for the chest, neck, and background areas.

Scissors or craft knife

Glue

Smartphone if using a grid app, plus a free downloadable grid app

Your digital pet image

COLOR PALETTE

Find bright primary colors for the background to express emotion. Select a range of neutral fur colors, hair, and flesh tones for the animal.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Look through images of your favorite pet or animal. Make sure the image is large enough to see the details clearly. Take pictures in the daytime to ensure good lighting, and make sure you have a wide range of images to choose from before you decide which picture is right for the project.

You may need to zoom in or crop the picture to get a better view of the details of the face of your pet. The photos app on your smartphone has basic sizing templates to help you crop your picture. Play with the settings and see if you can improve the clarity of the photo. Draw a grid on your canvas.

Using the reference image as a guide, carefully draw a light outline of your pet, focusing on the essential features of the outer perimeter of the animal. This outline is to differentiate the background from the foreground.

Pour a small amount of acrylic glue into your glue tray and put on some gloves to protect your hands while you work.

PART 2: WORKING IN STAGES

STEP 1: ANCHORING STAGE

Begin by studying your image and looking for initial areas you want to start working with. Mark out 10 spaces throughout your canvas with an X. The squares should have a range of colors and textures.

First fill those X’s by dipping your papers in glue and then pasting them directly over the X’s. Select colors that are easily identifiable to you and paste them accordingly. Use your creativity to replicate the colors in each square by matching the information you gather from the reference photo image.

Cut and paste your colors and place them with a smooth, even pressure so they adhere securely to the canvas. Glue the paper by dipping the back of the paper into the glue pot. Press the square down onto the canvas, and gently wipe away any excess glue as you set it down.

As you work, take pictures of your art in various stages. It's fun to look back at the progress you have made that you may not have appreciated while you struggled away. Notice what is working and what is not working and continue to be honest with and kind to yourself. There will be times of doubt that will distract you from your progress.

STEP 2: EYE STAGE

Switch your creative attention to the most important feature of your pet: the eyes.

STEP 3: CHUNK IT OUT STAGE

Once the eyes are finished, steadily build out your picture by adding many more tiny magazine squares throughout the face.

Make sure to blend the different layers of magazine paper by adding extra “bridging layers” that seamlessly connect two or more varying colors.

When it comes to texture, it's OK for paper squares or shapes to touch and/or overlap to achieve a blended effect like tiles on a roof. You can use paper to build up or allow a bit of bubbling to take shape.

STEP 4: DETAILING STAGE

Develop the details of your portrait by making smaller cuts and adding extra layers of paper to your collage image. Look closely at the ears, nose, mouth, chin, and whiskers of your animal. Use smaller scissors or a craft knife to cut out and embellish the important details of the face, but be sure not to overdo it!

Finish up the important details of the portrait by filling in the spaces of the canvas in a systematic way. Tack down any loose flaps of paper that did not get glued down completely and work the glue into the nooks and crannies. Again, it is important to work in stages to make the necessary additions or adjustments while eliminating errors.

If a particular section seems underdeveloped or too busy or looks incongruent somehow, investigate that space more by observing the coordinates of your photo again, and retrace your steps to understand the logic of the decision that you made.

Ask yourself which square is giving you the biggest problem in your picture. Fix that square or area first and go from there. Reassess the situation and move on. Don’t overcorrect!

STEP 5: BACKGROUND STAGE

You can really make your picture “pop” by adding a colorful background design feature to your composition, and it is a great time to use dynamic, colorful art paper ideas to achieve this goal.

STEP 6: FINAL STAGE

Make any final changes or additions to your picture. Sit with your art for a few days and study it carefully. The grid you have been using should essentially be hidden from sight now. You will need to use your creative eye to make any final alternations to the art.

If you feel tired, rest, but always be critical to make good decisions. Be kind to yourself as you work, and be mindful with each extra square you paste down so as not to waste time.

Walk across the room and observe your in-progress artwork from a distance. What do you see that is different now from when you were up close? Are there any changes that you could make with this new information? If so, make those changes now without hesitation.

Once you feel you are truly finished, pour a final layer of glue over the canvas.

MORE TIPS

Every creative project starts with a leap of faith. Be patient with the process and have fun with it, even in uncertainty.

MAKING EDITS & ADJUSTMENTS

Often it comes down to adding or subtracting a few extra key pieces of paper to capture that brilliant essence you have been searching for at the end of a project. Be diligent in this pursuit and use the skills you have learned throughout this book to help solve any problems you might encounter.

There are always ups and downs while making art—but hang in there until you reach a critical place of “no return.” Persevere through the down times and you will thank yourself later for your focused efforts.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

Follow the reference photo grid as a roadmap. The grid gives you important visual parameters that keep you from going too far outside the creative lines. If you get lost or stuck, you can always come back to the fixed composition, using the grid to fix any targeted problems.

