collage painting step by step

well, i guess it's a backwards kind of step by step, but i think you can figure it out. ;) i recently took a class at Big Picture Classes with Emily Falconbridge called, "Got Paint?" and this painting was our final project.

Here is my crazy, messy dining room table (turned art studio for the moment!)

and a close-up of the first phase. here i've just placed random pieces of somewhat-coordinated scraps of paper (i knew that keeping those little pieces would come in handy! ha!)

a little gesso (or white paint) dry-brushed and wiped away here and there to hide/reveal parts of the canvas. the middle design is made with vintage sewing paper. i traced my design from an old calendar. you can trace any image you can think of. i thought about just leaving the collage like this. i really like the look of the antiqued paper against the colorful background. but, i decided to keep pushing it. (always scary, always fun!)

oh, this is just a close up of my cute little bowl i've had since i was a kid! it was on the craft table filled with midnight snacks (chocolate ice cream treats from Trader Joe's!) the bowl used to have a mug and a plate and if you piled them all up, you'd have a 3-D girl! (the plate had a printed image of shoes and the mug was her "body" with a cute little dress.)

this was the fun part...adding all the paint splotches and drips and texture with all sorts of fun painting tools (bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, pizza cutter, shaped sponge brushes, stencils, etc--most things you have at home!) i just picked a few (ok, a lot) of my favorite colors and that's how my color scheme was born. i'm really gravitating toward these bright colors lately. and a few pastels for balance. i love red, aqua, sky, pink, sea foam, and rose.

so, it's not a very detailed step-by-step. i don't want to take away from the amazing class i just experienced. if you're looking for a fun, laid-back, go-at-your-own-pace kind of class or you just need a little boost of inspiration, i HIGHLY recommend this class. tons of fun.

i would love to see what everyone is up to these days. now that spring is upon us, what colors are inspiring you lately?