Is Creating in Collections Important?

There’s a lot of buzz about creating in collections. I’ve seen lots of courses and designers speak to this. What does it actually mean to create in collections? There are a lot of examples, but the above image of a watercolor collection I created a while back, gives you a good idea. A collection usually has a theme and a mood, which ultimately builds a story. Most of all though, there is usually a unified color palette that ties it all together. Consequently, collections are a great way of storytelling through your art.

How important is it to create in the form of collections? Well, that might look different for each artist. Because collections are such an amazing way to tell stories, as I mentioned above, it’s a great way to reach people who love to be transported. The stories you build from your art communicate who you are, and can ultimately inspire others.

People want you to tell them stories with your art.

Of course, creating single stand-alone pieces will always be fun and completely necessary. Creating in collections, however, can give you so many more options. For example, what if you were coming up with a greeting card design for the end-of-year holidays (whichever one that is for you)? You could have one pine tree design and call it a day. Or, you could have a pine tree design along with a winter rabbit, a snow sled, a knit hat, plus mitten designs as a compliment. Now you’re telling a story of what winter means to you. Are you beginning to see how you can tell your own personal story through collections? It’s subtle, but very effective.

What if you were a ceramist and you were making mugs. (I am not a ceramicist but I've always dreamt of giving it a try…) You could paint a poppy on one of the mugs and it would be lovely. But what if you also did mugs with a daisy, some forget-me-nots, and coneflowers? Perhaps, you would be telling the story of your favorite wildflowers. Do you see how this works?

The best thing about this process for artists, is that when you give the viewer more elements to look at, they’ll keep looking. One art piece may wow someone, but a collection of pieces can keep them interested for so much longer. Why is this? It’s just human nature for the brain to want to figure out the relationships between a series of varied objects.

The human brain naturally looks for color, texture, and layers, then tries to make connections between them.

If you look at the watercolor paintings in the image above, your eye might bounce from one piece to the other, taking in the unified color palette, and watching the photography theme building in your head. Then you factor in the texture of the watercolor paints, the handmade aspect that adds unpredictability, and the eye just naturally wants to linger. Obviously, not everyone will like these paintings, but they will be much more engaging together than apart.

There are other ways to add interesting elements to catch the eye. If you’re a surface pattern designer, you can add multiple motifs, texture as an additional layer, or a subtle background pattern to spice up your work. If you’re a textile artist, you can include fabrics, yarns, or embroidery threads to tell your visual collection story. The options are unlimited and there’s no wrong way to do it.

However, there are some easy guidelines that you may want to follow to have successful collections. Multiple elements can quickly turn into a big mess if not done with some understanding of what makes a collection good. For example, using too many colors can confuse the eye and leave it unsatisfied when looking at your pieces. Remember when I mentioned that the brain wants to see relationships in things? It needs to connect the dots because that’s what it’s programmed to do. You can create any type of collection you want to, but knowing some basic rules can take you so much farther.

I’ve seen so many artists struggle with this concept. Even if you know the rules, it can get a bit confusing to know how to put them together. Your collection needs to make sense or people won’t want to look at it. And as artists that is not what we want!

I've seen many struggle with the concept of collections, but it doesn't have to be that way. A few simple guidelines will get you there!

That’s why I’m in the process of creating a course called Easy Watercolor Collections. I want to be able to explain to creators, in simple terms, how to build collections that work. How do I know how to do this? I learned a ton from Bonnie Christine’s Immersion course that I took in 2020, and a whole lot of practice. I nowknow how to make multiple pieces of a collection cohesive, and therefore, a joy to look at. Then, as a member of her support team in 2021 and 2022, I went on to show hundreds of her students how to do the same. That’s why I know I can teach you the same principles!

The course will feature video lessons, a full-color PDF workbook, PDF templates, and some bonuses like a guide to finding your own art style, and how to build mood boards to inspire future ideas. I’ll also be giving out a 30-minute consultation for the first 10 students who enroll. That’s a value of $75 alone, which is way above the $27 Pre-Sale price for the course!

This project was inspired by a live workshop I hosted in 2021 called The 5 Day Watercolor Collection Workshop. It was a successful experiment and a wonderful learning curve as to what artists need to get to the next level with their art. It was fun and educational, so I’m excited to be including a recording of this as a bonus for purchasing the mini-course.

Collections can be applied to just about anything you do creatively.

I use them to brand my Skillshare class covers, my branding, my surface design projects, and many other things. Once you understand the concept for yourself, you can continue making collections for years to come on your own. Why am I teaching this mini-course in watercolors? I needed a specific example to demonstrate how this all works and I didn’t want to overcomplicate it by doing it in more than one medium. However, the concepts are the big takeaways here, and my hope is that you will learn to apply this skill to everything you do.

I have so enjoyed empowering artists to create collections in the past, and I can't wait to help you learn how to build your own collections! This skill can get you noticed by art directors, art agents, on social media, by brands looking for talent, by potential new followers or email subscribers, and can help you create your branding.

Want to learn more about the Easy Watercolor Collections mini-course? Click the button below and get all the details!