I kicked off this year with a hyper focus on making hardbound books, but I also found time to experiment with collage fodder and mark making to create collage papers.

5 Day Collage Kickstarter

Abstract and collage wasn’t initially something that interested me, but I participated in a free 5-day collage kickstarter course in January hosted by
Catherine Rains, and ever since then I’ve been intrigued by the idea of an intuitive approach to creating art.

Each of the five days was really interesting and informative, and focused on showing us how to make papers using different mark making and pattern creation techniques. The workshop culminated in the creation of a 4-grid collage, although I didn’t get that far, because I spent days making different papers, and then got side-tracked.

Besides these technical skills in this collage workshop, there were a couple of key takeaway that really resonated.

1. Limit your Colour Palette

Limiting your colour selection at the beginning of your collage journey really helps to stop you feeling overwhelmed, but has the added benefit of making sure there’s a cohesive look to your collages.

In this 5 day course Catherine recommended choosing two colours, e.g. Red and Yellow, Yellow and Blue, or Blue and Red.

Limiting yourself to two colours isn’t as uninspiring as it sounds. When you mix them together or let them mingle on your page, you have a secondary colour (e.g. orange, blue, and purple). And depending on whether you use equal parts of your two colours, or use more of one colour than another, will create a variety of shades of your secondary colour.

You’re also “allowed” a set of supporting colours to increase your creativity:

• Black and White to use individually, or to adjust the tonal value of your colours.
• Silver and Gold for accenting mark making.

Throw all of those colours and accents into a ring and you’ve got yourself a creative circus, with you as the ringmaster.

2. Set Yourself Some Guidelines

Rather than not knowing where to start, Catherine recommended making some “rules” / guidelines for your 4-section collage grid. Each section is individual, but your guidelines make sure they become a cohesive set. For example:

• Each section will have a circle, have gold dots, and a scrap of paper with text.

I really liked have a set of guidelines. It was like having a map to follow, to keep you going in the right direction. It really helped with the decision making process, and wasn’t constricting at all. In fact it makes the collage process more enjoyable and freeing.

3. Don’t Overthink It

Don’t overthink the decision making process. Just move elements around on the page, and when you get that gut reaction of “that looks good” just go with it.

Don’t second guess yourself, or doubt your decisions.

Just go with your first gut reaction. When you do that – you’re in the zone, and creating intuitively.

This third point it hands-down the most valuable piece of advise when creating collage. Nike cornered the market with “Just Do It”, but when it comes to collage “Just Go With It” wins the race.

There’s a slew of advice and tips in Catherine’s 5 day workshop, so look out for the next time she hosts this event and follow along.

But WARNING – collage is addictive.