Get Messy: Collage Idea Book

Welcome to Collage

This book is for you if you’re going from creative dabbler to artsy practice-r.

It’s for you if you feel like the art you’re making just doesn’t look quite like you’d like it to.

It’s to level up the products and classes you have, and learn to rely on yourself.

This is modern art journaling.

Back in the good old days, before the internet and Wikipedia, we had encyclopedias. The knowledge of the entire universe (or so we thought) housed in 32 volumes of thick, sturdy books.

These Idea Books bring back that nostalgia and endeavor to cover a broad array of art journaling techniques. Definitely not all of them, but certainly enough so that you’ll never be stuck on what to do next.

We do this in the form of Get Messy Recipes. This type of art journaling format has been around for over a DECADE and has been tried and tested. Messy Recipes have magical properties.

I liken Messy Recipes to baking a cake because they have ingredients (the art supplies) and a method. They’re also totally not like baking a cake though, because you don’t have to keep things exact. In fact, you’re encouraged not to. When following a Messy Recipe, follow your curiosity - adapt, branch out, ignore certain things, and absolutely follow your joy.

Every single time you follow a recipe, you’ll discover a new outcome. If you’re lucky enough to have creative friends, try following it together - we do that inside the Get Messy community. Marvel at how, even with the exact same ingredients and method, the outcomes vary so wildly and beautifully.

The other magical part of Messy Recipes? They prevent overthinking and allow you to just have fun in your art. Learn new techniques, make a mess, release expectations, and enjoy the process.

Are you willing to try? Have all the stuff? Let’s get over that hump, grab our (paint-soaked) hands, and take action.

—

Collage is a staple for so many art journalers because it allows us to indulge in our magpie-ness. We get to put those papers collected over time and put them in use in the journal.

“We are mosaics. Pieces of light, love, history, stars... Glued together with magic and music and words.”

― Anita Krizzan

In the same way that we are multi-faceted, collage allows our journal to be too. There is creativity imbued in every step of the process - collecting, arranging, and placing. Choose images that spark something deep within you to create another facet representing who you are.

You’ll learn from three very different artists (Caylee, Claudette, and Vanessa), and you’ll get to discover your style through it. We’ll guide you gently and enthusiastically. We’ll show you the technique and how to make it your own.

Let’s release the art that looks like you.

Techniques in this Idea Book:

• The Altered Figure - make magazine images your own
• Using a Focal Image - expand outward to create a cohesive spread
• A Week in Paper - collect pieces of life through paper and store them in your journal
• More is More Layering - add more and more layers to create depth
• Peek & Reveal - allow the unexpected to guide your flow to reveal what lies beneath
• Layering Transparencies - play with papers of varying opacities
• Bonus: Collage as Expression