Ep 114 Art Collaboration Ideas

In today’s art podcast we are talking about art collaboration ideas. We are going to give you some suggestions on different ways you could work with other artists and creatives.

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One artist starts a drawing and the other finishes it

Collaborating can be great fun, so you want to try something, but you want to keep it really simple to test the water, you create a drawing (or part of a drawing) and then send it to the person you have chosen to collaborate with… and then that person could compete the drawing, or add their own element to it.

Or better still you could both create a drawing and then swap!

And this reminds me of that game we used to play as kids, called ‘Hats.’ And what you would do, is draw a hat at the top of a piece of paper, then fold it down so the other person couldn’t see it, then they would draw the head, fold it down and hand it back. And you’d keep doing it until you reached the feet. Then at the end, you would open up the paper and reveal the weird person you’d both created.

A sketchbook relay

Another really cool idea would be to get together with a group of friends and do a sketchbook relay. So, you would sketch the first page, then send the book to the next person and they would fill the next page and so on. Eventually, the whole book would be one big collaboration!

We’ve thought about doing this for Kick in the Creatives, but the logistics might be a bit tricky because we are all over the world! But it could be really cool to do something like that.

Edit two pieces of art together digitally

You could both create something by hand and then edit it together digitally with a photo editing app like Photoshop.

One way of doing this is to both start with the same reference image. Do your own interpretation and then see if you can blend the two together digitally. Or one of you could start so the other can see what they have to work with.

We did think that we could possibly do a collab like this. Maybe Tara could draw a face and then Sandra could draw a piece of fruit or a hand holding a glass and then we see if we could cut them together digitally

Several artists draw on an online drawing board

There are online drawing boards where you can get together with online friends and all draw on the same board. Tara once did this at an online event and the results were very cool.

A second artists works over the top of your art digitally

Another way to collaborate is for one of you could create a piece of art and then the other person works over the top digitally. That’s the way I have worked with the collaborations I have done. Because the other artists work digitally, I started and then scanned in my piece and then they worked over he top.

Create each other an art box project

Another way you could collaborate is by sending each other a package of art materials that the other person has to create something with. This could be the materials that you like to use that might push the other person out of their comfort zone.

Sandra and Tara did this by sending each other art materials of an agreed value.

Art postcard swap

So, on our Facebook group, we organise a postcard swap at the beginning of each month. So, anyone who wants to do it, puts their name down and then we randomly select pairs. Then those two people have to create a postcard and send it to the other person by the end of the month. So it not strictly a collab, but it’s a lovely way of sharing art and so nice to receive something special in the post, that’s not a bill or a piece of junk mail!

Book of art or collection of postcards

You could come together as a group and create a book of art or collection of postcards – as well as being a nice piece it could help cross promote you. This would work well if you were going to attend an event where you could hand them out

Collaborate on art challenges you set yourselves

You could collaborate by setting each other art challenges. This is how we started working together and what got me drawing again. You can choose a challenge that suits you both even if you approach it different ways.

Working with a friend helps hold you accountable

Do an existing art challenge together

You could do the same organised art challenge with a friend. That way you can cheer each other on and compare notes!

Joint art exhibition or event

Another way of collaborating is to do a joint exhibition or event. Sandra did a joint exhibition a couple of years ago, with her friend Kerry, who’s also an artist and it really does make it less nerve-wracking, because you have each other there for moral support. Also, you have someone else to help with all of the organising, which can be quite a headache on your own.

Tara has organised a collaboration event for NFTS. It brings together 30 artists to do 30 collaborations in 30 days. We have to warn you though this is quite an undertaking to bring 30 people together, Tara was feeling quite stressed at times. So you might want to start small and then build up to bigger collaborations

Collaborate on teaching art

You could collaborate on teaching art. Is there something that you and a friend would love to teach. Why not teach it together and bring two perspectives to the table

Collaborate on art in different forms

And as we know, art comes in lots of different forms. It doesn’t have to be all about visual art. You can collaborate on a piece of music, a poem, or maybe a story, like Tara and I did.

Or maybe one can write the book and the other could illustrate. Just don’t ask me to illustrate it otherwise you’ll still be waiting three years later!

In fact it could be any type of creative endeavour mixed together. I have recently seen some digital artists collaborating with musicians to create animated art with music

Things to consider when collaborating

One final thing and it’s an important thing to consider… If you are thinking of embarking on a serious collab, then make sure you are confident that you are a good match. Remember, you will both need to be reliable and on the same page, otherwise you might find that you’ll either let down the other person or they will let you down.

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This week’s creative question

Q. If you could feature in a famous painting, which would it be, and why?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the Facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.