Be careful not to make too many alterations or changes in one area before the paper has had a chance to adequately dry on the canvas. Sometimes, colors can fluctuate for a period of time (one to six hours) and can be difficult to identify if you continue to add layers without the picture drying properly.

FINAL THOUGHTS

You will find a tipping point after having worked diligently for some time. This means you will start to see a likeness of your pet that is indistinguishably your own. Keep working hard to get to that moment, and you will have the creative “wind at your back” from that point on.

Animals represent a deep connection and relationship with nature throughout history. To me, it feels like a spiritual experience to be able to connect and somehow capture that innate natural wonder through art. To witness and experience art through our love of animals brings great joy.

DOG

“Every creative project starts with a leap of faith.”

-Samuel Price

I started making collages around 2001, when I decided to immerse myself in art by Chuck Close, Pablo Picasso, and David Hockney. I was trying to understand their incredible creative breakthrough techniques and was mystified by their keen perspective as visual artists.

One day, I began adding magazines to my drawings as a quick attempt to mock up color-pattern ideas over my sketches. This had a huge impact on the direction of my art. I continued to add small paper squares throughout my pictures and had somewhat of a revelation about using collage this way.

I quickly realized I could also incorporate a hand-drawn grid into my own photographs in a similar way to the one used by Chuck Close for many of his own large-scale paintings. But instead, I could transfer the idea to collage to achieve a very accurate likeness of any subject. The materials cost me little to no money and there was an infinite amount of ideas to explore using this paper-grid system.

Later that year, I was commissioned by a close friend to do a portrait of her dog who had recently passed away. I had never made a dog collage before. I was used to making black-and-white compositions exclusively and was nervous about how color would translate using my new technique.

It took me several weeks to complete the artwork, but I slowly built the picture up square by square. As I worked, my confidence began to rise. I enjoyed how the picture was beginning to take shape and my final goal felt attainable.

I brought the piece to my friend one day before work and she immediately hugged me, thanked me, and started crying. In a very short time, I became known in my local community as the “dog artist.” Since that time, I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of clients around the world to create special custom collage pet portraits.

To highlight their true personality and unique essence, I always try my best to reflect the personality of the pets that I’m working with. Our pets are not just accessories to our lives, and these collages become part of those lasting memories.

Through thousands of hours of practice, I have found a sense of joy and gratitude being able to express my creativity in this unique way. I will continue to do this type of artwork for the rest of my life. I’m glad to share this fun technique with you and hope it brings you countless hours of creative joy as well.

PROJECT MATERIALS & TOOLS

A range of paper based on the specific color(s) of your pet cut into mostly 1- to 1½- inch squares, as well as a wide range of small, irregular shapes

Reference image

Gloves

Acrylic glue

Scissors

Craft knife

Viewfinder

20˝ x 20˝ canvas

Ruler

COLOR PALETTE

The palette will depend upon your photo image. My dog has a beautiful brown-and-white brindle that I’ve tried to capture and emulate. He also has a short hair texture pattern that I’m looking for in my magazines. I’ve used a less colorful background for a more sophisticated design choice.

PART 1: SETTING UP

Choose your reference image. Animal photos can be challenging to capture. Experiment with different shots and angles. Observe what other photographers are doing online and notice how they frame their pets. Try mimicking their style and shot selection if you need help.

It’s certainly OK to use an existing image of your own pet or borrow an image from a friend who’s given you permission. Think about showing your dog or other pet in their best light.

Once you’ve decided on the right picture, crop and edit it to highlight the color and composition. I like to zoom in on the facial features because it allows viewers to see the personality of the animal, especially in the eyes.

The photo that I’ve used is of Archie the whippet. For this lesson, I’m going to zoom in tightly so I can see the details of his face clearly.

Next, print your large-scale reference image to 20˝ by 20˝.

When you have your printed image ready, grid both your reference photo and canvas into 1-inch squares.

Always wear gloves and other protective equipment to protect your skin and clothes while you work.

Pour a medium amount of acrylic medium into your glue tray.

PART 2: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Study your reference image and choose 15 individual anchor squares on the canvas that you can easily identify and replicate using magazine paper.

STEP 2

Cut the squares from the magazines, one at a time, and paste those squares onto your canvas. Use scissors or a craft knife to make selective cuts to fill in your canvas. Because the grid is square, it’s important to cut similarly sized 1-inch squares to fill in the sections you are focusing on. Use the reference image to select a wide range of colors on the canvas.

STEP 3

Use the viewfinder tool to help you see colors more accurately within the magazines you are searching through. If you can’t find what you are looking for, get a new magazine!

