Tran's Collage Technique
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(This section was written in reply to requests from viewers who wanted to know the process of how Tran's "looked-like-paintin g" collage is created).
Tran has a unique collage technique which he calls "paint with paper". Each collage is a combination of many layers of thousands of tiny coloured pieces directly ripped from magazines.
Tran's collage process is very simple. He applies the same painting techniques as an oil/acrylic painter normally does. He starts with a sketch (in pencil). Then, he "paints" it over and over with tiny pieces of colours ripped directly from magazines. As a painter does with a painting, Tran keeps applying many layers of torn colours on a collage until he is happy with the piece or until he wrecks it and throws it away.
It is a very tricky and slow process which takes time, patience, and mind concentration. Finding the right pieces of colours from stacks of magazines for a collage is very challenging. It is important to emphasize that Tran's unique collage technique is an art of therapy. One may need to practice Zen or meditation to enjoy this creative process. He/she can find stillness, calmness, and peace after getting used to this type of slow process. The one who focuses too much on the outcomes will quit it because she/he does not enjoy participating in the process.
As Human-beings enjoy their living process, artists enjoy their creative process. While living process hits its dead end - the unavoidable death, the creative process ends up in many amazing artworks for viewers to enjoy for centuries.