An Introduction to Mixed Media Collage
Collage is a form of art that involves taking pieces of various different images and arranging them into something new and different. Other than coloring with crayons, the art of cutting and pasting collages together is one of the earliest forms of art learned in schools today.
Mixed media collage involves adding additional dimensions to the simple cut and paste techniques of most collage. These mixed media techniques can include watercolors, acrylics, pencils, drawing, encaustic, assemblage, etc.
When you incorporate mixed media techniques into your collage art, you add a whole different dimension to the collage that wasn’t available before.
This is an example of a mixed media collage that I did (mostly) at work while I was working in a counseling call center. We had often went through long, slow periods and I would take my art books to work with me to fill in the gaps and still feel like I had made something of my time that day!
Petty Tyrant
I created this mixed media collage as a personal discovery piece during a time in my life when I was feeling particularly petulant. Is it 100% technically correct? Well, no, but that’s one of the wonderful things about mixed media collage – if you are every truly unhappy with something that you make, you can always add more to it later. You can even cut it up and reuse the pieces in a new collage that you are working on! Art recycling at its finest!
This piece is entitled Petty Tyrant. In it, I have incorporated images cut from various magazines I had available at the time. The background is done in a combination of watercolor crayons, colored pencils, rubber stamps, and markers. The text I added to the collage is from REM’s song “World Leader Pretend” and I think it flows with the image very well!
When I look at this piece the only thing that really stands out for me that I would improve upon would by my calligraphy skills. I love the way the body is constructed and gives a feel for being unstable, as though the Petty Tyrant could tumble and fall into a pile of nothing with the slightest push. But then we don’t always remember to knock over our petty tyrants, do we?
Making a mixed media collage is both visually stimulating and provides a lot of different tactile input as well. It does take a little patience, though, as adding layer upon layer often involves waiting for pieces to dry in between sittings. When I would take pieces like this to work with me, I would paint the pages at home with different washes of color and then add to them later when the colors on the page inspired me.
Many artists like to incorporate using different types of media as the foundation for their mixed media collages. Some may use canvas or paper, but many also use old windows, boxes, wood or pieces of old wood, fabric, and metal. Different surfaces require different preparation for collage so be prepared to learn lots of new techniques when venturing outside of the paper/canvas comfort zone!
