Basic Collage Supplies
Hi y'all (that's what living in the South will do to you!) I've received a few emails asking about what kind of papers I use for my paintings, so this post is only to share my basic supplies for collage.
You can use anything for a collage, paper, textile, thread, 3d objects, etc...
First, for collages with PAPER, here are a few of the things I almost always use:
Vintage (I hate that word!, I prefer OLD, they are, after all, OLD!) Tarot cards and playing cards.
A checkbook from Mexico, circa 1950's (courtesy of my husband's grandfather)
Postal stamps. I try to find rare stamps, I will only use one, max two for a painting and I try to find one that complements the story and color scheme of the painting
Old legal documents from 1865. The paper is hadwritten with brown india ink!
Banknotes from all over. Mostly old ones from Mexico, and no, I am NOT rich, Sadly, these are worth almost nothing if you take them to a bank.
How do you make it all stick together??
LIQUITEX Acrylic Medium. I use the matte medium because I like the finish. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use a brush to apply it, you will ruin your brush! Just use your finger to spread it on the surface you want to collage and rub it in.Rub and rub and rub, and make sure it's all soaked. Make sure to use a good amount of it on top as well, this will seal the paper and make it impossible to unglue itself with time.
I do not like to use GOLDEN brand because it's just very thick and cannot be spread as easily. Although there are a lot of collage artist who will not use anything else. (Claudine Hellmuth is one of them) It just rubs me the wrong way (wait... did I just said that?... I didn't mean Claudine rubs me the wrong way, I meant the golden medium)
Rosa Murillo
Looks like the Golden Gel Medium has Lots and lots of fans, well, just to clarify, I have nothing against it!
Thanks for sharing your own experiences with collage, I love this dialogue that has just started. I am sure that Golden is really a good boy and does all kinds of good tricks, but I just prefer a more liquid medium for collaging, that's why I liked the Liquitex brand. I have tried the transfer technique once in a while, for which the thick Golden medium is really good for, although I find it too time consuming, I would rather trace something instead of trying to transfer it with the gel medium, I am too impatient. I do want to give it a try though, I will document my efforts and share it once I do.
Please keep the comments coming! I would LOVE to hear what other techiques you've tried and worked for you. Sometime I would like to try encaustic with collage, I've seen Deanna Wood's work and I always drool all over her images, they look so intresting.... I really like to experiment with new ones, they always open whole new channel of ideas.
Have a great week!, {still working on my gypsy for found art's theme of "circus", in case you were wondering...}
3 Comments
Reader Comments (3)
I am one of those goofy artists who basiclally use Golden media although I will use other scrylic paints. For collage I will use soft get mat or for Jonathon Talbots method, Golden gloss polymer medium. I also love their fluid acrylics..the colors are so saturated. But I do use all kinds of paints in my works. And Believe it or not, I usually use a brush to apply the media. Not always but usually. I find I can use the brush (the cheapest synthetic brush I can find) maybe for 3-4 months before I can't ungunk it anymore. I guess I am a snob huh? No just kidding. I was "raised" using Golden and have taken several workshops where the artists use golden stuff only. The bottom line is the art! And YOU make wonderful, beautiful, glorius art!
k
By the way, don't know if you notice that I'm a Ro Murillo, too. That's why I looked up your site. But I like your art too, it makes me want to start collaging again. :)