Lesson video

Hello and welcome to our art lesson today.

My name is Ms. Holland and I will be your teacher.

So shall we find out what we're gonna be learning about? So our lesson today is experimenting with collage, and this is part of our Units of Foundation workshops, an introduction to the areas of study.

By the end of today's lesson you'll have created a layered collage using contrasting textures, shapes, and colours, while including black and white photography to enhance depth and composition.

So there's a lot of learning to happen, and a lot of making, so let's get started.

Our keywords are visual weight, asymmetry, and composition.

So, visual weight is the perceived heaviness of an element in an artwork, and that's influenced by its size, colour, or placement.

And something that is asymmetric is a layout where elements are not mirrored, so there's not a mirror image, but they're still balanced through visual interest.

And a composition in art is, of course, the arrangement of elements in an artwork.

So those three keywords work together and we'll explore them further in our lesson today.

We have two parts to our lesson.

The first part is layering with collage materials, and then the second part is about overlaying with black and white photography.

So let's begin layering with collage materials.

What catches your eye in this image? So let's have a really, really good look at all the detail.

What catches your eye? There's so much in that composition.

So Izzy says, "I see the green crosses first." So that's what really pops and stands out to her.

And Lucas says, "For me it's the deep red parts." Did either of those elements catch your eye first or was it something else? For me, actually, that bright blue really caught my eye in those two pieces of material.

Now let's look at this collage.

What catches your eye visually in this image? And sometimes, if you move a little away, you can really just focus on what catches your eye first.

If I look, I think it's the green crosses, but also that dark, dark square in the centre of the picture.

What caught your eye? Was it the same or something different? Experimenting with overlapping materials can create depth in a collage.

So our pupils are saying, "Overlapping makes some parts look closer or further away." Another pupil's saying, "Layers add texture and make it more interesting." And our third pupil says, "Layers can help link parts of the collage together." I think in those previous two examples those crosses really helped visually link different parts of the collage together.

And layers can add complexity and intrigue to the artwork.

It can make us want to look closer and carry on looking.

Check for understanding.

Which statement is most likely when thinking about how overlapping collage layers affects the work? Is it, it adds texture but reduces visual interest? Is it that it suggests space and invites closer looking? Is it that it flattens the image and simplifies the composition? Or is it that it hides the main element and confuses the message? Which one? Let's have a look.

Yes, well done.

It suggests space, a sense of depth and makes us want to look more closely at it.

Artists often use contrasting colours, textures, or different shapes to make their work more visually interesting.

So we can see this collage here, and we can see, like the previous ones, all the contrasting shapes and colours and the textures, the different materials used.

And a part of the artwork that contrasts with the rest will often stand out more and draw the viewer's eye.

And this is because it has more visual weight, so it has this perceived sense of heaviness.

So in this part the black imagery really draws my eye in.

It has more visual weight, a perceived weight, and it becomes a focal point in the composition so it makes my eyes focus on it.

Check for understanding.

What causes a contrasting element to have more visual weight in an artwork? So really think about what the term visual weight means, this perceived heaviness.

And what causes a contrast element to have more visual weight? Is it it blends in with similar shapes? Is it because it has similar colours to nearby elements? Or is it because it uses unexpected or opposite features? Well done, yes, indeed, it's unexpected or opposite features.

Like we saw in that previous image, the black imagery was really quite unexpected and opposite to the collage underneath.

And so contrasting colour, shape, or texture can give an element more visual weight, making it more noticeable and drawing attention to it.

So perhaps if you had a watercolour, and then you added a different texture, a different material onto a watercolour painting, that would give it more visual weight.

Artists using contrasting colours, textures, and shapes to create visual weight include Howardena Pindell.

Pindell collages shapes into repetitive patterns in her "Untitled 6F" from 2008 to 9, and contrast the colours across the work to create visual interest.

Pindell is an African-American artist known for her innovative use of texture, collage, and abstraction, which explores race, identity, and social justice.

