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Have you ever seen a distinct picture of an object from a distance, and upon coming closer found that the picture was actually a composite of many little pictures? This type of illusion is no doubt the work of a mosaic artist. Chances are you have seen other paper mosaic work, such as those made from simple pieces of construction paper - maybe a delightful kindergartener's project! You may have even been unaware that you were looking at paper; if it is coated with clear acrylic, paper can take on a shine and appears to have the dimension of ceramic tiles. Paper mosaics are quite diverse, and an inexpensive way to create great art. Don't forget to use paper scraps for your projects!

Simple paper mosaic:
Choose bright and dark colored paper to contrast on a light background. Use only bright squares on a dark background. Cut your selected paper in strips, and then cut the strips into squares. 3/4 inch squares are good for beginners. If there are spaces too small to use a complete square, try cutting some squares in half or in quarters. Leave a small space of the background showing around each square (or square portion). Doing so, makes the background look like grout and gives your mosaic a traditional look. If desired, finish the mosaic with a coat of clear acrylic paint.

Pattern guides:
Try using coloring book pages for layout guides. If your background is light, go over the outlines of the coloring book image with a pencil. Working on a hard surface, place the pencil side down on your background sheet; burnish the back side of the image with a spoon. When you are done, the pencil should be transferred to your background. If your background is dark, use chalk instead of pencil. Simple stencils and rubber stamps (or sponges) make great pattern guides. Also, try following a cross stitch pattern!

Magazine mosaics:
Magazines are a wonderful source for mosaic artists. Before you can begin pasting down your magazine squares in a pattern, you will need to sort the squares by color, intensity and hue families. Otherwise, the finished mosaic will just look like a mish mash bunch of cut squares. This will take a good eye, and a lot of time and patience. If you find this to your liking, you may very well be on your way to becoming one of those great illusion artists!

Mixed paper and different types backgrounds:
Feel free to use old letters, magazines, gift bags, tissue paper (any paper you have!) to create unique mosaics. A mosaic that contains squares of solid red paper next to squares that have a blend of red and/or specks of red can be quite striking! Old storage boxes and serving trays can come back to life quite elegantly when they are covered with paper squares and finished with a couple of coats of clear acrylic paint.

These are only some ideas to get you started. The sky is the limit, but you're going to have to cut a lot of squares to get there!

Learn more about this author, Cindy Hartzell.
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