1. Start With Imperfect Paper

Don’t start with your best, most precious sheet of paper. Start with something ordinary.

An old sheet of printer paper. A piece of tissue. An underpaper from a previous painting session. A page from a discarded book.

I particularly like starting with papers that already have something happening on them.

The first layer doesn’t need to be beautiful.

It just needs to give you somewhere to begin.

2. Divide Your Paper Into Smaller Pieces

For this process, I like cutting a larger underpaper into several smaller pieces.

This immediately takes away some of the pressure.

You’re no longer thinking: “I need to make one beautiful piece of paper.”

Instead, you’re making several experiments. Some will work. Some won’t. Some will surprise you. And that’s exactly what we want.

Working on several pieces at once also means you can move between them. While one piece is drying, you can make marks on another.

3. Begin With Simple Marks

This is where expressive mark-making comes in.

And this is one of my favourite parts.

You don’t need to know what you’re drawing.

You don’t need to create a picture.

You can simply make marks.

Lines.

Circles.

Dots.

Loops.

Crosses.

Scratches.

Wobbly shapes.

Repeated patterns.

Long sweeping lines.

Tiny energetic marks.

Try changing the pressure of your pencil.

Try moving your whole arm instead of just your wrist.

Try making the same mark over and over again.

And then try making a completely different mark.

The important thing is to resist the temptation to make everything look “good.”

You’re creating a surface, not an illustration.

4. Add Coffee for Natural Staining

Coffee is one of my favourite materials for creating grungy neutral collage papers.

It gives you beautiful warm brown and beige tones without having to reach for a traditional paint colour.

You can brush it onto the paper.

Drip it.

Splatter it.

Let it pool.

Allow it to dry naturally.

You can even experiment with adding several layers.

The interesting part is that coffee doesn’t always behave predictably.

It can leave darker edges.

It can create stains.

It can seep into the paper.

And those imperfections are exactly what make the surface interesting. 

5. Bring in Gesso

Once you have some marks and stains on your paper, you can start adding gesso.

But don’t think of gesso only as a white base coat.

I love using it as another mark-making tool.

You can brush it across the surface or use a knife.

Apply it heavily in some areas and thinly in others.

Cover part of an old mark.

Leave another mark visible.

The magic happens when you partially cover something rather than completely covering it.

Now you have layers.

Something is hidden.

Something is revealed.

Something sits somewhere in between.

That is what gives handmade collage papers their depth.

6. Add India Ink and Dark Marks

Now we can bring in some stronger contrast.

Black India ink is wonderful for this.

You can use a brush, a stick, a branch or another found object to make marks.

Try not to control it too much.

Let the ink move.

Let some marks be bold.

Let others be delicate.

You might even find that the marks you didn’t intend to make are your favourites.

This is why I love intuitive mark-making.

You’re not trying to reproduce a particular result.

You’re responding to what is already on the paper.

7. Use Found Objects for Unexpected Marks

One of my favourite ways to make expressive marks is to stop thinking of my art supplies as the only tools available.

Look around your studio.

A branch.

A piece of cardboard.

The edge of a palette knife.

A piece of fabric.

The end of a paintbrush.

Your fingers.

Almost anything can become a mark-making tool.

A branch dipped in ink can create a completely different line from a conventional brush.

And that’s the point.

Unexpected tools create unexpected marks.

8. Keep Layering

This is where the papers really start to become grungy collage papers.

Add a layer.

Take something away.

Add another mark.

Cover part of it with gesso.

Add coffee.

Scratch into it.

Add pencil.

Add ink.

Let it dry.

Then look at it again.

You don’t have to keep adding forever.

At some point, you need to stop and ask: What does this paper need now?

Sometimes the answer is another mark. Sometimes it’s nothing.

Knowing when to stop is part of the process too.

The Most Important Rule: 

Don’t Try to Make Every Paper Beautiful

This might be the hardest part.

When you’re making your own collage papers, you may look at one and think: “I don’t like this.”

Don’t throw it away yet.

Remember that you’re not necessarily creating finished artwork.

You’re creating raw material for future artwork.

A paper that looks strange on its own might be exactly what you need in a collage.

You might tear away the part you don’t like.

You might use only a tiny section.

You might cover 80% of it.

You might layer it underneath another piece of paper.

So don’t judge the paper only as a complete sheet.

Think of it as a collection of marks, colours and textures waiting to be used.