Teeny Tiny Collage

This week's art prompt is to take small scraps of paper and create a small paper collage with it.

Step 1: Gather your papers. I've already admitted to having a horde of stash yarns and fabric scraps.  So I'll go there with you. Yes, I also have a stash of paper scraps. Surprise surprise. More specifically, I have a stash of maps.  I pick up old street maps and atlases at garage sales and swap meets whenever I can. I love painting on maps and incorporating maps into mixed media collages.

Step 2: Locate your muse. Mine goes two speeds: "couch potato" and "fully bully". There isn't much in between.



Step 3: Start collaging. Using a gel medium, glue small torn pieces of the maps down. For this piece I used blue ocean maps and green park maps.  Add any painted details and found objects on top of the map collage. I used scrabble tiles and adhered them to the painting with gel medium.

Step 4: Now that your background is done, you can add your foreground image. I cut out a drawing of Frankie from an atlas glossary page.  After I painted most of it white, I went over the cut out with a sculpting medium to give the dog a 3-D effect. When the dog was dry I used gel medium to adhere the dog to the collage painting. Small whimsical bones were added later with sculpting medium.

I measure studio time in cups of tea. This small piece took only two cups of tea to complete. A small collage like this is a quick and satisfying way to kick start a weekend of working in your studio.