STEP 4

Look to finish those initial areas you marked with an X first, before moving onto other sections of the picture.

Save the most challenging sections of the portrait, like the nose and mouth, for later. It can be easy to lose your way if you are multitasking in the complex areas and feel discouraged. Instead, identify the easiest sections of the portrait first and paste those squares down, and then move on to the more difficult sections.

STEP 5

Next, target the eye area of the dog. This is the most important area of your pet portrait.

Use the magazines to build them up in layers, stacking paper with multiple squares and other small shapes over one another and linking them like a chain, creating the illusion of depth and distance in the eyes.

In general, it should take about 12 individual 1-inch squares around each eye to give it true depth and a realistic quality.

STEP 6

Once you have the first eye staring back at you, transition to working on the second eye, as well as the brow and high cheekbone areas. During this time, a likeness will most certainly emerge from your picture. You should begin to see your dog or cat staring back at you in a somewhat eerie and exciting way. Every square you add should export that likeness and add to the greater picture.

STEP 7

Working on the background can be done fairly quickly and with a less analytical reference to the reference photo. Have fun with this concept and enjoy experimenting with creative background designs.

STEP 8

Now turn your attention to the nose and mouth, ears, and hair of your dog. Allow yourself to make smaller, more detailed cuts that you can layer over your anchor squares.

Again, this is a process of layering and adding and subtracting as necessary. It’s important not to overwork your project.

When the paper has covered the entire canvas, the grid will naturally disappear underneath the background. Make final adjustments until you are really finished. Add a last glaze of glue over the piece and let it dry.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is a detail-oriented project and requires that you go slowly.

You don’t need to worry about the entire portrait all at once. Instead, try to select each tiny square with precision. Over time, this will yield very realistic results.

Hopefully, with the completion of this project, you have started a process of learning and creative development that you can enjoy for a lifetime and share with others.

Thank you for your time and attention. I wish you the best of luck in your ongoing artistic journey.

This project is one of the most complicated in the book, and I would recommend starting with the earlier ones before attempting this one. Wait until you feel comfortable with paper collage to get the most successful results.

GALLERY

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Samuel Price has lived and worked as an artist for more than 20 years. He makes intricate handmade collage compositions using tiny paper squares cut from magazines. His work has appeared on book covers, in art galleries, and in large public art exhibitions across the United States.

Price is best known for his highly detailed custom pet portraiture. His innovative grid-collage technique is quite simple to learn, however, and his use of magazine paper can be applied to a wide range of classical artistic themes.

Sam lives with his beautiful wife and three children—Sidney, Simone, and Nola—in San Francisco, where he regularly teaches a range of collage workshops to students and practicing artists across the globe.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my three children:
Nola, Simone, and Sidney.

May you always have the courage to pursue
your biggest, boldest dreams.

Thank you…

Many thanks to a wonderful community of friends and family who have helped support me in various ways.

I want to say a special thank you to my amazing wife, Leah, who did all of the photography for this book and was a crucial creative advisor from the beginning. You are my fearless, lifelong friend and I will love you always.

Thank you to Leslie Jonath for your kind spirit, believing in this book, and helping me find my voice through your ongoing support and consideration.

Thank you also to Chris Navratil for listening to my ambitious ideas about art and pointing me in the right direction toward pursuing my dreams as an author.

Thank you to the many loyal patrons of my handmade collage artwork through the years. I am so grateful to those who have purchased or commissioned my work and have supported my creative passion in various ways. Looking back, I am proud of the journey that has brought me to this moment as an artist. I hope to continue to learn, grow, and experience new creative breakthroughs, and that the best is yet to come.

Thank you to my friends and family who have been there for me through the twists and turns of life. It’s been a wonderful, unexpected ride. I love you all.

And finally, thank you to Rebecca Razo, Annika Geiger, Hailey Toohey, Lydia Anderson, Walter Foster Publishing, and Quarto for publishing this book, which is a small composite of my life’s work.

I am very grateful to each of you for your individual contribution, and for your friendship. Thank you.

Copyright

© 2022 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

Text and artwork © 2022 Samuel Price

First published in 2022 by Walter Foster Publishing, an imprint of The Quarto Group.

100 Cummings Center, Suite 265D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

T (978) 282-9590 F (978) 283-2742 www.quarto.com • www.walterfoster.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

Walter Foster Publishing titles are also available at discount for retail, wholesale, promotional, and bulk purchase. For details, contact the Special Sales Manager by email at specialsales@quarto.com or by mail at The Quarto Group, Attn: Special Sales Manager, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 265D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

ISBN: 978-0-7603-7499-3

Digital edition published in 2022

eISBN: 978-0-7603-7500-6

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