She Say WTF – original collage artwork
This piece was inspired by my love of graffiti and street art, with the challenge being; how to capture that raw feeling in a collage.
I originally intended to destroy the artwork further, possibly tagging, spray-painting and slashing the canvas itself, leaving it weathered and beaten looking – like it belonged on the street. But I loved how it looked, so abandoned that idea.
Maybe I’ll revisit and “destroy” it one day if I’m feeling particularly dark?
The artwork is 30x30cm (12x12 inches) square and continues around the edges of the canvas.
The process
First, I search for and carefully select magazine pages and cuttings, giving me a palette to work from.
The large letters, which make up the majority of this piece were all taken from the same magazine, making it a lot easier to create than other, more intricate collages I’ve done.
But it’s still harder than picking up a few tubes of paint.
As soon as I came across the letters, I knew I had to use them – it was deciding on a slogan, for which I had the available letters, which proved difficult.
Working from a rough design in Photoshop, I began by placing the surrounding words/phrases (in black & white) around the edges. These would provide the contrast and make the main message/letters pop.
Once the background was in place, I customised, cut and partially destroyed the large letters to fit, exactly in a grid, tearing into them to interact with the background.
Using glue (I use Mod Podge) and paper on canvas leads to some wrinkling on the surface of the artwork. This is unavoidable due to how paper reacts when wet. But the wrinkles add texture and character to the final piece, which I love.
Why collage?
I love the juxtaposition of complexity and simplicity it allows.
I love the idea of recycling and remixing in art. It isn’t copying, it’s creating something unique from different, existing elements.
When you stand back to view the final piece, your eye combines colours and smaller images on the canvas.
You often notice something new, even after viewing the same piece many times, that you’d never noticed before.
Other collages I’ve created
Take a look at a selection of the other collage works I’ve posted to Steem:
https://steemit.com/art/@m-ssed-t/original-collage-artwork-ampersand-01
https://steemit.com/art/@m-ssed-t/original-collage-artwork-ampersand-02
https://steemit.com/art/@m-ssed-t/original-collage-artwork-ampersand-03
https://steemit.com/art/@m-ssed-t/the-story-of-flutter-butterfly-original-artwork-for-my-daughter
https://steemit.com/art/@m-ssed-t/love-on-4-canvases-original-collage-artwork
I’ll be sharing more art, photography and design work in the future; I’d love to have you follow along. I have big plans for Steem and will be releasing lots of new content.
Share your thoughts
I created these posts because I’d love to hear what you have to say – on the artwork itself, the style of collage, or my approach to creating art?