She was one of the first Black female curators at MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art, and her early work featured intricate hole-punched collages referring to a child memory of racial segregation.

So blending abstraction with activism, Pindell remains a pioneering voice in contemporary arts.

Another artist is Lance Letscher who examines contrasting colours to lead and draw attention in his collage "Leaves" from 2002.

Lance is an American artist known for his intricate paper collages composed of found materials, so materials that can be found around us, like vintage books, letters, and magazines.

He originally trained in sculpture and he brings this meticulous sort of layered approach to collage and creates vibrant geometric compositions that blend text, imagery, and pattern.

His process is incredibly intricate too.

So it involves cutting thousands of fragments by hand, which he then carefully arranges into compositions through experimentation and revision.

And these two artworks specifically referenced here uses pattern and repetitive shapes so that the contrasting colours or textures carry more visual weight.

So our first task in today's lesson is to layer collage materials to create depth.

So we're gonna overlap elements to add contrast, complexity, and really focus on that idea of visual weight.

So what I'd like you to first of all do is gather your imagery and surfaces.

When doing this you should consider the contrasting colour and textures.

So, what colours and textures are contrasting? I'd like you to experiment with different materials.

I'd like you to go and get different materials such as fabric, paper, paint, tissue paper, any other kind of different materials that you could really experiment with.

And really consider selecting imagery, colours, shapes, or surfaces which link to your theme.

Then I'd like you to prepare your collage shapes.

So you should use repeated shapes to build rhythm.

If you think about those examples we saw before we saw that repeated cross shape.

And I'd like you to try cutting, tearing, or folding to change that texture.

Please don't glue all your elements yet.

Instead, you may like to take a photo to record your composition ideas.

Right, off you go and start your collage.

Well done.

Now, there are so many different possibilities that you could have come up with linked to your theme, of course.

And here are just a few of the examples that we've seen earlier and some new ones as well.

Some lovely collages that have used different textures, materials, images, repeated pattern to build up.

I wonder what yours looks like? And Jun says he's pleased with the range of collages I made.

This example has good contrast in tone and colour.

Which composition are you most pleased with and why? Right, let's move on to now overlaying with black and white photography.

So, which composition here do you find more eye catching? And this is really interesting 'cause the one on the left we have is symmetrical and the one on the right is asymmetrical.

Which one do you find more eye catching? Now there's no right or wrong answer here, but mine, I find the asymmetrical is more eye catching to me.

Symmetrical means that there is symmetry.

So, either side of this central line, each side mirrors one another.

And you can see this here.

You can see that the green stripes are located in the same equidistance from the central line.

So you can really see a clear line of symmetry.

Asymmetrical means that there is not a line of symmetry.

So if I were to draw a line down the middle of the asymmetrical one, it wouldn't be a mirror image on both sides.

Considering visual weight, so this perceived heaviness, when arranging elements can help achieve a harmonious composition.

So a composition that feels harmonious.

And balance in art can be created using both symmetrical or asymmetrical composition.

And you may immediately think, "Oh, a symmetrical composition would create balance more," but actually we can create a harmonious composition and balance through asymmetry too.

A check for understanding.

How does considering visual weight help create a balanced composition? Is it through ensuring no elements stand out? Through arranging elements for harmony? Through making the artwork symmetrical only? Or through removing contrast from the design? Well done, yes, it's through helping arrange elements for harmony.

Visual weight helps create balance, whether using symmetrical or asymmetrical elements leading to a more harmonious composition.

Artists can overlay photography over their collage works.

How would this impact the visual weight and composition? So let's have a look at this example here.

The artist has overlaid photography.

How does that affect the visual weight, that perceived heaviness? For me, my eye is drawn immediately to the photography.

There are many artists who overlap transparent imagery over collage backgrounds, and some of them include Chila Kumari Singh Burman has overlaid a black and white self-portrait over collage background in her work "Auto-Portrait," which she made between 1996 and 2013, causing a juxtaposition of colour, scale, and texture.

