Vintage Sheet Music Playdate
Pettin’ in the Park
While a Cigarette was Burning
The Low Back’d Car
Just a Little Home for the Old Folks
As far as vintage goes, it’s hard to beat the titles on sheet music. The typography, the colors, and the close-up photographs of the singers' faces capture the style of a particular period. It’s no wonder I have a flat file drawer full of paper and chose it for my January Art Playdate. I wrote about the project in this blog post.
Working with sheet music reminded me of working with paperback book covers, because there is so much on a cover that I don’t want to use. The plaid background on a country song doesn’t interest me, nor does the face of a 1940’s crooner of love songs. This led to creative cutting as I worked around all the noise to get the solid blocks of color and the letters I’d abstract.
I began in my sketchbook, creating small collages using one or two covers, and sometimes the back page, of the sheet music. At first, I tried using the colors I don’t usually use, but habits are hard to break, and I did make several pieces in my favorite muted tones. For my next playdate, I’ll have to remember my resistance to color and try again to push past it.
After a while, I put away the glue sticks and used matte medium to create some 12” x 9” pieces on watercolor paper. Again, I worked with pinks and other bright, saturated colors. I think the results have a strong vintage look because of the graphic design of the source material.
One problem I had was what to do with the sheet music when I didn’t like the covers. Plus, besides the covers, the music on the inside needs to be used. I used a mixture of acrylic paints and stencils (from StencilGirl Products) to cover up what I didn’t plan on using.
If you’d like to play along with your collection of vintage sheet music, try a timed challenge.
Directions:
Select two or three sheet music covers in a harmonious color palette
Precut 10 small pieces in interesting shapes, cutting around the images and design elements you don’t want to use
Set a five or ten-minute timer and create a sketchbook collage using five pieces. Don’t compose first- glue as you go. (Use a glue stick for this)
Reset the timer and make a companion piece with the rest of the papers.
Take some notes on likes and dislikes. Did the second collage feel easier or harder?
My February challenge is to return to vintage magazines and see what’s changed in how I use them, as I did for my Inspired class.
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