MIXED MEDIA ABSTRACT ART

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Often when working with collage, an artist uses painted or pre-printed papers and takes pieces that have been cut or torn into shapes and adheres them to a foundation. This may be a primed (prepared) board or canvas panel. Acrylic medium is usually what I use, and usually the papers are quite saturated and permeated with the medium so they fit tightly over the surface once dry.

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I often do studies on the computer, starting with scans of experimentally created papers, including imagery I may have created on the computer. Studies are often very small,  often 5 x 8". A study can help me find color combinations and textural qualities to look for among the volumes of papers I file according to color. From there I can work out a collage. I might not end up with anything that looks exactly like the study or sketch. Both end up being originals, but not exactly alike.

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Often I am not limited to paper or fabric for making a collage. I may start with an acrylic painted under-surface, and then adhere collage materials over the painted elements. I prefer to keep the underpainting smooth and without texture, so the collage materials will fuse to the surface as much as possible.

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More textured materials can be added over the first layers when dry. I have used sand, found objects,

thick acrylic pigments, used with a palette knife, and more, to achieve a surface with more depth.

In another step, once everything is totally dry, it is also possible to use the buttery pigments of oil colors over all. I love oils because they have a richness and depth even when they are dry.

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Finishing a collage or acrylic painting requires using acrylic varnish (I prefer matte) to seal the surface. If oil has been the last layer of pigment, allow it to dry thoroughly. Then seal it with damaar varnish, which can be removed later for cleaning if ever necessary.

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The above image was also used on a blog Feb. 5,  "Where Visions Gather," in my new blog R. Z. Writestuff.  Click on the link if you would like to read a poem related to the imagery in the image.
  

© by Ruth Zachary