Do you sometimes find materials that you’d like to incorporate into an artwork? Looking for new possibilities to open up the way you create images? Whether you’re simply curious about collage or an experienced artist seeking to expand your practice, this online mixed media course will provide skills and insights to help you make pictures using found materials and mixed media techniques. Designed as an introductory course for artists at all levels of experience.
COURSE BEGINS: June 12, 2012
COURSE LENGTH: 4 weeks
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COURSE MATERIALS (included with tuition): - New Creative Collage Techniques (PDF download by Nita Leland
- Additional course PDF from Maya Brym
TUITION: $149.99 ($135.00 for VIP)
INSTRUCTOR: Maya Brym (Bio)
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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:- Basic paper collage techniques
- Basic techniques for mixed-media painting
- Creating pictures through 2-dimensional design
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE:- Artists new to collage with some previous painting / drawing experience
- Experienced artists who want to revitalize their approach to image-making
ART SUPPLIES YOU’LL NEED:
Tools:- Scissors
- Pencil
- Craft knife #11 blade
- Cutting mat (can substitute thick cardboard)
- Paintbrushes (one 3/4” or wider flat synthetic; one small round synthetic)
- 4” soft rubber brayer (for adhering collage elements smoothly and flatly)
- Rag/paper towel, water for wiping brayer, excess medium
Materials:- Construction paper
- Discarded magazines
- Found collage elements
- Acrylic medium (gloss or matte)
- Acrylic soft gel (gloss or matte)
- Acrylic paints
- Collage supports (heavy watercolor paper or illustration board, sealed with acrylic medium, are suggested; see other options on p. 37 of textbook)
COURSE SYLLABUS
Lesson One:- Gathering collage elements
- Setting up a workspace
- Basic collage composition and technique
Leaf through the course PDF and
New Creative Collage Techniques for ideas and inspiration as you begin to gather collage elements. In addition to whatever you find that you may want to use – including pages from old books, pieces of fabric and wallpaper, leaves, postcards, scanned photographs, commercial packaging, etc. – collect magazines for later assignments (you will find a range of colors here that will be useful). Gather collage elements on an on-going basis; you will use these later in the course and beyond.
Read pages 42-44 and 33-35 in the textbook. With the author’s recommendations in mind, prepare a suitable workspace for yourself. For cutting small shapes or forms with precise outlines, it’s best to use the craft knife on a cutting mat.
Homework: Using construction paper, practice cutting and gluing techniques by completing Project 5 (p. 20-21). You may use the author’s Matisse-inspired piece as your model, or choose one of the Matisse images from the course PDF. Please use acrylic medium or gel as your glue. Work on a support no larger than 12” on either side and with the same dimensions as your source image.
Lesson Two: - Creating collages from found materials
This week you will use some of the found elements you have gathered to compose an original collage. Please read pages 18-20 in
New Creative Collage Techniques.
Start by arranging a few chosen collage elements on the surface of your support. Take your time to play around with the composition before gluing elements down. As you work, find a balance between planning and spontaneity - part of the magic of collage comes from unexpected associations among different elements.
Think about the way some of the artists in the PDF achieve dynamism and balance through relatively simple compositions. For some good examples of how collagists create poetry through the arrangement of found materials, look especially at the works of Schwitters, Hoch, Cornell, and Bearden.
Homework: Using the author’s project on page 15 as a guide, make your own collage from found materials. Please use acrylic medium or gel as your glue and work on a support no larger than 12” on either side.
Lesson Three: - Rendering volume through collage
You might see this week’s assignment as the inverse of last week’s – here, you will start with an image and then search for the right collage elements to recreate it.
Homework: With Project 13 in the textbook as a reference (p. 46), use range of colored pieces from magazine clippings and other found papers to create a collage rendering of this apple and greenery. Work on a support no larger than 12” on either side.
Lesson Four: - Creating a mixed media still life
One of the great things about collage is the way it enables us to see how pictures are created through the arrangement of 2-D shapes on a flat surface. You can combine deep space – a magazine photo of a landscape, for example – with flattened space and volumetric forms with 2-D shapes. You can also combine found materials with drawn and painted forms in a variety of ways.
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Read pages 89-92 in the textbook for some background on mixed media techniques. So long as your paper elements are encased with acrylic medium or gel, you can safely paint on top of them with water-based media, or place them in an area of wet paint. You can use oil-based media for final touches once the piece is sealed, but applying acrylic on top of oil, even if it seems dry, will cause cracking.
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This week you’ll be making a mixed media still life. You can set up a still life and work from observation or work from imagination, using gathered collage elements. Your still life can be as realistic or abstract as you wish. Start by arranging three or four main elements and build from there. Take liberties by flattening forms, making expressive color choices, and juxtaposing photographic elements with paint, for example. You can also adhere light objects into your piece.
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Homework: Create a mixed media piece on the theme of “still life” using found materials, fragments of your own drawings or watercolors, acrylic paint, and whichever other water-based media you wish. As you have one week to complete the assignment, it’s recommended that your support not exceed 24” in either dimension.
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