Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Collage Is Art – “Collage is not a kitchen sink; it’s not a refuge for the compositionally disabled.” David Shields
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: FOOD COLLAGE Is ART Too
And for every project, because it takes years, you can see the early drawings and collages as just a simple, vague idea, and through the years and through the negotiations of getting the permit, you see that every detail is now clarified. Christo
But when I worked on a painting I would do it from a drawing but I would put certain things I was fairly sure I wanted in the painting, and then collage on the painting with printed dots or painted paper or something before I really committed it. Roy Lichtenstein
What is a Collage? Did you know that the “term collage was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.”? A Collage is simply a way of creating artistic pieces by gluing together ideas, photos, drawings, and even materials/objects into shapes or a frame that represents a final creative expression we want. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved to create collages. They are a way to pull together ideas and photos that strike me as symbolic of the work at hand and to mix them up in color schemes and themes. So you can imagine my delight and surprise to see the photo challenge this week is about – Collage. My collages are rarely accidental and I doubt anyone who takes the medium seriously would see them as a hodgepodge of photos or paintings. They are not. Each one is created with great care and consideration for related imagery and relevance. Come back and see other collages I created for this assignment. I love David Shield’s perspective on the creation of collages because it is painstaking in any form you create it; be it in art, music, film or writing.
READ: David Shields on the Painstaking Work of Collage
“I don’t see myself as a photographer. I still see the photographs and collages as a resource for the painting.” Mickalene Thomas
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
I stick the collages on the wall and, if I still like them after a month or two, I make a painting. James Rosenquist
All my paintings are usually done in drawing form, very small. I make notations in drawings first, and then I make a collage for color. But drawing is always my notation. Ellsworth Kelly
I do think the challenge, in a way for me, is to write a narrative film and when you finish watching it you feel like it’s a collage. You tell the narrative, you tell the story, but you feel like you’ve created this tapestry. But it also has a shape, a story. Shane Black
Do you ever create collages? What is your process? Before I create a collage, I make sure I have an idea or blog post theme that I want to focus on. Then I gather all the photographs I need for the project ( mine, great public domain photos from Pixabay and Wikipedia), and start playing around with form and color. Typically, I create between 10-15 collages for each post and discard most of them once I’ve selected the few I believe will convey the message of the post best. Then I revisit the collection again to find ways to make them better. Of course, I frame my collages like photos but that is not the only way to present them. You can create collages that look like other objects and there are all sorts of wonderful expressions of them on Google images. I use Pixlr Express, PicMonkey and occasionally Canva to create mine. Plus, I recently discovered another collage creator BeFunky. I try to vary my work by reaching for any photo editing tool available to me; you don’t have to be limited by one choice. WP has a tiled gallery tool that helps showcase your photos like a collage so that is another option.
More Below!
“A dream collage is pictures of your goals. It is like your future photo album.” Bo Bennett
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
For myself, the only way I know how to make a book is to construct it like a collage: a bit of dialogue here, a scrap of narrative, an isolated description of a common object, an elaborate running metaphor which threads between the sequences and holds different narrative lines together. Hilary Mantel
I say that I can’t make anything up. I think of myself as a collage artist. I’m cutting and pasting memories of my life. And I say, I have to live a life in order to tell a life. I would prefer to tell it because telling you’re always in control, you’re like God. Spalding Gray
What do you recognize in the groups of collages above? I’ll tell you. They are made up of 9 individual sets of collages and include photos and collages from many of my blog posts. Since I use collages in all my posts, I decided to pull together some of my favorite and/or common themes that I tend to write about more often. There are groupings on Women, Children, Nature, Flowers, Food, Art, Lifestyle, Reviews, Travel and the Presidents. I didn’t add all my collages as I have hundreds of them and couldn’t possibly create one collage of all of my work so, this is a sampling of some of my favorites. Collage as an art form is neither new nor minor. There are many other well known Collage artists, aside from the two mentioned at the beginning of this post. All listed have used the medium to great success. Whether you like to create them or not, Collages take painstaking effort and reflection to create… Like a meditation in action. Try it!
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: COLLAGE This week, share a collage with us. It can be a collage you find out in the world — a grouping of flyers on a telephone pole, patches of plants in a bed of flowers, a parking lot checkered with colorful cars — or a collage made of multiple photos. (What a great use of a tiled gallery! Nudge nudge.) If you want to indulge your inner arts-and-crafts nerd, make a paper collage and share a photo of that. Blogger’s choice! Have fun.
