Collage And Montages

I got a real bargain while shopping for decorative paper at JoAnn Fabrics this weekend. They had this entire scrapbook kit for only nine dollars. I bought it for the 16 sheets of decorative paper, stickers and cutouts. But when I got home, there was the added delight of realizing it came with a scrapbook, too, which I can use at some point! While I have nothing against using "found" objects and papers in a collage, it's nice to be able to purchase or even design and print my own items that I know are acid free. If you are making items to sell, it is something that needs to be considered. I have loosely laid out the two faces with some of the decorative papers/elements (below). I can't decide whether I will make two individual collages, or keep them together.

 I think I am finally finished with this montage, below. I had it in my mind that the shape in the lower right hand corner was more conducive to a sail boat, then went ahead and put in the motor boat (which now I've changed). I finally like this piece, and can sleep at night again.

 I did a lot of digital montages since the digital imaging class I took in school for graphic design. One of the things you learn in any Photoshop class are about transparency levels and blending modes on your layers. It's a lot of fun playing with these, as I did in the imagery below. The first montage below has a digital time stamp of 2005...quite some time ago. The other two below it are a little more recent and were done for fabric panels in the end of 2009.

Although I like my digital work and experience, I'm just as happy with any traditional implements even as simple as a pencil.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Until next time, take care!