The frottage (rubbings) I worked with:
Detail from Collage, Panel 1
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| "Child's Head" - Detail from Collage, Panel 1 |
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| "Skull" - Detail from Collage, Panel 1 [magnified] |
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| Complete Collage, Panel 1 "NO to War" |
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| Detail from Collage, Panel 2 [Enlarged] |
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| Complete Collage, Panel 2 "Untitled" |
Disclaimer: The last time I made a collage was in elementary school. So I'm a bit rusty. I had no idea when I started what the outcome would be. This was a timed exercise. I beat the clock, but would prefer not to have had to 'create' under such pressure. No time to repair the Smudge-Lady's left arm!!
Materials used: 11" x 14" (65 lb) sheet of white paper from my Canson Sketchpad, scraps of paper cut from six art rubbings (frottage); graphite, charcoal, and colored pencils (black, brown, blue, red, white); scissors, glue, eraser.
The child's tiny bald head and face were the first images I "saw" in the mass of blotches and striations from the rubbings; as well as one round 'possible face' (which morphed into the Smudge-Man). (He looked sad, so I found him a mate).
The Smudge-Couple were originally also just smeary blotches that I then cut into circles and gave them faces, eyebrows, eyes, noses, lips, hair and pasted the heads onto some rather unconventional necks. (The clock was ticking, I felt rushed). I call them Smudge-People because the texture I had to work with was basically smudgy, shapeless blotches, so they appear a bit battle-scarred. Perhaps they have some relationship with the small child on the opposite panel, with whom they share the Collage. I never learned their story, but I'm sure there is one there.
