For anyone who has enjoyed making art, they will know that for every twenty or more pieces of work produced, maybe one image satisfies the eye and soul....and so what to do with the work that we don't like?
Recycle it. Just as I demonstrate through my 'apple exercise' how the apple can be seen many different ways, the same applies when it comes to recycling artwork.
An Obvious way would be to use both sides of the paper. Less obvious, would be to put a colour ground over the old sketch, thus setting up a fresh start for a new image. Sometimes by taking a small 'mount/mat' (depending on what side of the Atlantic you live on!) and moving it around the unsatisfactory image, we can find a section that does please the eye. In which case cut it out and observe it from fresh prospective.
Another superb way to recyle artwork is to make a collage.
Basically a collage is a compostition of materials and objects which are applied to a surface using glue. In taking many elements, we produce a unifying composition, and a new whole. It's an interesting, and potentially exciting process.
Yesterday I showed very colourful collages made up of sketches from my 'apple exercise' - Today's collages are also made up with apple sketches, but in this case, I have chosen a more muted pallette.


In the next two frames you will note that I have added a touch of strong colour to the mix.

When I assemble all the different sketches, I cut them, and arrange them in such a way that they produce a balanced and harmonious composition. In other words I treat a collage in exactly the same way as I treat a painting.
Producing collages is a great way to recycle and see differently.
Another stormy looking beginning of the day in London, but compared with the floods that our friends in Cumbria and Scotland are going through, it's a fine day. Temperatures continue to be extraordinarily mild, and trees and plants are sprouting buds all over the place.
A Bientot









































