Living in a home with children and coloring go hand in hand. It is not uncommon for finished coloring pages printed from the computer, or half-filled coloring books to end up stacked in a corner, or tossed into a drawer somewhere. Recycle these pages into mixed media art opportunities through collages.
Materials:
- Coloring pages
- Markers, multiple colors
- Acrylic paint, multiple colors
- Crayons, multiple colors
- 8 x 10 pre-primed canvas board
- Scissors
- Gel medium
- Paint or sponge brushes
- Small containers of water
- Newspaper or cardboard to protect your work surface
Instructions:
- Cover your work surface and set out all of your materials. Select at least five coloring pages, and cut the main portion or largest picture from each page.
- Paint two of the cut-out’s using the acrylic paint, being as neat and as detailed as possible. Set these cut-out’s aside to dry completely. You can speed drying time through use of a heat gun or hair dryer.
- Color two more cut-out’s using the markers.
- Color the remaining cut-out using the crayons.
- Add all the colored and painted cut-out’s to the canvas board using the gel medium. Layer edges and portions of the cut-out’s wherever necessary and wherever it is interesting for the overall composition of the piece.
- Using a dry paint or sponge brush, pounce a complimentary color on the blank areas of the canvas, and slightly along the edges of the cut-out’s.
- Swirl some additional patterns using the acrylic paint throughout the entire piece, including over the cut-out’s.
Variations:
- Consider creating this collage in an altered book or in an art journal.
- Consider creating this collage in a much smaller scale on a handmade post card.
- Before the paint is dry, shake on some glitter and then spray it over with some fixative to ensure proper adhesion.
Introduce this project to children and teens as a way of teaching about recycling, and to open up their imaginations about the various uses for coloring books and coloring pages. Some teens may have felt as though they grew out of their coloring books years ago, and this project will give them the opportunity of rediscovering them again and opening them up to a new art supply they did not realize they had all along.
Encourage your children to invite friends over to participate in this project as a small group. Ask these friends to bring over their coloring books and printed pages, as well, so there is a larger variety to choose from. If you are hosting this event with small children, invite their parents to attend as well. This will provide an extra opportunity for a fun play date, plus it will give parents a unique opportunity for quality time with their children.
