Our third project for the semester will be a Narrative Collage. You will combine a minimum of 3 different TYPES of images to create a painting that suggests a story. In terms of types of images, here are some possibilities:
- Photograph
- Pattern
- Drawing
- Painting
- Text
- Computer graphic
- Stencil
- ????
The sky’s the limit on this one. You can have more than 3 types of images, and you can use multiple instances of each image if you choose. What we’re exploring is ways you might combine different types of images, the kinds of resonances and synergies that these combinations suggest, and the development of technical facilities/techniques that expand on the representational mode that we’ve been working in up to now.
Here are some source artists to help direct your thinking. I’m including a representative image here and a link to explore their work further. I’d encourage you to do some more research to learn more about each artist. Think about how these artists are combining different types of images and the range of possibilities available in these combinations.
Vernon Fisher
Jane Hammond
Rosson Crow
Phyllis Bramson
To start, you will create a collage of the images that you’ve chosen in order to work out composition and to give you something to paint from. You’re welcome to create a collage by cutting out and gluing together print images, or you may opt to create a digital collage to work from.
You can access Photoshop via many of the labs on campus; if you'd like to work on your collage in the Digital Printing Studio on the 2nd floor of Riley, you'll have to sign up via the same reservation system as for the painting studio (on our RESOURCES page)
Two good Photoshop tutorials:
There are plenty more, but I felt like these were useful for our purposes of cutting images apart and putting them back together. Feel free to explore additional tutorials. Basically, you can manipulate an image in any number (almost infinite) of ways in Photoshop. I’d encourage you to experiment with filters, perspective, color changes, etc.. If you can think it, there’s probably a youtube tutorial that will show you how to do it. Having said all of that, the collage itself is just source material; it doesn’t need to be perfect. Don’t spend too much time on perfectly cutting out an edge that you can just paint perfectly you know?
A few things to keep in mind when gathering and working on images:
- If you’re using Google image search, use the TOOLS bar to 1.) search for LARGE images and 2.) to dial in the kinds of images you’re searching for (b/w, clipart, drawing, etc.)
- In Photoshop, make sure you set your canvas up to correspond proportionally to your actual canvas. For example, you’re using an 18" x 24" canvas, a 3” x 4” canvas in Photoshop will ensure that your collage is proportional to your painting.
- You’re allowed to use Photoshop to change one type of image into another. For example, you could take a photograph and use filters to convert it into a stencil.
- Feel free to experiment with manipulating images…as mentioned above, the possibilities are endless
In terms of transferring/transcribing your collage to your canvas you can use the projector, work freehand, or use a grid enlargement system where the grid allows you to proportionally enlarge the collage to your canvas. This youtube video does a good job of showing you how to do a 1:2 enlargement:
Finally, here are a few examples of student work from previous semesters:
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