Following a similar process to that applied to my style guides, I've used my sketchbook to test collaging with my made textures, exploring overlay of block colour against pattern and texture to achieve variation in values. A mix of textures seems to work well to allow all components to sing, but I've found that block colours work really effective to provide a grounding to key information.
Testing the application of collage to my characters, I created templates from photocopied drawings and used these as a guide to create textural pieces. This process has worked well to enable me to accurately replicate the characters that I have spent so long refining. It could be easy to lose the form of the characters with small errors in cutting so these templates have enabled me to achieve an element of consistency in my work.
This test piece made in my sketchbook has worked really well using texture to identify different components of the costume. I do feel however, that the waistcoat could be more subtle so not to detract from the rest of the character. Working to 2 main colours has enabled me to characterise the character through his costume, something which will be important across the wider body of illustrations to distinguish between Morris traditions.
REFLECTION
Having experimented with digital and analogue approaches to collage, it seems that analogue collage achieves a lovely crafted quality, something I feel is really key to the tone of voice of my illustrations. My main aim is to capture the playfulness and tactility of Morris costumes, and while the digital process achieves this in a quick and reliable process, the final aesthetic does not seem to fully echo the personality of these characters.
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