The papers

My friend asked about the papers that I made with my class. They are very easy and you end up with nice colorful papers to use in your collages. The first one is called torn papers and this is how it goes:

Colorful pages from magazines
any decorative papers
old maps
masking tape (the regular beige-colored kind)

On a piece of cardstock, you alternate strips of torn masking tape (so you have nice irregular edges and torn paper strips. The masking tape just sticks down and use matte medium to adhere your other paper strips. Keep overlapping the strips. I laid the piece of cardstock with the width being the longest, so then tear the strips to match the shorter length and completely cover from top to bottom. When the entire piece is covered, trim any protruding ends. Then paint over the entire surface with an acrylic wash, working in the direction of your strips. The wash will soak into some of the torn edges and even colors the masking tape. The masking tape becomes part of your paper - do not remove it. Some places will absorb the paint better than others but it will all come together with the color of wash you choose. Sometimes I leave a few "puddles" to dry here and there for a nice washy effect. You can use watercolor paper or whatever you wish. I used cardstock as it happens to be just a nice size.

The other paper is done with a base of freezer paper shiny side up. Tape it down on the four corners to your table. On top of that lay a piece of white tissue paper, cut to fit inside the freezer paper edge. If the tissue has a "shiny" side, put that side down. The tissue paper will automatically stick to the freezer paper when you wet it. Gently paint the tissue with an acrylic wash with a soft large brush. It tears easily when it becomes wet, so be careful, and if you do get a rip it's okay as you may really like that interesting spot. Dry. Then begin pasting down scraps of different papers, torn or cut into shapes, with matte medium. Then maybe smaller scraps. Then punched pieces, fancy scissor cut pieces, other tissue papers, fancy papers, stained pages from old books, etc. Leave enough of the tissue paper plain, as these parts are nice when you use them in collage so that whatever text or words or whatever is under that part will show through. Then use rubber stamps. When done, you can glaze the entire sheet with another very washy acrylic wash of the same color that you used at the start. Leave the tissue paper on the freezer paper until it is completely dry and then it will peel right off. Now you have a "new" piece of paper to tear or cut for use in your collages.