How to Create a Collage of Your Paintings

Plein Air Studies from PACE16 Tucson, Arizona      all pastel   ©Karen Margulis

The first thing I did when I got home was to start my laundry. I find the longer I procrastinate unpacking the harder it is to tackle it. Diving in and getting it done is the best approach. The second thing I did was to take out all of the paintings I did during the Plein Air Convention. My husband was surprised that I didn't have more for a 2 1/2 week trip but I reminded him that help of that was spent in the car driving from Atlanta to Tucson! The rest of the time was spent teaching a workshop and attending convention sessions. So overall I was pleased with what I accomplished. It was time to make a collage!

5x7 pastel study

It is always a good thing to take some time to review the work you do over the course of a few weeks. It helps you to see what you did well and what you might need to work on. One way to do this is to physically set out your paintings ....line them up against a wall and study them. Take notes. Is there a common thread that runs through all of them? Is there something that you are doing consistently well...or not so well?

Ideally, this evaluation should be done every few months. There is a simple way to do this instead of taking the paintings out physically.....create a digital collage. I learned about a wonderful website that allows you to make a free photo collage when I was doing Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 painting challenge. She recommended Picmonkey  and it is a great way to make an easy collage of your work. This collage can be used in many ways...make cards, Facebook banners, promotions of all kinds. It is also an excellent way to see a collection of your work all in one place!

All you need to do is visit the PicMonkey website and select Collage. Next you upload the photos you want to use and choose a layout. You can change the size and color of the border. Be sure to save your collage when you are done.  Have fun with making a collage of your own paintings!

a collage of my paintings for my Facebook cover photo