The ABCs of Collage Art
I created this alphabet collage simply because I wanted to. I’m in love with this art form. I’m also in love with this type. One day, I’ll look back and say “wow, I really liked that font”. The typeface is called Recoleta and I hand-cut each letter based on the original letterform. Then, I had some fun.
My process for paper collage art is simple (I think).
Steps 1: Cut out the components and compose them with white paper.
Step 2: Create a color palette by painting big pieces of paper.
Step 3: Use the original white letters as a stencil on the painted paper and cut out the components again.
Step 4: Play with pieces. I love this process because if something sucks or I mess up, I toss it in the trash. It’s very forgiving. In between work sessions, I use painter’s tape to keep things in place.
Step 5: Glue those suckers down!
You should see my painted paper stash. It’s pretty cool.
Cutting out the letters multiple times gave me much-needed familiarity with the shapes. I mainly do this so I don’t waste painted paper.
I asked Instagram if I should add blue. 73% of people said yes and I agreed with them.
I taped on a temporary border so I could easily eyeball final placement.
My favorite thing about collaged art is the relationship between component and background. That little shadow gets me excited and when it’s hand-made, it’s truly beautiful.
Last year, I created a custom children’s book for a friend who became a mom. Everything was scanned but the printed book still looked like the original cutup pieces of paper. The fact that you can retain that so well digitally blows my mind. Click here to check out the book. Thanks for coming by the site today, I truly appreciate your interest in my art.
