Master masterboard post.

I make masterboards a lot and everytime I mention them somewhere I get questions about them. So here's all my masterboard "expertise" in one post.

WTF is a masterboard anyway? ha! Very simply put, it's a creation made to be cut down into smaller creations. For example, you can make one 9"x12" masterboard and cut it into four 4.5"x6" postcards. Or make an 8.5"x11 masterboard that will yield 10 ATCs. I even do quickie 5"x7" masterboards to get 4 ATC backgrounds. It's an easy way to make a lot of backgrounds at once - or just make a lot of postcards. I tend to build imagery/words right into the collage/mixed media masterboards I make, so when I cut them up they're ready to go - just address and send.

I once made 12 postcards by making 3 masterboards at one time (I call them batches, like they're cookies)...

That's a lotta frickin' postcards!

The bigger the substrate you use, the more (or larger) postcards you get.

The last postcard masterboard I made on an 11"x14" piece of bristol.

It gave me 8 postcards of various sizes.

I've also created masterboards around large central images to make "4-from-1" postcards that would then be sent out to different parts of the country/world.

I sent the 4 separate pieces of this masterboard to 4 different ladies in California.

I think it's neat that each one has a piece of the whole.

That's true with every masterboard postcard, but usually they become their own postcard once cut away. With a large shared image they become puzzle-like...it's more of mystery of how the postcard started. Does that make sense?

But, like I mentioned above, you don't need to go big. You can make a small 5"x7" masterboard that will give you 4 ATC backgrounds.

I just added the words and cut out manga characters to these backgrounds.

Making postcards or ATCs aren't the only things masterboards are good for. I've made masterboards for mixed media embellishments like these hand-cut hearts...

I used a 12"x12" sheet of cardstock to make the cutting easier.

A lot of these were used as tuck-ins for pocket letters (back when I was making pocket letters).

Masterboards can be carried out in any artistic medium. Paint, ink, pencil, collage, crayon, markers, ALL THE THINGS! You just go to town on a substrate and then chop it up! Live dangerously. I made my first masterboard in 2012 and have since lost all trepidation when it comes to chopping my creations up. A masterboard almost always looks a complete mess as you're working on it, but when it's been cut, it has a cool random charm about it. You'll end up cutting a face in half or lobbing off parts of words or turning once distinct shapes into weird, unidentifiable remnants.

Besides the mass output, masterboards are a satisfying way to use a lot of scraps at once. It's also a productive way to test new supplies. Spray ink all over, mix weird paints, try new stencils, experiment. When you're done, cut it up and send it out into the world as mail art.

The question I get asked most is how I make my collage masterboards. I've done little overviews before (here & here) and have shared WIP shots on Instagram, and other than saying, "just glue shit down," I don't know how else to elaborate on the process. I have a knack for mindless activities that involve repetitive action. 😝

Keep on creating.

Tag, you're it.

Today I was searching for an example of one project, but found an example of another project and made it. That's what happens when you've got a clean worktable and are waiting on laundry to finish. What was the project? A shipping tag art journal - or glue book, whatever. [Sidenote: are you as tired as I am of "properly" identifying the projects you make?]

I used 4 manila shipping tags because I wanted to make a collaged accordion fold book and just happened to grab 4 tags from the drawer. They're size 5 shipping tags. I taped them together with masking tape, leaving a tiny space between each for ease of folding. For collage materials, I decided this was the perfect project for the recycled mail art scraps I've collected; colorful parts of envelopes, packaging, notecard parts, cancelled stamps, collage pieces. 

No rhyme or reason, just pick something, glue it, stick it down.

Papers were overlapped across tags to reinforce the connection.

After the front side was complete, I attached a closure.

Accordion fold books need help staying closed.

I stapled a generous length of baker's twine to the front that will wrap around a few times and tie nicely. Then I did the same style of collage to the back as I did the front.

When it was done, I chose some likely strings and things for the holes. Because they're there, so why not.

Ta-da!

Collage art book thing.

Toodles.

Incoming mail art art.

