Collage Play with Crowabout

I recently joined an online collage-challenge group:
Collage Play with Crowabout ~ Nancy Baumiller's Flickr group for weekly collage challenges. She supplies us with a collage sheet of random images once a week on Saturdays, and we have until Friday to complete a collage piece of our own using those supplied images.

We're supposed to use at least three of the images in our own piece (though ideally you'd use them all in some fashion), and any other images or mediums are not only allowed but encouraged. I've seen many people use their own imagery in both handpieced paper collage as well as many wonderful digitally produced pieces - however these are my own self-imposed rules for my weekly pages:

1) Must use each & every image Nancy suplies (whether in whole or part)
2) Must use ONLY those images! no other printed or found images or items
3) Tools and media allowed such as paper punches, paints, markers, pens, chalks, etc.

Thought I would use this past week's page to do a step-by-step procedure posting on how I create my pages, which I am doing in a 10" by 7" spiral bound journal book. And here we go!

First thing I do of course is print out Nancy's collage page, on a letter size page of plain white cardstock. I usually adjust the brightness and contrast a bit in Photoshop first, so that the printed images are clear and bright. Then I color my page background, using either watercolors, pastels (chalks), art crayons, or - as in this case - direct to paper inking. I just randomly apply color in two to four shades, contrasting or co-ordinating depending on my whim of the day:

I then cut out all the pieces as they are on the page, and start figuring out what can become what. At this point I don't usually have any idea for an overall page theme or design, I just let it come to me as the individual elements work themselves out. Right off the bat here I see the two orangey striped triangles as legs, and as I try to incorporate a character or figure into all my pages, I know that's where I will start. I cut out bits and pieces until I've created these folks:

I like'em! but now what? Originally I'd intended to use the partial clockface as an umbrella, but once the figures were done I decided I would make it into the arch over the top of a doorway, which led to the idea of having the couple welcoming the viewer into their home. This is where I used the leftover sliver of home interior image and the large wood piece to create the doorway and door. I didn't like the blue BG showing through, so I painted behind that with a mix of ivory and burnt umber craft paints. Though it now looks as though a waterfall is pouring through their entryway - eyeroll

Now my page theme is taking shape ~ I see the cracker images as headstones, so I cut them smaller and add a bit of the text imagery for the "names" , and I decide to stagger them along a path of some sort ... I used the chickenwire image as a fence, and drew in my own path, utilizing my horribly disjointed sense of direction and perspective (is it a tomb tree? a funnelcloud? Jack's beanstalk, or what?!) to make a pathway meandering through the couple's yard, littering it with the dead along the way ...

Finally I add my *handwritten text (PITT pen): "The Bailey's Welcomed Everyone to Stay ... Permanently ..." to show my charming couple inviting you to enter their home, 'cept you don't realize there's only one way out and it ain't the way ya came in!

I also outlined everything in white Signo gelpen to help it standout - and I ink all the edges of the individual pieces with shades of brown before they are glued down to the page, using either Sharpies or inkpads, depending.

Now, I love the couple! and I like the "story" behind it, but overall I don't care for the entire piece as a whole. Yes, I AM my own harshest critic, but don't feel you have to comfort me or boost me up! - 'cause while I am definitely hypercritical, I am also usually my own biggest fan and that side tends to win out in the end : )

*One of the group members had asked for input on how everyone was doing their hadwritten journaling on the pages, and this is what I sent her, thought I'd included it here too for anyone else interested in my own lettering process ...

Take care now and havva GREAT day!
~ gem ~

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First, get some good gel pens and markers (I like Signo gelpen in white, PITT ink pens or ZIG Millenium memory book writers, and of course SHARPIES - note the new Sharpie pens, they are fine line Sharpies in black or blue ink but no bleedthrough on your paper ...

If you look at my 2 most recent Crowabout collages, they both have lettering I did freehand right to the paper. And you can really tell the difference between those and the previous 2 which I did in my USUAL manner of writing, which is:

1) After the collage is done, I write out my text on a piece of scrap paper until I get the exact wording I want.

2) I take a thin sheet of writing or drawing paper (or tracing paper if need be) and lay that over the section of the collage that will be journaled on, drawing an outline of the basic shape of the area in pencil. Then either using a ruler or freehand (depending if I want say, curvy or shaped lines of text) I mark out my lines -

3) I practice writing my text block (still in pencil) on these lines until I get it layed out evenly and spaced how I'd like. Once I'm happy with it -

4) I carefully and LIGHTLY draw pencil guidelines on the collage itself. Then I copy the text from my practice page onto the collage in pencil, (just by eyeballing it, making any adjustments if need be) and once I have THAT done and am satisfied it's exactly how I want it, I go over the lettering in my choice of pen or marker.

