Progress on Ivy and the Chicken Collage

This is Ivy and the Chicken. Ivy is my youngest granddaughter. Her mom loves to raise chickens. Everything is new to Ivy. She’s such a cute girl I can’t help but take photos of her everytime I go there.

Collage work is a slow tedious process. You have to draw in the design on paper (that’s the easy part), then the search for just the right colors and patterns begins. I look through magazines and catalogs from years ago to find just the right color, value and tone. Then I tear or cut the piece to fit just right before gluing it down. I could take days or even weeks on this process. However I find it so soothing and calming that it doesn’t matter how long it takes. I supplies something essential to my soul, so I keep doing it.

What do you think?

#1 Almost finished collage

The final in the process so far of Ivy and the Chicken Collage. I may still make some changes to the shadows on her arm but mostly this is done.

To start I draw the picture in pencil and start laying in the background pieces. The rubber cement is on the right there on the table.

Next I try to get the flesh colors in as much as possible. I used maps and tan pages with some orange and brown picture pages for shadows. The eyes and mouth look black but actually they are cut from a dark brown tree trunk photo.

Next I try and lay in the colors for the chicken. Notice the shadows are shades of purple.

Now I finish up with the color for the shirt and some added background details. I may still go in and lay in some more shadows on her shirt and words or letters in the background. Mostly this is the finished collage.