Packing Tape Collages with Guest Artist Carla Sonheim

Guest Artist Carla Sonheim

Today’s post is adapted from the 2015: Year of the Spark! Online Art Class and brought to us by Guest Artist Carla Sonheim. Somerset Place would like to thank her for her contribution and innovative art techniques.

I was inspired recently to try painting on clear packing tape (affordable and ubiquitous!) after my Spark! co-teacher, Lynn Whipple, had us painting on clear acetate. This super fun technique adds a unique look to my collage work; I hope sparks your collage art, too!

Materials:

– Acrylic paints and brushes – Roll of clear packing tape – Glitter – Pastel – Credit card (for attaching tape to paper) – Watercolor Paper – Scissors – Optional: Wood panel

Step-by-Step: Flowers

1. Secure several strips of packing tape to a firm surface with the sticky side up. 2. Use a small brush to paint directly onto a strip of sticky packing tape (yes, on the sticky side!) and leave enough of the adhesive unpainted to make sure it can stick to the page. Optional: While the paint is still wet, use the back of your brush to “draw out” designs in the paint. 3. Let the paint dry, and then do a second round of painting, adding layers of color to the tape. 4. Finally, embellish by sprinkling glitter over the tape, letting it stick where it may! 5. Now, cut or tear the tape into random-sized pieces, and start collaging. Stick the tape to the blank paper in any design you like. This is perfectly suited to abstract shapes, but also animals, flowers and trees! Here is where you use the credit card to smooth the tape down (Note: when using glitter, it will be difficult to get perfectly smooth; don’t worry!). 6. Optional: Add painted tape additions to existing drawings, like these loose flowers made with water soluble markers.

Guest Artist Carla Sonheim

 

Step-by-Step: Cat

1. Instead of painting directly on the packing tape, paint a thin layer of acrylic paint on a plastic surface and let dry. Then, lay down strips of tape and pick up just parts of the paint (again leaving some of the areas uncovered so that it will stick to your paper; use your finger to apply pressure to parts of the tape and lift).

Tip: Dried acrylic on Gelli® Plates work great!

2. Now that you have a selection to choose from, cut or tear the tape and use the bits and pieces to create your artwork.

 

Carla Sonheim is an artist, educator, and author of best-selling instructional art books including:

Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun

Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop

The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone

Carla encourages artists of all ages to experience the Art of Silliness for themselves! You can find more free tutorials as well as upcoming online art classes, including the ongoing 2015: Year of the Spark! class, at www.carlasonheim.com.


Posted: Tuesday, October 27th, 2015 @ 10:33 am
Categories: How-To Project Tutorials.
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4 Responses to “Packing Tape Collages with Guest Artist Carla Sonheim”

  1. Lisa cote says:
    October 28, 2015 at 5:12 am

    Thank you for this step by step. This will be so fun for my card making!!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Lisa cote
    The altered piece

  2. Chris says:
    October 28, 2015 at 8:30 am

    Hi! I really like this idea and love how it turned out, but I’m a bit confused. I guess to secure the tape with sticky side up, you’d pin it somehow? And, about painting; are you just painting a solid color on the tape and then dragging the end of paintbrush through? Like, any color paint on every strip of tape?

    I apologize for the confusion. I guess I’m really showing my ignorance, or that I don’t have much of an imagination. Thanks so much for your help!! :-)

    • Sarah says:
      October 28, 2015 at 9:40 am

      Hi Chris, Thanks for asking! The tape can be folded under on the edges so that it stays still while you are painting. Carla did several colors onto several pieces of tape, then used the pieces to construct her collage. I think it could be really interesting to do several layers of paint on one piece of tape so that the effect is very multi-dimensional.

  3. Jackie P Neal says:
    November 11, 2015 at 5:54 am

    Wow! So very cool! thank you!

Jordan How-To Project Tutorials ,,,,,,,

Guest Artist Carla Sonheim

Today’s post is adapted from the 2015: Year of the Spark! Online Art Class and brought to us by Guest Artist Carla Sonheim. Somerset Place would like to thank her for her contribution and innovative art techniques.

I was inspired recently to try painting on clear packing tape (affordable and ubiquitous!) after my Spark! co-teacher, Lynn Whipple, had us painting on clear acetate. This super fun technique adds a unique look to my collage work; I hope sparks your collage art, too!

Materials:

– Acrylic paints and brushes – Roll of clear packing tape – Glitter – Pastel – Credit card (for attaching tape to paper) – Watercolor Paper – Scissors – Optional: Wood panel

Step-by-Step: Flowers

1. Secure several strips of packing tape to a firm surface with the sticky side up. 2. Use a small brush to paint directly onto a strip of sticky packing tape (yes, on the sticky side!) and leave enough of the adhesive unpainted to make sure it can stick to the page. Optional: While the paint is still wet, use the back of your brush to “draw out” designs in the paint. 3. Let the paint dry, and then do a second round of painting, adding layers of color to the tape. 4. Finally, embellish by sprinkling glitter over the tape, letting it stick where it may! 5. Now, cut or tear the tape into random-sized pieces, and start collaging. Stick the tape to the blank paper in any design you like. This is perfectly suited to abstract shapes, but also animals, flowers and trees! Here is where you use the credit card to smooth the tape down (Note: when using glitter, it will be difficult to get perfectly smooth; don’t worry!). 6. Optional: Add painted tape additions to existing drawings, like these loose flowers made with water soluble markers.

Guest Artist Carla Sonheim

 

Step-by-Step: Cat

1. Instead of painting directly on the packing tape, paint a thin layer of acrylic paint on a plastic surface and let dry. Then, lay down strips of tape and pick up just parts of the paint (again leaving some of the areas uncovered so that it will stick to your paper; use your finger to apply pressure to parts of the tape and lift).

Tip: Dried acrylic on Gelli® Plates work great!

2. Now that you have a selection to choose from, cut or tear the tape and use the bits and pieces to create your artwork.

 

Carla Sonheim is an artist, educator, and author of best-selling instructional art books including:

Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun

Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop

The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone

Carla encourages artists of all ages to experience the Art of Silliness for themselves! You can find more free tutorials as well as upcoming online art classes, including the ongoing 2015: Year of the Spark! class, at www.carlasonheim.com.