Positive Motivation Tip: Create your collage from the depths of your heart
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos from my personal collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Trackbacks
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Collage | Ruined for Life: Phoenix Edition
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Collage | No Fixed Plans
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Collage | Jinan Daily Photo: The Sequel
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Collage | Beijing Daily Photo 2
- Collage Car | What's (in) the picture?
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual | Ruined for Life: Phoenix Edition
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual | Jinan Daily Photo: The Sequel
Incredible collage made with pics. I am tempted to make one myself.
You should. You’d love it.
I thought i was the only one crazy about collages. I am always joining pictures everytime i get the time to take any. To top it up my phone makes some for me so all i do is edit. I even have collages of all my babies photos since the day they were born. I agree it art on its own.
I love collages. As a teenager I’d spend hours cutting pictures out magazines and sticking them in notebooks. Thank goodness we have things like Canva and PicMonkey now. I wouldn’t have space for all the notebooks 😉 I haven’t heard of BeFunky though. I need to go check it out
I’ve always shied away from collages, on social media at least. I always think they need such a massive screen to look at them with the eye for detail that is required that I never thought it was worth doing them. On a great big screen or canvas YES – they can be amazing works of art!
Katja
Collage is certainly a form of art. I remember paying for it in chocolates. Lol..
Your photos are amazing!! I love collages 🙂
I’ve enjoyed looking at your themed collages for months now. They are clearly put together with a lot of care. Also I’m blown away by how many images you use in each of your collages! I make small collages for my blog, but they are less an artistic endeavor like yours than a way to get across a lot of information at once
This gave me insight on your instagram spread, love the in depth explanation/knowledge!
Great post…enjoyed the combination of art and quotes that you assembled.
Great to see you here. Thank you so much!
Back when I used to actually get magazines, I used to LOVE to collage. It can be really soothing!
These are so visually pleasing! Great job!
Beautiful collages! I often make collages of my children for their scrapbooks!
Collages are fun to make, especially when you have beautiful photos to use!
Of course collage is art. Even Instagram is art. It’s a kind of collage isn’t it. Having all these pictures together! It is a work of composition! all the colours must match and the picture fit in together! xx corinne
It is amazing how collages can look, they can almost take on a life of their own and creat something completely different.
I have only done collages through layout apps, which are kind of fun to create with. Your collages are beautifully creative.
Guess who I searched for? Tangy!
This must have taken forever 🙂
You searched for our cat? Why? LOL! 😆
These are really great, I quite like collages, they’re really eye catching !
THese are really beautiful! I had no idea the term collage was brought about by Pablo Picasso. That is really cool. I am a huge fan of all collage art. I find that it gives you a view into the artist.
These are some fabulous collages. I’ve personally never made any, but I should! I really like how these turned out.
I never realized the orgin of collages. Very enlightening. You curate some of the best ones.
My mom was infamous for creating photo collages. That was the first time I was really ever exposed to them. I am working hard to keep the tradition alive in my house 🙂
Wow, that’s a lot of photos! I love collages, very cool.
Collages are so much fun and I totally agree, they are a work of art! Love the work you put into yours.
Collage is one of my favorite art styles to do with my kiddos. Anyone from toddlers to adults can enjoy making collages with various materials.
Looks beautiful! If I had pics other than just food on my blog I would have made one 🙂
My personal collage is a dream board that helps keep me focused on achieving my short-term and long-term goals. And now that I think about it, all the photos together create a beautiful piece of art!
Never knew about that facts until I read today. I love having and creating collage especially on my travel photos. It’s definitely one of my remembrance and forever treasures.
These look so cool! I haven’t made a collage in years, but this makes me want to pull out some of my travel photos and create a collage of them. There is so much time and thought that goes into making these.
I like to make dream collages of things that I want to tackle and achieve. It’s a great way to keep things in focus and in perspective!
I love the forms of collage you have here. They all look beautiful.
I love collages. I’m always making them with Canva. I really like this post here.
I remember when I was in College, I used to make a collage wall of pictures and that’s when the love for it started for me. I love making them. Pretty cool art comes out of it.