5) Gently erase all the pencil marks including the guidelines (this can be a bit tricky if your BG is in say chalk or pastels like alot of mine are!) and then go over the letters again in your pen/marker, this time adding little flourishes or thickening the edges, etc ...

6) Accent with another color marker or outline in contrasting ink, whatever you want and TaDa! you've handlettered your page!

I know it sounds like alot of work and while I don't do EVERY page like this, it is how I prefer to do it (but that's cause I'm a nitpicking perfectionist so take that for what it's worth), but I think you can see the difference in those pages where I have done my method VS freehanding it all the way ... all in all it's at the very least good practice at lettering so that eventually you'll be able to just write away directly to your pages :)

Hope that helps give you some idea of how to go about it and that you see not all of us are supremely talented at journaling and handlettering - we gotta work at it! (though I do envy those who can just straight up write the page out freehand and have it look all font-perfect, grrr!)
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Zetti Postcard Process

Zetti Postcard 6 (Mine)
Originally uploaded by gemgirlart

I just finished a set of postcards for a Zetti-themed swap at Swap-Bot and thought I'd share my process step by step, so you can see how easy (and fun!) it is to make some really cool art. I originally made 5 cards but I am documenting the process on the 6th card (the one I decided I had to make and keep for myself 'cause I was getting very attached to the others and feeling like I didn't wanna send them off ... ) I added pictured of each step, like I usually do - I tried to keep them small here but click on them to view fullsize and see the details better. So here we go!

I start almost all my collage pieces - but the Zetti-inspired work specifically - with a handpainted background paper. Whenever I have some extra time with no projects going on (or I'm just bored & in the mood to make BGs!) I make a batch of handpainted papers so I always have a stash handy for other projects - most are watercolor or acrylic washes on watercolor paper, the kind I make using the "salt" effect. (If I haven't posted a technique tutorial on that yet, I will try to get one up soon). I cut the paper down to size for whatever I am making, in this case 4x6 cards for a postcard swap. I build my layers starting with the base (the cut-down BG paper, prepainted) then add some rubberstamping, usually with a large background or text-block type stamp, or a foam stamp in one of those architectural designs (fleur-de-lis, gothic crosses, whatever looks cool at the time). I switch off between using ink colors that coordinate or contrast, depending on my mood. Here I am using a golden yellow chalk ink and a large harlequin BG stamp:

Next I move on to the collage pieces. I work with alot of different image sources - from vintage image CDs or collage sheets I have purchased, vintage photos I've found or bought and then scanned, magazines of all kinds: high fashion mags are great for interesting faces and eyes, plus the clothing has cool patterns for turning into crowns or hats or even new "clothes" for your collage person; I love using fishing magazines for fishbodies and eyes; garden mags for birds and butterflies - even junk mail gets saved if it has cool images I can use later. Another great source for images, especially vintage ones is in the Flick'r groups. Now, I don't mean go into Flick'r and just use anyones images whenever you like - I am talking about specific groups that are set up for this and allow access to their images for use in artwork (alot of times they are public domain images that people have uploaded, but please read all the rules of whatever group you join before ya just download & print, mmmkay?)
So! In this case what I've done is cut out some ladies heads from fashion mags and then worked on finding new eyes to go with each face. I look for ones that give the face some odd character or an unusual expression (TIP: turn the new eyes UPSIDE DOWN, it gives them that real weirdly creeped out effect), even if they are too big for the head, you can either leave them if you like that look, or trim them to fit the face, whatever you want. Cutout a bunch of eyes and mix and match them to the faces until you get the perfect one (You'll know, it's the one that grabs your attention and makes you say "Yep, that's it!")




After I get the faces done - eyes chosen and glued down, faces cutout and trimmed down if need be, I sometimes edge them with ink or a Sharpie - then I move on to the bodies. I like to use fish or bird bodies, or cutout some kind of random body-blob shape from a magazine page (look for cool patterns on clothing, textured-y backgrounds like hair from shampoo ads, a blue sky with some clouds, whatever!) I decided to go with text background (from an old Jules Verne biography thats in French) for the vintagey look of the paper, the texture of the text, - it's interesting in itself but still with a sorta neutral nature that will let the rest of the collage stand out. I cut them into triangular shapes and gave the pieces a bit of color with a chocolate brown dye-ink pad, just randomly swiping it around a little and edging all the sides real good. I attach the heads, and look: my little beauties are starting to take shape!