My "system" for handling incoming mail is to take the art bits - the ATCs and other art cards and supplies - and sort them as they are received. Things get displayed or put away in designated storage containers and that usually leaves me with just the envelopes to deal with. Which I don't deal with until I have a heaping mess of them. Surprise.

When the plastic drawer unit I use to hold incoming mail parts is filled to capacity, I sort through everything. Rediscover overlooked bits of things, toss blank envelopes, liberate pretty note card fronts, cut out interesting postage. For the most part, that's as far as I'd go. The remaining re-sorted stuff would get archived and the collecting cycle would start again.

Lately though, I've been inspired by some swaps in the Mail Pals group to repurpose more of the old envelopes. They served their purpose, after all, and why not give them something better to do. Last month I had to do another incoming mail re-sort so I took the opportunity to really get into it and salvage as much collage fodder as I could from the hoard.

I got a respectable heap o' stuff...

Some of the usual suspects - postage and note card pieces...

But also lots of painted and collaged envelope sections, stamped images, pretty tapes...

shapes punched from security envelope patterns and handmade envelopes...

 Yesterday, with those collected mail art scraps I made a group of 10 ATCs. TEN!

I added a few new details like rub-ons and sticker words, but the rest are all salvaged mail art bits.

Masterboarding.

When I start a collage project, I like hunting and gathering up whatever stuff I might want to use and having it at hand in a big pile in front of me. The process of finding stuff means combing through a bunch of drawers and boxes and accordion files until I have a nice pile. Well, once I'm done with the project, I usually already have the next project in mind and give about 2.5 flips about "restocking" the leftover bits, so I just push them off to the side....to collect until they annoy me enough to do something about them.

Such a time came this morning, when I looked over at the the accumulated bins and box tops holding leftover paper bits and shook my head....

*sigh*

Now, the Darth Vader box at the very end holds prop toys from my photography days.

But the lid is flipped over and holding paper things I recently received in some mail swaps.

The plastic boxes in the middle...the bottom one has scavenged parts from incoming mail art envelopes. 

(That's another post for another day.)

The box on top of that is stuff I've culled to send out in mail swaps.

The overflowing box on top of them...and the full lid in the foreground are all scraps.

With those scraps, I made a pile of postcards, wee!

The best thing to do with a bunch of scraps is to make a masterboard.

A masterboard is simply a large artwork cut down into smaller artworks.

I do it UH LOT. It's my favorite way to make postcards because it's very much an "anything goes" process.

First step to starting a masterboard is getting a surface to work on.

I went BIG and used a sheet of 14"x17" bristol paper.

Then it was just a matter of plastering paper bits to it.

Masterboards are a process of building layers.

You keep going and going and going until you stop.

It doesn't matter how it looks at any step along the way because it will end up being AWESOME.

When I was tired of gluing paper bits down, I added some washi tape pieces.

Also filled in some blank spots with simple Sharpie lines.

Every layer counts, whether you end up covering something later or not.

Layers build texture and texture is the best part of a collage.

Use different types of paper - newspaper, glossy magazine pages, tissue paper.

Especially if you plan on adding paint at some point.

They all catch the paint differently.

When I make masterboards, it's usually mostly collage with a little paint...

or mostly paint with a little collage. This one was mostly collage with lots of cool images, patterns and text that I didn't want to obscure with paint.

I added ghostly white layers with a big poster paint marker.

I schmeared on acrylic craft paint with a spatula.

The paint gathers on paper edges as you drag it over the collage.

I used Sharpie paint pens for hash marks and hand-cut stencils for more shapes.

Once I was satisfied with the mixed media layers, the masterboard was mostly done.

I spot-set the paint and pencil details with workable fixatif.

Then it was time to cut!

First and foremost, I cut out the "choice" postcards.

Of course I wanted the images of the clown and the kids in the gas masks to stay intact.

I also liked how "what's inside" looked with the manga dude.

And "individual" with the lightning strike underneath...

Survey the land of your masterboard and see what pops out.

Or cut it uniformly. Who cares?

The remainder of the masterboard got chopped into small postcards.

Smaller than I usually like, but still cool.

I may add more stuff to them...images, words, stickers.

Did I use up all the leftovers, and thus save myself from having to put them away?