I spend hours moving things around on surfaces looking for the perfect positions. Sometimes things just fall into place, other times the frustration levels go sky high.
The most infuriating scenario is when I settle on a design, stick it down, then come back to it later and realise that it doesn’t cut it. Then it’s back to the drawing board or, if there is a solution to the problem, a salvage operation.
Here are the few tricks I’ve learnt for minimising those “oh no” moments:
Take a break
- When you think you’ve got it right walk away and come back with fresh eyes, just to make sure, before you do your final placements.
- Take photos as you go. Sometimes the arrangments become overyly fussy or loose something of their orinignal intent in the endless re-arrangements. A photo reference means you can go back to an earlier version before committing.
- Taking a photo can act as a circuit breaker too when you are so bogged down in the process that you are on visual overload and need a fresh pair of eyes.
Layer it up, experiment
- The wonderful thing about collage is that you can layer it up, paint over bits that no longer work, or add additional bits when you identify a weak point.
- You can salvage most pieces of work with patience, persistance and inspiration. Don’t stress; an idea will come.
- Be fearless in what you do!! Most great art takes experimentation, a leap of faith and a sense of adventure.
Create a new work
- If all else fails and you can’t salvage the piece, cut it up. I guarantee, there’s some brilliant future artwork waiting to emerge that will incorporate the little snippets of what you thought was a failure.
ART by Jude Tulloch 
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