I start by looking through my piles of scrap and see what jumps out...as I mentioned in my previous post, I have a huge hoard of old photos to start the process...I pulled out the ones that were telling a story (perhaps one that I could only hear!) and then made piles of scraps & tidbits for each photo. I prepped all of the scraps, knowing that the editing would come later.
Next, I did a rough composition of each collage, whittling down the scraps and choosing a color palette. For this latest series of collages, I used 1x10x6 pine boards, cut down into smaller sizes of approximately 10" x 10". I like using inexpensive materials for my base...with a solid wood foundation, I can hammer/screw into the wood to attach my found objects and the thickness of the board gives a nice finished edge when painted.
Here's the progression of two different collages...
I left a part of the pine board unpainted so that you could see the grain...thought it fit nicely with the theme. I found a companion photo to my original choice...gives a more cohesive flow with the matching pair.
It's hard to tell from my photo, but the three circles on the upper right side are three small lightbulbs from the stash I recently picked up...the red type came from a solicitation envelope that arrived in the mail...you never know where inspiration will be found! You'll notice that the arrangement changed quite a bit from the beginning to the end...the navy blue paint made me rethink the balance...
Both of these (and many more) will be at my booth at Fresh Paint - Festival of Artists ...hope to see you there!
