I have been trying to find that perfect balance in my artwork between planning and creating intuitively as I go. Collage work tends to lean more toward planning, but in this new piece “Hanging with the Crows”, I felt much more loose and spontaneous. I started by layering some deli paper onto the 12 x 12 inch deep canvas that had been used for cleaning off stencils as I used spray ink. They were delightfully messy and colorful and made a great background to work from.
From there I layered my woman whose inky hair bleeds right into her face, crows, an image from a vintage pattern, a few stamps, and circles. I added more paint here and there, and used a grease pencil to randomly draw in some details. Derwent Inktense blocks and pencils added some definition where needed.
As I went, I wondered how I would know when I was finished since I had no firm goal, but once I got there, I knew she was done! I hope to do more of this sort of loose and free flowing mixed media collage!
The original canvas is available at Tessera Gallery, and prints are available in my etsy shop.
Thanks for stopping by!
Laura (PA Pict)
This is a fantastic piece. Thank you for sharing your process.
createarteveryday
I love this. Thanks for sharing it.
Cheryle
Like the direction you have taken thus work. The reality is that for me a collage piece isn’t about planning…I play and the layers build and then the image appears and I draw it out. It seems as though this piece was a similar process. I like the strong colors and layers.