At this point I have my final layout pretty much set; once I get the basic collage shapes done, I can see what their sizes are in relation to each other and I take a minute to arrange them on my background, moving them around a bit, maybe flipping or turning the BG paper to see what looks best. Once I have it in my mind how they'll be going onto the page, I can add the other elements - this way I can make sure I keep everything sized right and in balance. So! I work on finishing the bodies now, adding wings or arms or legs ... I use alot of butterfly wings!, I know! but the trick so they don't always look the same, is to maybe only use half the wing, and just on one side of the body - or, turn them upside down - or, add two pairs together ... you know: be creative! I made a pair of wings out of a dog's ears from a magazine ad (he was a ... what's the one? Papillon? and doesn't that mean butterfly in French? HAHA! figures ...) Also mascara ads are great - the "swipes" from the wand, you cut them into the right shape and tada! black & white striped wings, hooray! Anyway here's what they look like so far (and yes I work a bit messy. It's okay.)




Time for some accessories - if you're a fan of Zetti you know a big part of that is usually the incorporation of crowns and dunce-cap style hats. Now, not everyone likes those and that's cool - I don't think they HAVE to be included to be considered Zetti, 'cause you're supposed to do whatever comes to you creatively and not just stick to some set of "rules", right? Right now I do add them 'cause I DO like them. But you do whatever ya want, ya herr me? Look, see: I gave one gal a headband instead (cause I really loved her red hair and didn't wanna cover it all up)




Nowwwww were starting to look like something, here! In between steps I always put the figures back in their places in my layout, to keep testing if I still like it that way and make sure everything is fitting together well. In this case I actually found something I wanted to change (see if you can spot it in the next picture!), so I made that adjustment and then when I was sure everything was just how I wanted it, I glued the collage pieces down to the background. By the way I am just using a glue stick for all this work, in case you were wondering. And my current favorite is this Extra Strength glue stick by Elmers - it's about an inch wide, goes on sooooo nice and smooth, has excellent adhesion, and - IT'S NOT COLORED BLUE OR PURPLE! (well, actually if you really look at it, it's got a very faint blueishgreen tint, but ... nothin' like those creepy blue or purple ones. ewww.) And now that my pieces are glued down, it's time for the finish work:



What I do is gather up some assorted markers and gel pens - metallic, glittery, opaque white gelpen, neutral brown Sharpies to edge things for shadow effects, pinks for cheeks & lips and maybe even blue or green for eyes and random highlights of color. Then, ya just go to town! Add accents to eyes, eyelashes, paint in cheeks or lips or eyes, add color or lines to wings or hats, add jewels to crowns - whatever you think might look good, probably will! For these cards I went a step further: I scanned a copy of this card I made here (since I am keeping it, no one will get to see this one) and in my image editor I lowered the opacity to about 25% then printed it at 4x6 size, and attached those copies to the back of the cards. It's clear enough to see the image but faint enough that I can write my message and the addresses on the back of the cards and they're still readable. Very last step is to press them flat and make sure that back print is well adhered, I put them in between layers of wax paper and put the whole bunch under a stack of books at least overnight. And since these are postcards that will actually travel through the mail, I will finish them by sealing them with a coat or two of acrylic sealer and let that dry/cure before mailing. The final version is the top-right image up there, the one I have in my Flick'r.

Well! Hope you liked reading my card making process, but what I really hope is that you were inspired to go right now and make your own Zetti collage creation! You can use this technique for postcards, ATCs, 4x4 art squares, journal book pages, decos, pretty much anything you wanna make a collage on or in! So, have fun and see ya soon!

** by the way ~ if you viewed any of the Zetti postcards in my Flick'r, you should know that my two favorites were #1 and #2 ... they came out just a little nicer and brighter, and that's because I started those on a smaller piece of handpainted BG paper, and when I got to the rest I didn't have any more of that exact paper so I had to use a piece that was similar - but it was lighter so those just don't pop as well as the first two. Jus'saying ...

~ gem ~

OH YEAH! and the part I changed in case you didn't catch it - the gal on the far right - I had to change her wings out ... the first pair just weren't working with the rest of the piece once I got that far, so I swapped'em for some yellow one and put them both to one side. Muuuuch better!

Red, White & Black ATCs With a Twist

Pop-in posting before dinner, 'cause I just finished a new mini set of ATCs and wanted to get them up here before I forget ... (I've kinda been rationing out my Flick'r uploads because I keep hitting my 200 image "free account" limit, and having to delete stuff. A PRO account is on my Christmas list -already- ... think I can hold out 'til then!?) so I'm posting more stuff here for now.