Collages are quite fun, I use them in my photos but not that much. I think it’s an awesome way to display beautiful pictures or even gather memorable ones!
I haven’t personally done a collage in quite some time. My ex used to do them all the time. And they were quite beautiful in their own way. They created a meaning in a blank canvas with different ideas and styles but in some unified fashion. They can be very beautiful.
I have created several photo collages as a long time scrapbooker. I have’t done it in a long time, though. I didn’t know that Picasso helped coin the term.
Thank you for the reminder, Elizabeth. I have been planning to put up a vision board, a collage of photos of my goals and dreams. Some people say that visualizing your dreams makes it easier to achieve.
I’ve always loved collages that makes up a larger photo. In other words, lots of small photos of a person that creates a large photo of that person. I’ve always thought it takes a bit of imagination to create something like that!
This is such a fascinating way to create are, and I feel like you don’t see it as often. I would love to create a collage that features my family over the years. What a great way to combine so many elements in one harmony.
You did a fantastic job here. I think it will be more amazing if you will create this as mural.
Photo collages are some of my favorite things! In fact, I just finished putting one together for my daughter with lots of my favorite photos of visits with our grandson. It was so much fun to look back and remember each of the moments. x
Visually pleasing and meaningful as well. Tempted to make one as well!
Wowzers, that’s quite a lot of collage action! I’ll be honest, I’m really not that crazy about them. Fun to make though that’s for sure!
I do believe that most collages are intentional. I like them, they are one of my most favorite types of art.
There are some amazing collages on your post. You are so artistic. I especially like the ones of food. Food tends to unify many people.
You inspired me to collage my kids photo. I have been wanting to do so. I’ll give it a try. Thank you.
As a child I used to make collages, but now how it is intended in English. For me a collage was simply cutting off pictures of magazines and pasting them on a page in a sort of composition (les coller in French). I think I’ve never done the kind of collage you make, they are really beautiful!
Outstanding art! I really enjoyed this month’s collage. I can see a lot of hard work put into making it. You got this, Elizabeth!
This is an amazing article. I love collages. They are used for so many purposes. I use them for my articles.
I agree that collage is an art. I love making collages with the random photos I take almost everyday. Sometimes one photo cannot fully represent a great opportunity/event, which is why I turn to making colleges!
Exactly. I feel the same way and that is what brought me down this path.
The last time I remember making a collage was during a training workshop. We were given an hour to make a collage centered around the topic – “My life 30 years from now.” It was really interesting how our collages turned out. It was a great way to express our feelings and thoughts through a hodge podge of magazine cut-outs.
The collages are so vibrant! I love it. I use Canva a lot. It has made my life so much easier! Haha
Such beautiful collages! The food challenge ones are awesome!
I don’t create many collages. The few I have created were very small, maybe 3-5 pictures. I prefer the look of individual photos.
I had to return to your wonderful post as it’s such an inspirational pick-me-up! I love the photo collages on this page, and the challenge to make a beautiful piece of artwork that’s all my own. 🙂
Thank you and you inspired me with your comment too! 🙂
I love making picture collage. I had no idea it started off in the beginning of the 20th century. After all, a collage is worth a thousand pictures, isn’t it? 🙂 Cheers!!
What a great topic, and these are very vibrant collages. I mostly use PicMonkey and make collages for posts. It’s interesting to hear about another person’s process. You’ve got some beautiful collages here.
I loved creating collages when I was younger. Now I only create some for my blogposts when using individual photos seems like a waste of room.
I am a huge fan of collages. Its a gift that I give to my mother often. Multiple pictures of her grandchildren all in one page to be framed. She can see their growth and life in a snapshot on her wall. Always worth it!
Amazing Concept!! Collage helps in reliving memories.
Wow what awesome collages. I never knew who discovered the collage. thanks for that one. Have only made it once as the header for my blog, but always like seeing themed ones!
wow what awesome colorful collages. never knew ho had discovered the collage thanks. have made a collage only once as header for my blog. like seeing themed ones.
Am “wowed” (if there is a word like that) lol.. Awesome collage of arts.
I love the detail and work that you put into these collages.
Growing up, I was a collage fanatic! I would hoard magazines like no other and old pictures and had tons of collages hung all over my room. I was also obsessed with scrapbooking and my favorite thing to put in my scrap books was collages! lol after reading this, I’m inspired to run to the hobby lobby to get some stuff to start making collages and scrap books again!
