Collage art

How Do I start Making Assemblage Art

| JP Dawes Artist

You might wonder how to get started making artsy assemblages. Where do you get all the bits and bobs you might need? Are there books and instructions for construction?

My first recommendation is that you realize this is an art form and not a craft form. Yes, there is a fine line between the two and this post isn’t to debate the point. Your finished piece must follow the principles of design and or have intent. It is lots more than just glueing, nailing, screwing, welding, sewing a bunch of stuff onto a substrate. So if you are unfamiliar with this concept, do some research so that the principles of design become second nature to you.

I find most of my junk at thrift shops and yard sales. If you know someone with kids, ask them to give you broken toys that might spur your imagination. If you are buying online search for junk drawers, Vintage misc. lot. , broken toy lot, doll lot, cabinet hardware lot. I hope that gives you some ideas.

The next thing to do is decide what kind of assemblage you like. Do you like wall art? Sculptures? Do you like the ones that use items as is or the ones that are painted or changed? I collected a ton of things when I started this journey. I am ready to start destashing some of the things I know I am not going to use. Its really easy to become a hoarder!

Just a Girl and Her Parrot

| JP Dawes Artist

I struggled with the birth of this Steam punk girl. She changed a few times and lived on my work table for a few weeks. I was to the point of shit canning her. Really. But boy I hate to be bested by a pile of throw away junk. I sat down one final time to try to make her behave. Ta-Da! I give you just a girl and her parrot.

Altered Book take 2

| JP Dawes Artist

My book cover is done.  It had a coat of matte vanish applied after takng the photo. I also repaired the leaves on the edge. A photo is a great way to discover things that your eye doesn’t always see. Now it is ready for all the wonderful art from the other artists in my book collaboration project. Love how easy it was to put the group together.

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Radiant Orchid Artist Trading Cards

| JP Dawes Artist

TEXT-ure was a really good prompt for me. I had to  go outside the norm of what you would expect from a text prompt. Black and white text or varying the size of text, spelling out words, etc just wasn’t doing it for me. I needed to create texture with text.

Inspired by Cynthia St. Charles’ blog with her daily postcards, I decided to go through a stack of magazines to see what would float my boat.  I found advertisements with white text and brilliant colors that I liked.

I tore through the text so it wasn’t  readable and arranged it on a card to create movement. Good, but not great as far as creating texture. So I got out my sample paints from the paint store of the Pantone color of the year Radiant Orchid. By painting over the collage, the torn edges absorbed the paint. Now we’re cooking! I really liked the texture created.

Then I accented some of the text and edges with white. and painted over a few of the white letters to bring them forward. Here you can see 4 of the cards, they are all different but still a series of original little art works.

Check out the other great art on Off The Wall Friday.