What is a Collage?

Series Summary

A collage is an artistic, though often seemingly random, arrangement of images or image fragments that is taken as a whole. A complex composition of pictures are mashed up, overlapped, rotated, and stuck in place to create a barrage of imagery, often thematically or topically linked. Many artists employ collage in their works, and collage are often an early assignment in school art programs. Any craft store holds all the supplies you need to make a collage, but finding just the right pictures, photos, or images will be up to you.

In this free video series, expert craftsman Mike Muller shows you how to make a collage. You will learn how to arrange supplies and a workspace, composition and design strategies, what kinds of images to use, and more. Mike leads you through choosing glue or tape, sealing with wax, and adding an label to your collage. All here, folks.

Video Transcript

"We're here today talking about collages. For those people who may not be sure what a collage is, it is basically taking different types of media, be it paper, magazines, newspapers, print, clippings, photographs, postcards, wallpaper (anything that can be adhered to a flat surface) and assembling it in a creative way. This is a simple collage I made as a gift. It's in a frame, so it can be displayed. It can be sent, it can be folded up into a letter, whatever you'd like to do. Anything that can be adhered to a backing with tape or glue, or any sort of adherence material to make it flat and stick will work."