Copying a Pattern on Hand Decorated Paper

My collage art is strongly based on my own handdecorated papers. Making my own papers changed a lot. I began to feel more happy and content with my art. Even if it’s imperfect, it’s all mine.

I feel sad when people tell they hate their handwriting and say that they can’t draw anything. Putting pen to paper is very important. I believe that it’s our connection to the subconscious. For me, drawing and painting has always been a part of self-discovery. Despite of that, I have felt bad with my drawing too. But I have got rid of that by drawing so much that I have found my own style and accepted it’s imperfections.

The little collage shown here consists of my own papers and doodles. But some of the papers are made with the help of a machine. I used ink jet printer to combine layers of doodling by photocopying. Here’s how I did it!

1) I took some of the papers that I had made using watercolors and color pens. (You can see the instructions at the blog post Frugal Crafter’s Guide to Hand Decorated Papers)

2) I put the paper to the printer’s tray. At my printer (Canon MP550) you have to put the paper backside up to get the printing to the right side.

3) Because I love doodling on white paper I have a small pile of these wildly doodled sheets. I opened the lid and put it upside down to use it as a photocopy.

4) Then I pressed the Copy button and here’s the result!

I could not help making more of these!

Some extra directions: Make sure your papers are completely dry before inserting them to the printer. Use fairly thin paper. When making the colorful papers, do not use very dark colours so that the copied doodles will show.

Have fun using those odd doodles again and again!