How to Do a Wash on Collage Pages

The earliest collages date to about 1200 AD.

A collage is a work of art you create by gluing shapes of colored paper or parts of magazine photographs onto a sheet of paper, stretched canvas or other surface. Creating most of their work in the first half of the 20th Century, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso and Henry Matisse were the most famous modern artists to make collages. You can add character and definition to your image, emphasize key areas and enhance the illusion of three-dimensional space in your collage by applying watercolor washes. The technique is simple and requires very little practice.

Things You'll Need

• Watercolors
• Assorted paintbrushes
• Paper towels

Instructions

1. Dip your paintbrush in water. Apply enough water to the areas of your collage to wet them, but not to the point at which pasted-on pieces begin to buckle.

2. Load the paintbrush with watercolor paint. Apply the paint to the moistened areas on the collage.

3. Remove any excess paint and water by dabbing it with a paper towel. You can remoisten any parts of your collage as you desire.

Tips & Warnings

• Emphasize key areas by using washes of warm colors: variants of reds, yellows and bright greens.

• Enhance the illusion of three-dimensional space by using neutral-colored washes — browns and grays — for the collage's mid and background.

References

• John Lovett Watercolor and Mixedmedia Artist; Watercolor Technique; John Lovett
• Cathy Johnson; Ink & Wash techniques; Cathy Johnson
• WorldandI.com; Collage 's Short History; Fred Stern; 2008
• Susan Krieg -- The Artist; The Origins of Collage; 1994