the Artnest: Anahata Katkin's post. . .see you soon ladies!

I hope you are all having fun getting goodies for the retreat. (I just found oodles of components for Amy’s class at antique stores!)

As for our day together I wanted to ease your minds about the hunt for a “focal image”. I asked each of you to bring favorite faces and copies of imagery you like. I find that some of the easiest things to do is to find great and striking faces and make COPIES of them in black and white on standard paper. This instantly takes the glossiness out of an image and makes it really easy to integrate. I think integration is the key to collage.

So don’t work too hard hunting down the world’s greatest faces. Just go for something that’s got a great expression or some kind of beauty you connect with. The fun part is making ordinary people into fantasy, layered creatures. I use lots of boring faces and then I work hard to make them come to life.
Look through 5 magazines and then tear out pages and take them to get photocopied. Change the sizes. Blow them up, etc. (Make extras of your favorites to share!) The emphasis should be primarily on the face. You don’t need a perfect human form. In fact I hardly ever use an image in it’s whole form. I will work with everyone to integrate these faces so there isn’t any “floating heads syndrome”. Just copy, copy, copy. Bring a file full of stuff to pick from and it will make it really fun. Don’t worry about having perfect stuff. Just think about strong faces, and a few options. Working with what we have is half the thrill. You may also choose to bring photographs. But I suggest that if they are modern that you also copy them. The glossier the photo the harder it is to integrate into original artwork.
Old cabinet cards and sepia photos always work great. You may color copy these if you want to keep some of that great range of tone. You can also use the original if you don’t mind wrecking it.

A few patterns here and there and extra bits are always nice. But again. Just go with your gut. You really can’t go wrong here. And again. PLEASE do not try and pre-plan your projects. Just see something you like and throw it in a file. We will do all the rest together!