Painting With Paper: A New Look at the Art of Collage | Anna Carll

Instructor: Anna Carll (READ BIO)

Title: Painting With Paper – A New Look at the Art of Collage

Dates: March 18 - 20, 2025

Days: 3

Hours: 10am - 5pm

Level: All levels

Size: 12

Portfolio Review: No

Tuition: $799

Explore a new way to look at and build the art of collage with an eye towards using color, shape, pattern and composition as a means to construct an image that is out of the ordinary mindset of this time-honored medium. Whether your interest is landscape, florals, still life, figurative or abstraction, this class will guide you step-by-step in using paper as a means to paint.

Day one: The morning will start with a meet-and-greet event with an introduction and short demo by the instructor—also a talk on establishing a color, shape and pattern vocabulary for your area of interest. We will also participate in an interactive shape and composition exercise. That afternoon we will begin building the background elements of our collages.

Day two: Attendees will continue to build their main collage and focus on the heroic area of the composition as the focal point building density with a lot of detail.

Day three: We will bring the collage together by editing the image using house paint with an eye towards making new compositional connections—there will be another short demonstration by the instructor. The class will end early to allow for a critique of work produced and pack up.

This class will offer attendees an abstracted view of realism or total abstraction if that is preferred—you’ll get to choose which way you want to go. Attention will be paid to building detail within the image.

This is a 3 day, adults only class and attendees will need to be familiar with wet media—acrylic gel or matte medium will be the “glue” used for construction of the collages.

Minimum of 10 and maximum of 12 participants per class (12 if there is space in the classroom—we will need to work flat for most of the collage building).

Supply list:

• Image reference: If you have a photo or a preliminary sketch of a landscape, still life or a figure that you wish to pursue for your collage, bring that (if you want to create an intuitive abstraction, that’s fine).

• 12 x 18 inch, 20 inch square or 20 x 24 inch heavy paper or panel—this can be 300lb watercolor paper or wood, Masonite or aluminum panel—if you want to work on multiple panels, that’s fine—I would recommend smaller if you want to do a diptych or triptych (Note: if you have a scrap panel that you want to use for the workshop, that’s fine. You may want to do some prep work on it: sand and prime).

• Golden or Liquitex heavy gel—16 fluid ounces (if you have some matte medium bring that as well)

• Quart of acrylic or latex house paint—this will be used to edit the collage image so I would recommend a natural white or pale color (if you have some around the house you’d like to use—that’s fine).

• A couple of brushes—1/2” and 1” for larger paper sections

• A large, clean yogurt container or small bucket for your brushes

• A cotton rag or small towel

• A selection of postcards, old calendars, wallpaper samples, maps, periodicals, posters, fine art or handmade papers or any type of paper material you wish to cut-up and use (Note: I’ll be bringing some specialty paper scraps for you to use.)

• Sharp scissors (attendees can use an exacto knife for fine detail if they have experience with this tool)

• Sandpaper—medium grade

• Tracing paper

• Pencil or charcoal and eraser

• Cheap sketch paper for building a composition and practice with the gel medium

• An open mind

NOTE: constructing a collage is a messy business! Wear clothes you don’t mind  getting gel medium on or bring a painting apron.