Collage and Digital Bricolage

September 25, 2013

These are a series of collages produced from digital materials downloaded from the net and are, in a sense, the first real digital collages I’ve made that mirror the type of handmade collages I made from found materials. I have been collecting a large archive of downloaded materials and still have a couple of hundred images still sitting in my downloads file.

It wasn’t difficult finding old paper or brown paper – the type of papers I always liked to use as background materials. Images vary of course and are taken from a variety of sources. I’m fond of half-tones and use them in various ways here. Again, I have to type in words to find the materials. These collages also make use of digital brushes that I was able to find. Some creators of the brushes have asked to be credited which I would be happy to do except that I haven’t been keeping track of downloads and noticed only later that some creators have asked to be credited. If anyone objects to my using any of their brushes or other materials, I am prepared to remove pieces from the collage or give credit.

I, of course, hope to print and possibly sell most of the collages I produce although am becoming more aware of the problems involved in using and crediting other’s materials. I think of collage as using ‘detritus’ as subject matter so don’t actually want to use other people’s personal or artistic creations. I don’t mind the idea of some collages merely existing online only and am thinking more about a site where there could and would be free collaboration on digital collaging with shared materials and brushes. I will introduce the Bric-0-browser that Faham has developed when its ready and hope to provide it to other users who might be interested in dynamic collages that change as the sources change.

Most of these files are large and will print out at 24 X 32”. A couple of them are medium sized and I’m now finding that I create small, medium and large collages based on the size of materials downloaded.

While most collages are cut and paste (and I’m now thinking they may be too grid –like as a consequence of so many square or rectangular selections), there is some use of cloning brushes again and, as mentioned, stamps or brushes. I had just finished "Achilles" ironically when my left retina detached and I had to go to the eye clinic.