Quick Start Guide

I know from experience, figuring out how to start can be hard. Consider this your quick start guide to collage. It’s very much based on techniques that work for me, but your mileage may vary. And that’s great, you do you! I’ll keep the instructions pretty open ended as well.

1. Start by looking though the papers and seeing what grabs your eye. Stuff I look out for can be anything from body parts or clothing, to patterns, words, shapes and colors.

   Tip: Also start to see if you notice any visual cues that tie different papers together. And don't forget those papers are two-sided.

2. Next, begin cutting and/or tearing up those papers. Don't be shy. Cut around things, or cut right through them. Be neat, or as loose as you like.

   Tip: Cutting things in half is fun - just rearranging two halves of a whole can get you pretty far sometimes.

3. Lay out those cuttings as best you can. Shuffle them around. Sort them by subject or color. You're looking for connections, or contrasts. Try rearranging some cuttings into different combinations. Take note when you notice something interesting, or visually pleasing. That's the whole idea.

   Tip: I have a theory that you can take any 2 cuttings and arrange them together to create something with greater visual interest. You can get to a finished collage by following that principle a number of times.

4. Find an arrangement you like? Amazing!

   Tip: I like to use washi masking tape to stick my scraps together while I'm working. It's a lot easier to add a third or fourth scrap to an arrangement when the other pieces are held together. And if you change your mind, you can un-peel the tape and free your scraps once more.

5. Once you have a finished arrangement, it's time to glue it all together to create your final collage. You can mount your collage on a piece of paper or card, or even on cardboard or an old book cover. Be careful when adding glue, this is the hardest step in my opinion.

   Tip: If you're glueing each scrap individually, start with the bottom scrap and work up to the top of your arrangement. Or you can glue the scraps together (the washi tape technique also helps here) and then glue the whole arrangement to your mount.

6. Tada! You made a collage, I'm proud of you. And don't throw away those leftover papers or scraps. Go back for round two, or collect some other papers and add them to the mix first.

   Tip: I like to press my finished collages between heavy books to keep them flat as they dry. Beware though if your glue got everywhere, this might not be practical.