i love your collages so much! sorry if this has been asked before, but what does your collage process look like? do you print out pictures/text or use magazines?
hi and thank you so much!!!! i don't think i've answered this question in full before but either way you don't have to apologize for asking!
with very rare exceptions, i never print out anything to collage with. everything is done with the cutouts i have. the sources can be anything; it's mostly magazines, but i've also collected from junk mail, flyers, newspapers, brochures, catalogues, ads, packaging, etc. i've been collaging on-and-off for about a decade and i'm somewhat of a hoarder when it comes to my cutouts, so i have a frankly overwhelming amount of them. they're organized (as best as i can manage) in binders, folders, and craft drawers. i also have various ways of making words and letters, from cutouts of full sentences and words, to ransom letters, to stamps, and stickers. i keep all of this in a digital spreadsheet (mostly) organized by different categories, so if i know i'm looking for a particular sentence or word, i can hit Ctrl-F and find it that way. this only somewhat streamlines my process as i still have to spend a lot of time looking for the exact cutout i want, since i have so many. i really should downsize.
in terms of the actual collaging process, it's honestly different for each one. some pieces i have a very specific idea for in my head and it's mostly just a matter of collecting all the materials. some are confined by a specific cutout i want to use and working around that in terms of size, color, etc. there's no one foolproof method and can sometimes involve trial and error, or even sometimes putting the collage down and coming back to it at another time.
materials-wise, i'm fairly simple. i primarily use an Elmer's glue stick, but i also have a glue pen and double-sided tape. i adhere all my pieces to cardstock to make them sturdier. i work somewhere with a good quality scanner, so i digitize my pieces that way. i then edit them in photoshop; not enough to alter it too much from the original, but mostly to brighten the colors, clean up any stray glue marks, and so on. then i post!
this might be a longer answer than you wanted but this is the best way i can think of to summarize my process. i do have some photos of my setup if anyone is interested in those, but i think my literal spreadsheet speaks for itself 😂😭
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