Making a Collage Portrait Recycling Wood Shavings

Recycling things bring us joy. Making a new thing from the leftovers of a project is a wonderful way of recycling materials around us. Recycling saves energy.
When I was carving Hair sticks from wood with a carving knife, there were lots of wood shavings left on my lap, on the table sometimes in the bed too. These chips together have a beautiful texture. I also found that with the shades of different woods It would be possible to make some collages with some glue. These chips have natural color and texture which can satisfy the overall outlook of any type of artwork. I made string art portraits and I thought why not give it a try! And the outcome was satisfying.
Here is how you can make a collage portrait using wood shavings and glue.

1. Leftover wood shavings of at least two shades
2. Glue for wood ( I used Synthetic Resin Adhesive)
3. Wood dust mixed with glue
4. A portrait image of someone you like
5. A base for the portrait ( I recycled Fridge carton box)
6. Cartridge paper of the size of the portrait you are going to make
7. Another thick paper
8. Carbon papers
9. Masking tape.
10. NT Cutter
11. Surgical scissors
12. Pencil
13. Eraser
    and Last but not the least Enthusiasm

I chose Satyajit ray one of the greatest filmmakers in Film history. May 2 was his 100th Birthday. He is always an inspiration to all filmmakers and film lovers. He is a cultural icon in India and Bengali communities worldwide.
He was awarded the honorary academy award as a first Indian in 1992.

To make a collage portrait with anything you need to simplify the photo. You need fewer outlines, definitive shades. And the higher the pixel your image will be, the clearer it will appear. In this case, wood shavings are not a good option to make a small handy portrait that you can hang on your wall. You will need to make the image large enough to get the details of the overall appearance.
Choose a minimum dimension of 24 inches by 18 inches to make the collage.I used 32 inches/ 24 inches as It was hard to place shavings in intricate areas of the eyes.
Use any photo editing software to -

1. Make the photo black and white.
2. Adjust the brightness and contrast.
3. Add posterizing or other effects to make the outline simple and clean. You need to consider that the image must contain fewer shades, the outlines are bold. Here I chose 3 shades that look ok.
4. Print out the processed image from the local print shop.

1. Take a 32" by 24" carton base and paste the cartridge paper on it. This is your canvas!
2. Glue up the carbon papers to make a large one that will help you trace the printed image onto your canvas.
3. Now without putting any pressure on the carbon papers, fix it on the canvas using masking tape.
4. Put the printed image on it and fix it with masking tape. This step is very important. If the image, carbon paper, and the canvas are not in the fixed position then you won't get the actual image.
5. Start tracing using a pencil from the top left corner. And for this large portrait, face the uncertainty. Be prepared to do it more than once for your best outcome. Never skip any major Iines during tracing.
6. Try to make adaptive shapes during the tracing. Look after the curves. This will determine the style of your portrait.

Now on the traced image on the cartridge paper, you can glue up the wood shavings.
Follow these steps-

1. Take wood chips of at least two shades.
2. Start filling the same colors from more intricate areas like eyes or mouth.
3. To ensure the stability of the glue you can mix wood dust with the glue.
4. Fill up the dark area with the dark chip first.
5. Shake the base a little so that loose chips can fall off and glue them up again.
6. To avoid mixing and fill small areas, sometimes you will need to cut and paste some wood chips at the outlines of the shapes you are going to fill. Then fill up the entire shape with glue and fill it with wood shavings. Gently press to bond wood shavings with the paper.
7. Before filling the next areas, let the glue dry and the wood shavings fix with the paper.