Rather than throwing old newspapers into the trash or recycling bin, clip them into creations. Rather than passing by racks of free newspapers, collect them for creative moments.
In this art journal prompt, set it up so it challenges the mind’s writing and artistic sides. Not only are there opportunities to draw, collage, and paint based upon the inspiration garnered from these newspaper clippings, but there is a multitude of writing opportunities as well.
Materials:
- Waxed paper
- Newspapers
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Art journal
- Black ultra-fine sharpie
- Colored construction paper
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrushes
- Distress ink
Instructions:
- Open the art journal to the first blank page spread. Place a piece of waxed paper beneath each side of the page spread.
- Cover the page spread with a light brown mixed with black color wash. Speckle in shades of blue and green to add some color and movement to the pages. Set aside to dry.
- Begin sifting through the newspaper pages one by one. Do not cut out anything at first. Simply look through and find inspiration. Use the ruler and pencil to create cutting guidelines if needed. Begin cutting once all the pages have been gone through.
- Place newspaper cuttings– this can be pictures, text, full articles, paragraphs, advertisement, or whatever else is eye-catching in the moment – into a pile as they’re cut. Set all the additional newspapers aside for a future project.
- Rub the edges of each newspaper cutting with distress ink. This allows the cuttings to pop from the pages a bit.
- Take out the colored construction paper and cut pieces so they match the sizes of the newspaper cuttings. These pieces of construction paper can be glued adjacent to the newspaper clippings, or in separate areas of the page for text, drawings, and small collages.
- Begin assembling the page spread now that the paint is dry. Use the glue stick to attach the construction paper cuttings and newspaper cuttings down. Add text (journal entries, short stories, song lyrics, quotations, random thoughts, etc.) and drawings inspired by the newspaper cuttings.
Variations:
- Add glitter glue to the edges of everything once it is attached to the page. Be sure to allow the glitter glue to dry completely, and then cover with decoupage medium to prevent the pages from sticking together.
- Introduce additional collage elements such as used postage, cuttings from junk mail, magazine cuttings, and other paper scraps. Collage in blank areas of the page where it is only painted, or on top of the work itself.
- Add pictures, swirls, and additional text using the ultra-fine sharpie on the painted areas of the art journal’s page spread.
Further exploration:
- Pick a theme: choose only newspaper cuttings that have to do with a problem that needs to be worked out. Collage on the art journal pages, and then begin drawing and writing to help solve the problem.
- Use only newspaper clippings and pen: rather than painting and embellishing, create the entire page spread only using newspaper clippings that is enhanced with pen.
Encourage children to work on this project as way of further opening their minds to recycling, creative imagination, and writing. Bring together a group of friends or students to work on this together and garner ideas from one another bases on each other’s work. There is also room for collaboration in this type of work by creating a journal that is passed from one person to the next each week.
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