Inspired by ...... John Piper Collage with pen and ink

Inspired by ...... John Piper Collage with pen and ink

I wanted to film another demo working with the dip pen as used in the recent Andy Warhol demo.
Here I use the techniques of the British artist John Piper.

John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (13 December 1903 – 28 June 1992) was an English painter.
His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. He was educated at Epsom College and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London.
Piper was an official war artist in World War II and his wartime depictions of bomb-damaged churches and landmarks, most notably those of Coventry Cathedral, made Piper a household name and led to his work being acquired by several public collections.

2 compositions each 10" x 14" (inches) Base is 250gsm smooth card. (1" border)

0:00 Composition 1 Low Tide, Rossall Beach
I take inspiration for these 2 collages from my own photographs, this first one is a photograph taken at low tide, I love the landscape and the abstract shapes formed by the shallow pools of seawater. The wooden stumps are all that remains of the coastal defenses left over from the first world war. This place is also one of my rescue dog Buzz's favorite places to play football.
0:06 A selection of John Pipers work.
0:55 Begin by sketching out a composition to use as a guide for the placement of the collage pieces. Keep this simple and think about the shapes that will form the various elements of the artwork.
1:45 You can use many different materials for the collage, newspaper with text is great for adding interest, use old drawings and scrap envelopes or brown wrapping paper.
2:06 Using the pencil sketch as a guide, draw the shapes you need. Create interest by tearing the paper or use scissors for sharper more defined shapes.
4:41 When you are satisfied with the placement of the paper shapes, begin to glue them down. You can leave this to the end but I prefer to glue them down as I progress. I use a glue stick here (Pritt Stick which is very strong and non toxic)
7:13 Torn newspaper is excellent to work with and you will find a limitless range of colours to use.
11:15 First stage finished, this composition will now form the foundation for the pen and ink drawing.
Remember you are not aiming for realism, it's a collage and use the process to create something unique, it is a great technique and can change the way you think about composition, it will help you choose colours more selectively and produced a well balanced original artwork.
11:32 The drawing. Using a dip pen with a large drawing nib and black Indian ink begin to sketch over the collage, keep the lines loose and free, don't be tempted to overwork this stage. The dip pen will create interesting lines, you could also use a brush for larger areas of contrast.
20:24 THE FINISHED WORK. Low Tide, Rossall Beach 10 x 14
Compare this with the photograph I used for inspiration.

21:07 Composition 2 River Wyre Launch Station
21:22 As before I begin to sketch working from my photographic reference.
22:24 Torn paper and cut shapes begin to form the artwork.
29:52 Finished the first stage, the collage work is glued down and fixed in place ready to begin the drawing.
32:43 When using the dip pen use loose free marks and try to produce a variety of textures by changing the amount of pressure you apply, try cross hatch to introduce tones and don't be afraid to make mistakes, if you spoil a section of the work just cover this with more paper and draw over again.
41:14 THE FINISHED WORK. River Wyre Launch Station 10 x 14

Materials used
A selection of papers, newspaper, magazines, wrapping paper, envelopes, old drawings. There is no end to the amount of scrap paper that you could incorporate into a collage.
Indian drawing ink and a dip pen with a selection of nibs.
250 gsm card for the support base. (a heavyweight cartridge paper will also work)
Glue stick (I use a non toxic Pritt Stick here)
Scissors or craft knife and a pencil for sketching.