It’s Easter weekend now! A great chance to experiment with creating something kawaii to celebrate this, featuring of course, bunnies and easter eggs. This year, how about some collage art! I have just resumed my Japanese painting classes and started a new project using collages and thought I could do with a bit more practice at home too. Always fun to try something new!
The Background
On a page from my A3 Art Gecko Mixed Media sketch pad, I went about creating my background. I was hoping for some mint-green using a sponge roller. However, I not sure if I used too little paint or the paint was not thin enough to spread but I ended up with some round splotches instead! Not to worry, I thought, why not go over it with another roll of color? And hence I went for a mixture of titanium white and another evergreen and tried again. Failed that too! But not a failure, actually. It turned out to be an interesting look! I quite liked it and decided to keep it as is. Things do happen for a reason don’t they?
My Rabbit
After a few trials and errors and trying on different compositions, I was finally able to arrive at my desired bunny sketch using a pencil. The idea of turning this painting into a collage, though, was actually unintentional. The original thought was a straightforward acrylic painting, but seeing how quickly “bored” I got with it after painting her in pink, I decided to gather my newly-purchased lokta and mulberry papers together and put them to some good use! The pink would stay, but I went for some texture with a scrap sheet of matching pink wrapping tissues. You can see a bit of texture emerging as I started.
Completing the Collage
A series of textured papers were selected for this collage. For instance, the fibery one for the orange basket is made of husks. These were purchased locally at an on-line shop that specializes in special papers. If you’re in the EU, you ought to try: Hobby Paper Village. As adhesive, I used some Japanese rice glue (easily available in Japan at convenient stores) mixed with some water in a shallow dish. You first spread some with your finger on the desired area then add the paper. The thicker the paper, the less water. However, for some of the very thick ones, I went for Mod Podge to ensure the paper really stayed on. I generally tore the paper with my hands to get that interesting texture and furry edges. However for shapes that require precision, I resorted to a pair of small craft scissors. Glued on some sequins on the crowns, and I was good to go!
And here is my cute little pink Easter Bunny! It’s my very first entirely collage piece, and I must say I am proud of myself. Always a pleasure trying something new, and now I’m really getting into collage art! It is no surprise then why many focus on this medium as artists. Indeed so much fun to play around with all sorts of special papers like lokta, washi and mulberry and creating! I do look forward to continuing my project in my art classes and doing some more here too. And now… wishing you all a wonderful Easter!
My Kawaii Quarter 