The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery : Mixed-Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More

by Karen Michel

A wide range of techniques borrowed from both traditional and digital art has recently begun to blend into one art form, known as altered art. The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery is the only book... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592531776
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Quarry Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Descriptive, visual, a great place to begin.

Having dabbled in multi-media art for some time, I purchased this book hoping to learn further technique I didn't already know. Score! This book, right from the very first page, is easy to understand, and the techniques are more like "you might try this," rather than "you MUST do it this way!" Good images for creative suggestion, too. I'm very happy with this book!

The one book you'll keep going back to

This book is full to the brim with inspiration, eye-candy, and how-to's for the artist who knows how to take an idea and run with it. If you want a book that lets you precisely duplicate someone else's results, this might not be right for you. But if you want a book that kick-starts your imagination and makes you want to grab some supplies and try new things with your own spin, this is it. It's definitely a well you can return to again and again.

An amazing How-To guide!!

Karen Michel is one of my favorite artists, and this book not only showcases her incredible work, but reveals her secrets for altering photographs in myriad ways. By altering photos, you can make unique elements for collage and beyond. I love that she shows work by other artists using the techniques featured in the book, and it all looks different. This isn't a book that shows the reader how to make art that looks exactly like the author's; Michel demonstrates the technique and encourages the reader to create in their own unique style.This is a book that I will use again and again; I highly recommend it!

The next wave.....

I first encountered some of Karen Michel's ideas for altering photos for use in art within the pages of the magazine "Cloth Paper Scissors." As one of the legion who have photos that are less than spectacular, but that still have some sentimental value, I could see the possibilities open up. So I was thrilled to discover she has written an entire book of her ideas, and picked up my own copy as soon as I could find one. I am not disappointed. Filled with examples of complete works, including the works of other artists such as Lynne Perella, Nina Bagley and Carlo Thertus, the book shows a multitude of ideas for altering not only real photographs, but images from other sources, such as magazines and postage stamps. Techniques are numerous, ranging from those that are easily done with tools around the house, such as scratching designs in the photos, to more complex techniques, such as the gum dichromate process. My only wish might have been to have some step-out photos to demonstrate the some of the image transfer processes, but the text gives detailed directions. Of special interest is a section on using your computer and photoediting software to alter your images. Anyone who has ventured into this area will have tried some of the ideas she suggests, but there's lots more to explore. I've already played with scraping and sanding, using watercolor markers and messing around with some of the artistic filters in my Photoshop program. I look forward to trying many more approaches, especially ways to make use of substandard photos in some of my scrapbook designs. Thank you, Karen, for helping push me into the next wave!