What’s Digital Collage?

These are some common questions I get about what defines a digital collage and how I create them:

What is the difference between digital collage and traditional collage?

The obvious part of the answer is one uses paper, glue and scissors and the other uses pixels, a stylus and art and photo apps. But both use cut out elements, layered and juxtaposed, to create something new.

Although I mostly think of myself as a collage artist because I’m creating something new from elements derived from existing images and layering and juxtaposing them in the same way traditional collage artists do, I also selectively take advantage of digital tools available to me when it makes sense. This includes semi-transparency (usually to subtly de-emphasize some elements or to create the illusion that an element is embedded into what’s behind it), brightness to lighten or darken some elements for emphasis or to balance the composition, hue adjustments to improve color harmony, blurring to make some elements recede. However, I try not to overuse these tools to the point they become predominant because I want to keep the feel of a collage.

What is the difference between digital collage and other types of digital art?”

There are digital paintings where an artist is using an art app and a stylist as a “paintbrush” to make a completely original work. There are photo montage artists that combine multiple photos and use photo effects to create something new. Sometimes photo montage artists will use some collage techniques but the overall look and feel of the finished piece will look more like photo manipulation than collage. I think it crosses into digital collage when overlapping and juxtaposed cutout elements are dominant and you can imagine a traditional collage artist creating something visually similar.

How do you create a digital collage?”

I usually just start with two or three images that seem interesting together. I’m looking for an initial group of elements or characters that play well together. The colors might harmonize with each other, the characters may be looking in each other’s direction, the forms of the elements look like they might intertwine in an interesting way, etc. This is just a starting point. It’s not too unusual for me to later jettison an element that I originally thought would be one of the stars of the piece.

I then work the images together, discarding the chaff, then start browsing my photo library for something else that feels right. I continue reacting to each change and intuitively add and subtract. In my process, subtraction is sometimes just as important as addition. I try not to get too attached to anything and keep an open mind. I’m trying to let my subconscious work and not force the piece to be what I expected it to be. It’s an iterative process of edit, react, edit, react until it all starts to come together. Then it’s just a matter of any finishing touches that might be needed to improve the composition and visual impact.