Collaged cat

 

This is not quite done.   Since collaging the gull shown in previous post, and with studio littered in bits of paper, I figured it would be a good time to do a cat mosaic.     

Kitty kitty. Or is it?

 I challenged my mixed media group to try the torn paper collage cat technique i showed a few posts back.  I wanted to make another one and did the background.  

Heres where serendipity stepped in and took over.  I had a scrap on my work table, an old photocopy of a photo I took of a sea gull years ago on the coast.  It had fallen out of something I was moving.   I had once played with it in photoshop and posterized it.  That converted it to planes of shades of grey.  

 I placed it on the background with the radiating rays behind it.  I decided instead of painting it I would collage it, cut it out and mount it over the background. 

I loved the gull, but it kind of got lost against such a bright busy background.  Adding a thin wash of transparent white helped.  But by now I had a creative rush of ideas, so this where it took me.  Lol.    

A rose by any other name

Roses have been patient long enough, but now bursting with blooms.    These are 8 inches across. I dont put them in vases because the blooms are so heavy.  Floating them in soup bowls lets me look at the face of the rose.  These were oast their prime when I cut them but now 4 days later they still look lovely.

Driving around the neighborhood I see so many beautiful roses, all varieties and colors. An awesome springtime display. 

 

Learning from You. Tube

I am not a techie, but at one time I was very much on the forefront of computer technology.  I had two forces that kept me there.  One was a job that required attendance at many workshops, and a couple coworkers that needed support .  My ace in the hole was a techie brother who shared information freely.  Since retirement my skills have lagged far behind new advances.  

When I started blogging I used the blog as a teaching tool, as well as a personal journal.   In those days there wasnt as much ready access to altered art and particularly altered book tutorials.  My goodness how You Tube has changed that.   It seems you can find tutorials on almost every aspect of life, from art, music, auto repair, cooking,   My youngest son does tricky car repairs and maintenance by learning from YT.   

I decided this week I would like to do a torn paper collage of a cat.  One evening I looked on You Tube for inspiration.  I found a tutorial for K thru 5 (kids) that looked so interesting I watched it through.  I decided it would make an interesting challenge for my mixed media group.   

This starts with tearing strips from magazines and adhering them in a radiating from center pattern.  I love torn paper and have never thought to do a pattern like this with magazine strips.  So far, so good.   

But now for the icing on the cake.   Drawing large cats eyes and a nose on black paper with oul pastels, cutting them out and placing them on the background.  All of a sudden its a cat.  Jolly fun.

Thank you You Tube and contributors who share your tips and techniques online.