Making Paper for Collage and a Fond Farewell

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My first exposure to making papers for collage was the whimsical art of the late, great Eric Carle, creator of the iconic children's picture book, The Hungry Caterpillar. If you watch any video on his art making, it's easy to see his joy in painting and texturing stacks of paper -- all fodder for his famous collage illustrations.

Another artist whose collage appears to be made entirely from her own hand-painted and printed papers is British crafter Clare Youngs. After watching a mark making tutorial on her web site, where she mentions using gouache, it reminded me I had a set  of gouache paints tucked away. Gouache is basically opaque watercolour and I think it's that opacity that gives Youngs' iconic work the bold vibrancy it's known for.

I followed Youngs' suggestion and used a stash of papers from the recycle bin -- flyers, old photocopies, envelopes, etc.

This paper was a clean-up sheet and I painted right over the daubs of tempera paint.

This was another clean-up sheet and while the paint was still wet I lifted some of the paint with a piece of plastic salvaged from a food container. Love the tiny grid!

This is just copy paper and after the first coat was dry I stamped over top. To me, that's when the papers start to get interesting.

This was paper from a financial report and I liked working over that grey stripe.

Corrigated card stamped over a painted sketchbook page.

Good old reliable bubble wrap!

A few hours later I had a good start on a stack of papers. I'll likely do more stamping and over-printing. And it will be interesting to see how it is to collage with this paper -- the gouache gives in a matte finish and stiffens it.

Below, are collage papers made using printing inks. They're mostly Asian papers or art tissue and are softer and more flexible yet they also have a bit of a napped finish. 

Below I'm using tempera paint and building up layers.

Getting an interesting speckle with this jute-covered loofah.

Acrylic paint gives rich colour and a slight shine and slickness to the papers. A note here -- you can layer acrylic paint over printing ink but not the other way around. At least that's the case with Akua brand inks which dry by absorption. The acrylic paint seals the paper, preventing the ink from sinking into the paper.

Now have I ever mentioned I like grey?

There is a plan for these stacks of grey and other dark papers. Here's a peek:

During the pandemic lock-down I got in the habit of cutting down delivery boxes into 4x4-inch squares. The corrugated cardboard makes a sturdy substrate for these huts-and-sheds collages. 

Sometimes I change up the dark palette for a spark of bright colour.

It's hard to believe but it'll be a year tomorrow since I started the Red Gate Studio blog! It's been wonderful sharing my art adventures. It's bittersweet to say so long but now it's time for a break. 

Thank you, everyone, for following along with me this past year! I'll see you in the new year!