Creating a Christmas Collage
A Holiday Art Project or Lead Up Activity Toward the End of School.
Adapt this Pre Christmas collage activity to suite the maturity of your Art Class. The complexity of the project will depend on the time and types of material available.
Build up layer by layer this jigsaw like collage activity. It can be set for individuals or class groups to complete together.
Materials and Equipment
For a Digital Collage the class will need access to
- a scanner
- digital camera
- MS Paint, Photoshop or another Computer Art Software Programme
For a Traditional Collage they will need
- scissors and glue
- drawing paper and coloured mounting card
- drawing implements such as pens, pencils, crayons
- “stick ons” such as glitter, tinsel, sequins and other ready to assemble scrap booking materials
- designer paper such as corrugated card, coloured papers, handmade papers,
Method
Explain to the class that they will be creating a scene gradually by adding images in stages.
Brainstorm with the class about the kinds of Christmas Scenes they may choose to depict.
Suggestions and Ideas:
- A group singing around a camp fire Cartoon Campfire
- Angels celebrating heavenly Christmas spirit.
- Children anticipating Christmas gifts
- Holidays in the barn yard.
- Fairies flying to the North Pole
- Gnats gnawing on festive gnomes
- A Christmas feast
- A picnic riddled with ants
- Children skating on the pond.
- A watery Christmas Dinner in the realm of King Midas
When the students have decided what type of scene they would like to draw, negotiate how many images will be required to create the picture. It would be good for them to have at least five images each so that the students experience creative tension when synthesising the collage.
Step One: Plan The Space
- Create a back ground. It can range from simple naiveté to architectural drawings with perspective.
- Wait to add final elements such as snow to the composition towards the end.
- Plan the size of the collage to be adequate for the project purpose. The purpose could be a card, calendar, place mats, posters and the like.
Step Two : Create Each Image
- Ask the students to draw the first image, for example: Single Image of a Carol Singer
- Appraise it with the students making sure that each image is complete with rescued outlines and shading.
- Clean and crop each image.
Step Three : Compile A Temporary Gallery
- Once the students have created and finished their first image have an Appreciative Inquiry. Through this process they will come to see a variety of ideas and be further inspired and encouraged. They will see how others have approached the task.
- Once they have a feeling for where they are heading, set the assignment in motion.
- Negotiate a finish date with the students.
- Encourage them to set their own benchmarks.
Step Four : Assemblage
- On the day of assemblage, demonstrate how to combine these elements in a collaged composition.
- If the composition is digital, show them how to resize and to rotate or reposition the images until they sit well.
Step Five : Integrate The Composition
- Begin the process of integration, once the entire composition in assembled.
- Encourage the students to move over the entire collage rescuing outlines, deepening and lightening areas until they have integrated the final composition.
- Highlight desired aspects bringing them into focus.
- If the picture is a snow scene, now is the time to add the snow so that the entire area is married together. If it is something like a bush scene perhaps leaves of trees can be added once the birds and animals are in place.
If you do this project with your class please post examples of your work on the discussion boards. Here is one example of a Personalised Christmas Card Collage
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