Chila is a British multidisciplinary artist and a key figure in the Black British art movement of the 1980s.

She's known for her bold, colourful works and that blend pop culture, feminism, colonial history, and her Liverpudlian-Punjabi heritage.

Another artist is Robert Mars, who explores patterned collage layers with black and white imagery overlaid in his Americana series.

Now, Mars is a contemporary American artist known for his mixed media collages that both celebrate and critique mid-20th century American pop culture.

His work blends pop art with abstraction and elements of folk art using grids and repeated forms to evoke nostalgia while commenting on consumerism.

And he actually originally trained in graphic design.

The photography should interact with the background, neither overpowering the other.

So here, which image is more successful and why? Have a look at both of these images, the one on the left and the one on the right.

Which one do you think is more effective and why? The transparency of acetate or digital opacity allows the viewer to still appreciate the layers beneath.

So the one on the left has more transparency, so we can still see the layers beneath.

It doesn't completely overtake.

Contemporary artists can use digital tools to experiment with overlapping imagery in collages.

So this pupil says, "It is quick to edit opacity, size, and placement of an overlapped image." And this pupil says, "I can also test different colours or imagery and document each one." So create this documentation of all the different testing and experimentation.

Tracing paper, acetate, or screen printing can also be used.

Check for understanding.

How can artists create layered collage effects both digitally and by hand? Is it A, by avoiding any overlapping of materials? B, by copying other artists' work exactly? C, by using digital tools or printed tracing paper or acetate? Or D, by only painting layers with thick brush strokes? Well done.

Yes indeed, it is C.

So contemporary artists use digital tools to layer imagery, and they can also print onto tracing paper or acetate to achieve similar overlapping effects by hand.

So, coming onto our final task, task B.

I would like you to consider the visual weight and harmony in your work, layering black and white photography, either digitally or manually to achieve balance.

So firstly, I would like you to select your black and white imagery.

You should link your imagery to your theme.

Choose one or multiple images.

Use high-contrast black and white photos, remembering white reveals collage, black conceals.

I'd like you to create contrast with coloured collage layers, and decide on either using digital or manual techniques.

Pause the video.

Well done.

I wish I could see all of your beautiful work, but let's have a look at one of our pupils as an example.

So there were many, many possibilities, but here are some examples of images that you may have chosen.

And Aisha says, "Jun, your image is effective in communicating your theme of memories and childhood." And Jun says, "Thanks.

I use digital photo editing software to increase the contrast." To say he used digital photo editing to make the contrast between the black and the white even more heightened.

Now I'd like you to complete your text compositions.

So, you should aim for a balanced composition using symmetrical or asymmetrical placement.

So decide if you want that mirror line down the centre of your composition or you would like something asymmetrical.

If working digitally, adjust your opacity to layer imagery and create visual effects.

And if working by hand, remember to secure your layers with glue.

Pause the video.

Well done, again, there are so many different possibilities that may be linked to your theme.

So here are some options that Jun has completed with his layering of the photographs he had chosen over different compositions.

Is there one that you think here is most successful? Hmm.

Well, Sam says, "The use of different overlaid images creates high visual weight, drawing attention." And Alex says, "Neither background or foreground overpower the other.

Well done, Jun!" So he's got that balance completely right.

So, thank you for joining me today on this lesson, experimenting with collage.

So we've learned experimenting with overlapping materials can create depth in a collage, and layers can add complexity and intrigue to the artwork.

Artists can use contrasting colours, textures, and shapes to create visual interest and draw the viewer's eyes.

And a contrasting element can have higher visual weight, that perceived heaviness, drawing attention to itself, so drawing our eyes to it.

And considering visual weight when arranging elements can help achieve a harmonious composition, a balanced composition.

But balance in art does not have to just come through symmetry, it can also come through asymmetrical compositions.

Thank you again for joining me today and I hope to see you again very soon.