Fearless Drawing

113

This adventure is a chance to revisit many of our

different printing skills and combine them in a

finished collage. We’ll be looking again at mono print,

frottage, drawing with scissors, and object printing.

Use my collage as a springboard for your own ideas.

Choose a subject that inspires you and use any

combination of techniques we’ve explored so far to

create your own work. Flip through previous chapters

to remind yourself of favorite techniques and

approaches to use again here. As always, try not to be

too concerned with the finished piece, but focus on

the process of creation and enjoy the physicality of

this mixed media approach.

Print

Masterclass

PRINT COLLAGE: LONDON EYE

For my collage I chose to depict a view of the River Thames in London featuring the

London Eye. On the opposite page are some of the individual pieces I created with

details of how I made them.

114 > Fearless Drawing

Birds and Sky

For the sky I watered down ink and splashed it onto the page. I then dabbed a kitchen towel into

some areas to make them lighter and suggest clouds. I created the birds by folding a small piece of

card into a V shape and using it to print the birds into the sky, adding a little hand-drawn detail.

Buildings

I cut these buildings from sheets of direct prints (the central building was a portion of a large leaf

print) and frottage (I created rubbings from tarmac).

River Thames

For the river I watered down ink and splashed it onto the page. Once dry I used scrunched kitchen

towels to print dark areas in the foreground. I then cut out a strip of this dark area and glued it onto

the lower half of the page.

Buildings

The buildings behind the London Eye Ferris wheel were created as mono prints. I cut out pieces of

paper in the shape of the buildings and colored oil pastel on the back of these pieces. I then placed

these shapes on the final artwork page (oil pastel side down) and used a ballpoint pen to create the

mono print drawing of the buildings and windows.

London Eye

I created the London Eye by printing the rim of a disposable cup. For the spokes, I inked the edge of a

piece of cardstock and used it to print the series of lines. I added the circular pods around the wheel

using a cotton swab, and once it was dry, added some extra details with a fine line pen.

Trees and Platform

The trees on the far left are collaged on from sheets of frottage, and the dotty platform is printed

using bubble wrap with hand-drawn embellishments. Once I’d collaged this piece in place, I had to

reprint the areas of the wheel that I’d covered.

Print Masterclass > 115

116 > Fearless Drawing

YOUR COLLAGE

Use the following page to create your own collaged image. Choose a subject that

excites you and try to use as many of the different printing and collage techniques as

you can. For this adventure, you’ll need the following supplies.

O

Stack of printer paper

O

India ink (or a substitute such as strong cold coffee, watercolor, or poster paint)

O

Oil pastel(s)

O

Wax crayon(s)

O

Scissors (large and small)

O

White PVA (Elmer’s, school, or similar glue)

O

Collage papers (tickets, receipts, postcards, etc.)

O

Suitable objects for printing or frottage (determined by your subject)

TIPS

 Once you have an image in mind for your collage, decide which technique you will use to create

each element of the image.

 Place all of your carefully cut out elements to one side in a separate bowl or cup to prevent them

from getting lost in your pile of clippings.

 Once you’ve made all of your elements, cut them out and spend time arranging and rearranging

them on the page before committing to glue.

 Feel free to add hand-drawn elements at the end if you like.

Print Masterclass > 117