Rebecca's Rambles…

With the months turning colder and the evenings drawing shorter, my attention soon turns to indoor hobbies such as arts and crafts. Whilst looking for inspiration I came across the American artist, Derek Gores. His collages use magazines, newspapers, labels and found materials (handwritten notes, cd jackets, digital textures) to create large-scale pieces of art on canvases. His work features a wide range including: women, shoes, locations and motorbikes .

From studying his work I think it would definitely be fun to create a collage canvas this autumn. This can be achieved by plenty of magazine/newspaper collecting, Photoshop and not to mention, imagination! After you have decided on a design, which can be anything from human forms to still objects, you can use Photoshop to plan out your idea. The Photoshop cut out effect can help you know where to stick your cuttings. Simply, choose your photograph and apply this effect on Photoshop. You can then print out a copy, to the size you require and use this as a guide for your piece of art.

I like the fact Gores is quite messy with his collage and uses the ripping technique over cutting. This makes each piece unique and not too constructed. His work is certainly impressive and it is worth mentioning his one rule is that you can’t use pictures of the actual object when making that object.

My favourite Gores pieces include:

To see his full artwork gallery click here. What do you think of his work? I will do a follow-up blog post as and when I complete my own collage this autumn/winter.

Many young people want their art to look like photographs. I say, the world already has photographers, and while there is lots of worthwhile stuff to learn in mastering the touch and control necessary to render a picture like a photograph, not all hands or interests lean that way.