Make Your Own Collage Paper - Lesson with Karlyn Holman

We are going to make collage papers to use in creating an abstract painting on canvas. Making your own collage papers is fun and if you want to enter shows, it is now necessary. A bonus lesson shows you how to prepare your canvas for this lesson. We are going to use acrylic paint to make our collage paper and watercolor to finish our painting.

Many art shows do not allow “store bought” collage papers so this technique is invaluable for making your own papers. Finding the right paper was my first goal. Most deli papers are waxed and not suitable for use with watercolor. After a lot of trial and error, I found unwaxed deli paper through Amazon Prime. These papers are fantastic. They are transparent and glue layer over layer with YES Paste. You can use any acrylic paint. You will find 50 sheets of these special papers in your gift box so you can try this wonderful approach to start an abstract painting. We are going to start by making our own stamps and stencils using a glue gun and glue sticks. Gelli printing is a very popular way to make mono-prints too. Many quilters use Gelli printing as a way to print unique designs on their fabric.


Gelli plate either purchased or homemade
4″ brayer
Unwaxed Gelli Tissue
Gloves in a Bottle
Plastic gloves (optional)
Fine Mister
Stencils
Stamps
Parchment Paper
Baby wipes
Fluid acrylic paint
Bubble wrap, cardboard opened up to expose the textures, leaves found in nature, grapefruit bags, anything that creates a texture