Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Right now, I'm going to show you how to create a newsprint
collage from your photograph.
The first step is for you to create a wide range of
photographs of your model.
So carefully think about who your model is and what
relationship you have to your model.
What do you want your photographs to portray?
Experiment with different lighting
and angles and closeups.
Pay close attention to your background, because the
background is especially important.
If you have any objects in the background that are
unnecessary, those will take away from your image.
So you will see here that I created--
this is one of the photographs that I took, and this is the
image that I'm going to use.
This is in color, and you want to either photograph your
images in black and white or then transfer your images from
color into black and white.
So this is my black and white print out.
So, when you're photographing your model, it's not
necessarily important that you capture their face, but you do
want to convey your model's personality through your
photograph.
So I'm going to be using this image, and I'm going to trace
my image, and basically what you want to do is attach
another sheet of paper on top of your
photograph, and trace it.
So one way to do it is place it over a window, and you'll
be able to see through it, or you can
also use tracing paper.
So here's my tracing of the original photograph, and now
I'm going to be looking through different newspapers
and find a wide range of values that I can incorporate.
So your goal is to translate all of these values within
your photograph into this image.
So you're looking at different values and pulling them out,
and laying them out on your sheet of paper.
Using thicker quality paper will also be a good in this
case, because it will absorb your glue.
You want to use small pieces, but you can also alter them in
size from this size to really tiny ones.
You could also cut them out by tearing them.
It creates these very soft, uneven edges, and it allows
you to blend the values together much more
effectively.
So what you can also do is find values in advance and
sort them into different piles, and you can also store
them in an envelope just to help you
get yourself organized.
Look at the lightest values, and then see just how much of
a range you can achieve.
So here are my lighter values, and there's no really right
way to arrange them.
I'm just layering them and trying to translate what I'm
seeing in the photograph.
As you can see, my friend in the image has pastels smeared
on her arm, and they look slightly different.
They look more like bruises in the black and white
photograph, but it's still important to translate them.
So I found texture in the newspaper
that has that variation.
I believe it was an image of popcorn or something, but it
really matches that texture and value, so I'm going to
incorporate it in here.
You can also use pieces with text if they match a certain
texture in the image that you're creating.
If you see certain details or wrinkles, you can actually cut
them out and use them as actual shapes
rather than torn pieces.
So having a nice variety of shapes and edges will work
well in your artwork.
This will begin forming and coming together slowly, but
you just have to be patient, and you have to continue
adding and subtracting until you find all the right values.
I would not recommend using colors in your collage since
this is about recreating a black and white image.
I think the most challenging part comes in creating the
facial features.
So for the facial features, you could actually trace them
and cut them out, like the lips and nose, and attach them
on their own.
Or you can try to recreate them using small bits.
It's also important that you recreate the background, and
for the background, you can use much bigger shapes than
the ones you used in the body.
Just remember variety is important, and it can really
add to your image.
You can create the background using strips that are vertical
or horizontal, depending on what you see in your image.
And once you lay your entire collage out, you can take some
glue, some white glue, and start gluing these in place.
Just remember that you're using thicker paper, such as
drawing or watercolor paper, so that it's able to absorb
some of the glue.
And remember, you don't need a lot.
And areas that you're building up, you can add the one piece,
and then you can glue another one over it, and so on.
And over time, as you develop it, your piece will develop a
tactile quality.
It will look as though you can sense and feel the surface in
front of you.
See here, I'm building up this collage.
You might find it helpful to glue some of the shapes, and
then come back and start adding more shapes as you go
along, rather than having all of them laid
out in front of you.
So try this out, and see how you like it and what happens.