random collages...

...with the emphasis very definitely on "random" lol! one of the main things for which i use my sketchbook is as an art lab, to try out ideas; or even the glimmerings of notions that aren't quiiiiiite ideas yet. many of my sketchbook pages stall midway through, but some get added to the next day, or the next week and eventually turn into something cool.

this one with the eye was inspired by a few photographers i follow on instagram; there were a bunch of really cool photos of poster walls, in various cities, with layers and layers of advertisements glued randomly on top of each other, often there'll be a face peeking out from the layer at the very bottom. i definitely didn't capture the look i was going for here, but i had fun, and it's an idea i want to play with more in fututre. here's another take on the poster wall, without a face, but with some duct tape instead! this one really REALLY didn't "gel" into what i was trying to do. at all. in fact it's impressively... almost gloriously... wrong!

many of my sketchbook pages never turn into anything good, and i'm ok with that. some get abandoned entirely, or covered by a collage later. i used to try out ideas on scratch paper or toss away things that didn't work. but i'm converted to the "bound book" idea by the fact that it gives me a visual reminder of what i've already tried, and a record of how i've improved. in the page below, the numerals were inspired by an art journal page i saw online. the mandalas are an experiment: i spread white modeling paste thru a stencil onto deli paper, then sprinkled blue and green colorburst powders randomly on top, mixing them very minimally so i'd get a sort of multicolor effect. it ALMOST works. (almost!!!) but again, having it in my book reminds me that i still like this idea, and it's worth pursuing.

this last collage evolved over a few weeks: i used up some yellow and orange colorburst for the first layer. later i added the sticky backing from some round stickers. before and after there were little bits of modeling paste and some scraps of sheet music to be finished up. at some point in the middle, i got a roll of mesh tape at home depot that's kind of fun to play with. finally i won a prize pack with vintage postage in it, so those are on the top.

do any of these count as "ART"?!  ummmmmmmm... probably not. :) but they were fun to make, and they all taught me something. admittedly, sometimes the "something" was, "i'm never doing that again" lol! i like having these around, though. even the ugly stepsisters. maybe even especially the ugly stepsisters. why? because the more experiments you try, the less attached you are to any one thing. how can you be afraid of "failing" when your failures are fun and interesting and occur a few times a week. they're part of the process... and my sketchbook still has lots more pages left! ♥♥♥