Go for it! 🙂
I always try to create collages, but they always seem to look disjointed to me. I guess maybe I need some more practice. Yours are lovely!
I loved art class when I was younger because of the collages we were always making. Love this collage. Sadly, I am not able to create something as pretty.
I think collage is most definitely art, both in the way it looks from a distance, and also the choice of pictures and their theme when close up.
These are great especially when you finish an event or vacation so that all memorites are in one image
I love making collages, I started when I was younger, its a great way to make memories and keep them in a nice area. Now I do vision boards, a combo of both collages and what I want in the future.
This is really beautiful. I used to make photo colleges but not really anything this creative. This is on a whole different level. Well done.
This definitely makes me want to experiment more with collages! Canva, BeFunky, and PicMonkey are all great tools.
Your photo collages are all beautiful. I recently did one for the header of my Twitter account and it came out pretty nicely. Now I’m a little obsessed with combining photos and making them look nice. It’s a fun hobby.
Hahaha. It can be addictive 🙂
I remember back during illiterate days when I mistakenly think of school when you said collage.
Of course collage is one artistic way I already abused back in elementary days, its fun and still is. No wonder people are so fond of posting different selfies in one collage.
It’s great to know that collage came from Pablo Picasso. It’s interesting to see how different pictures form a different artwork altogether. It’s striking as well that putting the pieces involve creativity and good thought.
Yes, I was struck by the same when I started creating collages.
Collages are absolutely art and I always find yours so inspirational as well! I had no idea that they came from Picasso though!
At my son’s old school they had photos in the hallway each year of the previous school year school pics for every student turned into a collage of some particular picture. It was fun to try and locate your child. 🙂
Collages are art, indeed. I used to be into them, but nowadays I feel the need to enjoy a single picture in it’s own entirety.
Ofcourse, collage is an art and I find it fascinating to see a collage artwork of a pre schooler. I dunno why though
It takes a lot of patience and artistry to make a collage meaningful. You need to see the bigger picture that the collage is going to form, in order to make the design more interesting.
Yes it is! I have also seen one beautiful photo collage made of small wedding photos, which are in black and white. The small photos are well collated to form one big photo of the couple. Really nice!
This is beautiful arranged , I’m looking forward to a time when I’d be this creative
I love to collage !!! I used to take old shoe boxes and collage them with pictures of me and my freinds and give them as gifts!!!
Beautiful collages! Awesome creativity, brilliant imaginations!
Wow! Hope you get to display these, large sized on gallery walls. I would bring a fork!
Yes, great idea… Thank you! Must check in to see yours. <3
For the food
🙂
I LOVE your collages they are beautiful! It takes such a creative person to make it just right. Great job.
I love those collages that end up becoming another big picture. They are usually arranged in different shades n I thought that’s pretty cool!
Innate or inborn artist has the ability to create arts based on their concept. It is a God-given talent for him to let the people or their target to appreciate the creation made by God. And artists once they meet together do share ideas, thoughts which they themselves are amazed of possessing that, but they are very grateful for such talent they have had. An idea combined with another idea creates a new insight. Same is with the objects or things cut and glued together to convey a new arts for that matter.
I need to create these again. good way to use up all those magazines around my house.
I love collages; looking at them and creating them. Yours are great. Thank you for sharing.
A collage is an art. Making a collage is a way for me to organize and compile all my ideas to represent something whether it`s my dream, goals or past.
❀ Grace ❀
I did not know that tidbit about the term collage. Interesting! I love the kitchen sink quote. I don’t really do collage but will probably introduce it to the kiddos soon-thanks for the reminder.
I started making collages in my college days and it started on the wall of my dorm where I added cool pictures of family and friends. Then I started cutting out images from papers and magazines. I do them online now. Still a love. Beautiful art!
I love collages, and these are some really great ones that you are sharing here! It makes me wish that I had the time to create a few of them myself! Thanks for sharing!
We do have collages at home but we don’t make them very often. One the the collages that my wife made with the pictures of the kids in our extended family was great. From time to time I will look at the collages and reminisce the great time that we had. It’s a great way to remind ourselves that the kids in the collages are very important to us.