Junk Mail Challenge

The second challenge for this week was to create something from junk mail. I was inspired by some prints i saw in a poster catalog where dog portraits were created using different types of paper. The artist is Karen Dupré. I thought i could find some simple drawings of a dog - like something a child would color, and do the same thing. Well doing a search of dog drawings either turned up something too detailed, or then way too cartoonish and silly.

I needed to find the right "cute dog". So that's what i typed into google images. I found this little guy. He's perfect. A nice assortment of coloring. A sweet expression. And a full face in the image.

Using a photo editing package that i know nothing about, i played around until i found the setting called "posterize". It sort of creates flat areas of colour. I am sure there are even better ways to do this. I started to cut out the shapes - darks, medium and light. I glued them into the BACK of my papers.

What did i use for paper you might ask? keeping in mind that this challenge was called "junk mail" i used the INSIDE of envelopes. Never looked inside an envelope? there is a myriad of interesting textures and patterns. usually in tasteful grey tones. These came from ONE batch of mail - you know the usual credit card applications.

Using the cut up picture as my "pattern" - i cut out a variety of pieces for the doggy's face. This can get tricky. I glued my pieces face up to the BACK of the patterned paper. So my final composition is the mirror image of the original. You have to do this so you can start with large blocks of colour and work you way to the smaller pieces. If you glue the patterned paper on TOP of the template - you won't see it anymore.

Try to use a variety of lights and darks and don't let the same papers touch if you can help it. I paid no attention to matching the envelope patterns to the shadows on the dog - so he comes across like a negative rather than looking realistic. But do whatever you want! Try it yourself!

FYI: This month's Somerset Studio has similar works by artist Peter Clark. His pieces often go beyond the confines of two dimensions and just blew me away. Please check out the magazine and his website for more great inspiration.