Drawing Lesson 45, Part 3 – What is Collage

Discover What is Collage

Video Lesson Description

In this video lesson, you will discover What is Collage and watch how the calligraphic collage has been created.

What is Collage

When it comes to the “What is Collage“, a fine artist should know that collage is an art of arranging various materials like pieces of photographs, other artworks, fabrics, etc. into a composition.

This is exactly what I’ve done in this “What is Collage” video lesson – stuck pieces of an antique banknote so they become an integral part of the artwork.

Considering ‘What is Collage‘ and how it can be used in your creative works, you can come up with infinite collage compositions, using various objects to express your creative thinking.

How to Draw in Ink

The female figure is done in black ink. We will come back to it later to make a wash in brown ink. Such brown ink wash will compliment the yellow-brown tone of the paper, and will go well with the colors of the banknote.

When it comes to the question of how to draw in ink, depending on what quality ink you are using, you may deploy a bit of a different approach. For example, some black inks can be very easy to dilute when they dry. In that case, using a wash on top of it might result in smudging the black lines, which may not be your desired effect. When you consider how to draw in ink, be aware that some black inks are very permanent and water-resistant, and putting a wash on top would not affect the black drawing at all.

For areas of the drawing with lighter values, we dilute the brown ink with water, making it lighter. When it comes to how to draw in ink with deeper values, we can repeat the ink wash in two or three layers, use an undiluted ink, or, select a combination of both. It is a good practice to make sure the wash is completely dry before making a second layer. In this way, you have a much greater control in building up the values of the drawing.

Also, you need to consider how to draw in ink without overloading your brush with ink. It is good to test how much ink is required for a wash. Make a quick test on a separate piece of paper before applying the wash to the drawing.

When it comes to how to draw in ink, a well-pointed brush is essential for this task. You may choose a brush with natural or synthetic hair that is suitable for watercolor. Brushes using natural hair tend to be more expensive than synthetic hair in brushes, and as we do such a simple wash, you will hardly notice the difference in the end result. So, a synthetic brush will do the job nicely.

The conventional method of drawing swirly lines in ink is to choose a nib that is as wide as the widest part of the desired line. Then use the chosen nib to make the line in a single stroke. The width of the line in this case will vary depending on the direction of the pen movement. Downward strokes will produce the full width lines, and side-way movements would give thin ones.

The calligraphic lines are best drawn with the downward movement of the pen. If a swirly line goes up and down in a circular or oval shape, it is more convenient to start drawing the line from the very top. Make a smooth single stroke by pulling the pen towards yourself. Then when you reach the bottom part of the line, lift the pen and start the second part of the line from the top.