Crafter's Complete Guide to Collage

I've been wanting to get serious about mixed-media. No scrapbooking. No journals. No trading cards. I'm talking about 5 foot wall pieces hanging on plywood. Mixed-media on my ceiling. Items that can be hung in a gallery. After looking through several "collage" books, which were really just personal journal books in a "how-to" disguise, I was frustrated and then found this. Explaining everything from supports, to tools and materials, this is an essential book for other artists venturing into mixed-media. As well, I read this along with Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Art Materials by Ian Sidaway, and came away knowing a lot more than I ever did, and I have a background in acrylic painting. I gave it 4 stars because some of the material was redundant and the pictures didn't match the text, but this was few and far between. Bottom-line: Serious potential collage and mixed-media artists start here.

As a collage artist, I found this book to be great for a beginner or a expert. The photos and precise instructions are excellent. The creative inspiration is remarkable. This a very nice "starter" the curious and a great reference for the practicing artist. This book really runs the gamut: paper collage, mixed-media w/found objects, fabric collage and digital. It's a an all-around sampler for someone trying to use collage as a creative outlet but not yet settled on the "how" of it. Check out Claudine Hellmuth as well. Enjoy . . . I sure did.

this book got my muse back where it belongs, in my heart. not only are the techniques shared simple yet sophisticated, the examples bring out the "experimenter" in you and you can't help but want to grab your glue, brushes and colors and play again.

This is a fantastic book on creating a wide variety of great collage projects. It covers numerous collage techniques including using paper, mixed-media, fabric, decoupage, photomontage, computer art, found and three-dimensional objects. The beautiful galleries after each collage type are sure to inspire you. In addition to the collage techniques you also get the basics of papermaking, papier mache, marbling and batik as well as painting and dyeing fabric. There are step-by-step instructions accompanied by demonstrating photos for all the techniques and projects. Don't expect to make exact replicas of the projects since your sources and materials will vary. Rather, the author expects you will follow her assembling directions to create a unique masterpiece of your own. Some of the sixteen projects include a gorgeous butterfly lampshade, a painted paper fruit bowl collage, a clock decorated with magazine scraps and nature objects, and a sewn fabric book cover. Another great project is an easy to make yet sophisticated looking Japanese box covered with scraps of yuzen or chiyogami papers.This book filled with fresh and interesting ideas is sure to help you create gorgeous collage artwork.

I wanted to explore collage as an aspect of other paper crafts I'm trying to learn. I picked this one first and I really like it. Many other collage books are meant for people narrowly focused on collage who see beauty in their collages ..... that is truly not obvious to other people - so esoteric it appeals to a very narrow audience. The Crafter's Complete Guide to Collage is different. It's visually attractive. The samples of collages have much broader appeal. The excellent how-to photographs are tremendously helpful and NOT intimidating. It opened my mind up to more than paper possibilities - it discusses collages of paper, found objects, mixed media, fabric, multi-dimensional, decoupage, photomontage, even computer collage. Its a treat - I think you'd enjoy this book!