This collage work example was done by our student in the Art College Portfolio Prep program.
A good example that shows the possibilities of how far and experimental you can go with your portfolio piece, this work assembles together various mediums, including drawings, found objects, magazine cut-outs, and photos.
For a collage piece like this, the process could be varied. Perhaps you may start with a story in mind to gather some materials later. Or, maybe you may get inspiration from materials around you and then make a story out of them. Or, maybe you’d like to mix up the processes.
No matter where the starting point is, think of how even rigid rectangles can be positioned in a bigger composition. Those small rectangles can be compositions within the big compositions, so you can go in and out of each of their boundaries as seen in this example piece.
You can see how each section is dedicated to its own section and story. One section has more saturation in the drawing portion, another with magazine cut-outs, another with layered pieces of colored sheets, and another a mix of found materials that experiment with transparency, paint, etc.
The point of a collage piece is to juxtapose different materials and how they could interact, either as physical materials or as metaphors. So start out by gathering pieces, be they stories in your head or found objects, and lay them out on your paper or canvas. Think about how you’d arrange them, and what is pleasing to your eyes, adjust, add, and repeat!