Collage - anyone do it?

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

I have a fairly sudden urge to start. (the last thing i collaged was in school)
Where do you begin?
What do you use?
Where should i look for bits and pieces?

I'm not sure where this urge has come from, although i have realised recently that all of the art/ illustrations i am drawn to have some elements of collage about them.

I'd also love to do collage, - but like you am not sure where to begin (sorry I'm not much help am I? )

What sort of thing were you thinking of doing? - collage where you use images cut out and put together, or bits and pieces of different materials and oddments to make a design or picture? (I think I would be more in the second group).

I googled Collage materials ideas and there are a few suggestions on there

here for instance

orthis has a few ideas for getting started

Kurri- I'm thinking paper based. I don't like sticking things of different textures that wont stick properly iykwim. or maybe I should just buy better glue :)

I'm tempted to just get a big pack of coloured paper from somewhere (maybe elc) and some nice pointy scissors and play.

Although finding time to do it might be another tricky bit.

I think experimenting is definitely the way to go, - you can get nice packs of coloured papers for card making which would work well for collage I should think.

I have no idea what kind of glue should be used ,- maybe a glue expert will come along and help us out

Hey Guys,

Here is a helpful list for gathering what you need to put your collage together. Obviously it completely depends on what you want you collage to be about and how big but a good tip is to try and get it to flow together so keep similar colours together etc :)

*Photos/Images
*Coloured/textured card
*Fabrics/textures/Ribbons
*Buttons/glitter/beads
*pens/pencils/chalk/paints etc
*memorabilia such as tickets to shows or leaflets to places you have been etc

Lay them out several times and see what works best. I have found double sided tape and glue sticks work the best but you can use pva but it can be messier :) especially if you have a 3 year old helping!

Good luck though guys :)

thank you maryjanell - that's very helpful, I'm definitely going to have a go, - I've got a few ideas in my head to try out

Do you do a lot of collage? - what sort of things do you do?

My DD does a lot of collage, its one of her favourite mediums for art work at the moment, something I started her off on when she was younger & noww shes developed a style of her own - she likes to manipulate images she pulls off the internet & then uploading to LUNAPICS Free Online Photo Editor then downloads the new image, prints off & cuts out as she sees fit

She uses pieces of various things in the same colourway to make up an image & then decorates it with all manner of things - IE if its an animal she'll add googly eyes & maybe give it a leather collar, with diamante, other times she makes frames from card or lace & adds them too, or backgrounds in crinkled up coloured tissue or tin foil, sequins, ribbon, buttons beads etc etc all used too.

She's also done some paper mosaic work, which is sort of collage & can be simple or as intricate as your skill allows

& all stuck on/down with PVA:)

rockinhippy - what your DD does sounds great. I think that is the sort of thing I am going to try - animals and so on, - I was planning to do a parrot, as I saw a lovely picture of a very colourful one, and thought it would be ideal - I have quite a few bits of coloured papers and fabric from other projects, plus bits and bobs of sparkly things and sequins form card making.

I'm not very technical when it comes to doing photo stuff on the computer, but no doubt my DD could teach me