Wishful Thinking - a collage painting

Wishful Thinking
Cyndi Lavin, 2016

This collage on watercolor paper was fun to put together from start to finish, but it wasn't until just after I added the crow that the name and the point came to me.  I had been discussing with a friend our tendency as human beings to want gifts that we don't have while undervaluing the gifts that we've been blessed with.  My poor crow is clearly wishing for a musical talent that eludes him.  Smart, clever, strong, and beautiful...he forgets about all of that!

If you'd like to try making a collage like this, use the colors and imagery that "sings" for you :-)

Materials & Tools

Watercolor paper, cold pressed
Tissue paper
Bubble wrap
Sheet music
Image(s)
Dixie cup
Matte medium
Gloss medium
Glazing medium

Acrylic paints:
Titian buff
Red oxide
Yellow ochre
Raw umber
Cobalt turquoise

India ink
Foam brushes

1. Paint the watercolor paper with Titian buff and allow to dry.  Adhere tissue paper with thinned matte medium and allow to dry. Drip India ink and spritz with water to let it run.  Dry completely.  Apply a thin coat of gloss medium, followed by a "frame" of raw umber.  Add some yellow ochre on bubble wrap.

2. Add strips of sheet music with matte medium.  Accent with red oxide, and with cobalt turquoise stenciled through a plastic vegetable bag.

3. Make marks with the bottom of dixie cup dipped in red oxide.

4. Print out an image on sheet music (cut to size for your printer).  Adhere with matte medium.  Allow to dry completely.

5. Glaze with yellow ochre.

This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick

Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.