Alot of my previous swap partners know I realllly like to use the red, white & black color scheme in my Sharpie doodle art. I recently did a whole slew of ATCs like this for trade at ATCards.com and after a couple batches I came up with a slight variation on my usual "doodles in a box" format - instead of a rectangle I make a freeform shape, then apply the same process I normally use to complete the design. THEN I cut the shape out, and using popdots I attach it to textured black cardstock for the ATC base. Here's the four I did this afternoon:

Hard to see the 3D nature of the cards here, and my scanner has been doing a really bad job on these lately (overlighting the scans and showing every minor imperfection which I can't even see with my naked eye) - so as we all like to say: "they look much better in person" :D So enjoy! and now I hafta go get with the gettin' ...

~ gem ~

Art Journal Letter

So, sadly - one of the players in the Artist's Bakers Dozen swap at Nervousness got flaked on - I offered to send a new package on to her and that entailed creating another personal letter in art journal style. Here is the finished product and the original blank BG I made (I posted the background layout on Flick'r prior to adding my text ...)

- be sure to view full size -

Basic watercolor wash on sketchpad paper ... stamped on with some random foam and rubber stamp flower images (this was a fairly old BG paper I dug out of my stash, I wanted a lightweight paper as opposed to my usual textured watercolor paper) then I added some images - magazine clipping and vintage bird drawings printed on the computer, with a little acrylic paint wash added around those - the textlines and accent outlines in white gel pen, and finally my journal text in fineline Sharpie. I took my content cue from the imagery I'd created, and related a quick little (multi)bird story from my own life. I tend to be short and sweet with any of my journalish projects, so even though this was technically supposed to be a full-on "letter" (and I could have rambled on a few more bird things but ran outta writing space on this one) - overall I'm calling it a success.


Oh and I haven't gotten a chance to sit'n sew yet ... soon, I hope!

~ gem ~

ATC Mega Swap @ Swap-Bot

Okay! Finally have my sends ready for the ATC Mega Swap over at Swap-Bot. My original idea for this project when I signed up was to do one single art piece and then cut it up into the 20 required ATCs, and send those out. Kinda like a "One Part of a Whole" puzzle type thing ... Anyway to keep it more manageable, I ended up doing 2 seperate pieces that were 17.5" by 5" - which got me 10 cards on each piece. I kept it simple by doing my usual Sharpie Abstract background, but did one in my favorite Black, Red & White "fill-in" theme and the other I just randomly colored in with metallic markers in a green, purple and blue palette. And here's how it progressed:

STEP 1
I randomly drew lines in black Sharpie marker, bisecting and looping and dividing until I was satisfied with the overall layout and individual sections. Did the same for second piece.

Step 2
Then I started inking in my spaces, adding little designs - stripes and lines, bubbles, dots, squiggles, hearts and stars - my usual arsenal of random abstractyness. I just go by a mantra of "fill the space" when I do these - it's seriously the quickest and easiest method I know of creating original, fun looking art - and no "talent" required! I usually prefer to leave some whitespace, especially in this particular color scheme. Here are the stages of this process:

I then repeated the process for the second piece, only without the added design elements - I simply filled those spaces in with solid colors to give it a sort of stained glass effect. I also had to re-ink the black border lines on that piece, as the metallic markers dulled the ink whenever I strayed outside the margins. Which was often. Sadly, I didn't continue my photo documentation past the early stages on that one and have no finished piece to show (Roops!)

Last step was cutting them into the 20 individual cards, attaching a backplate to each with the swap name and the number of the piece as it corresponded to the original it came from (1-A1, 2-E2, etc ...) then getting them into their envelopes, addressed & stamped and ready to roll!


I added images of the full size pieces to my Flick'r page: 1 (red&black) 2 (metallic), with an approximate breakdown of which individual card came from what section* (was kinda hard to get those note boxes to just the right size, plus I'd already sealed up the cards by then and couldn't doublecheck the actual card "contents") , so my partners can have a look at where their own card started out ... though the stained glass piece is a bit sad looking since I didn't photo it as a finished piece before I cut them (what can I say?! - kids are set to get outta school this week and I been a busy mama with all the end-of-year activities and running around and stuff. I was lucky just to get the ARTWORK done!)

Anyhow - that's it ... Just thought ya might like to see what went into creating my ATC Mega Swap submissions ... and I hope you like'em, those of you who got one!

Happy swapping!
~ gem ~

eta: Oh yeah, 2 things ... Number 1 - the PINK envelope in the mix there is a "WINNER" that I randomly chose from my partnerlist, they will get a new, personal piece of artwork made by me once they email me with their theme and choice (ATC, 4x6, 4x4 or deco) ... AND secondly ... I have steadily been recieving my ATCs from this swap, but as I said from the start - I'm holding off opening them until I either get all 20 sends, or a week or so after the swap date passes. No kidding!

*FYI- since I am no longer on Flickr, those links are dead