"Noah Leaves the Ark" mixed media collage

"And God said, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man or send a flood to destroy all living things, even though mankind's heart is evil from childhood." And God blessed Noah and his family saying, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." Genesis 8:20-22

       Noah's family rejoices once the have finally the ark and set their feet on dry land! To make a mixed media collage similar to this one, you will need all kinds of supplies: white tacky glue, foam core board, colorful foam sheets, embroidery floss, water color pens or paint, a home printer, and brown/tan paper to print on or draw on.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut a piece of foam core board to any size you wish to make your mixed media collage. Foam core board is very rigid and won't warp as easily as cardboard while working with glue.
   
2. I chose to base this mixed media collage on an illustration by Dore. In our blog here there are many subjects to choose from. I chose to print the figures of Noah, his wife and children on a beige paper. Then I cut out the parts of that print to fit inside of the collage of the ark, pasting them down of a rigid, strong piece of foam core. 
3. Then I sketched the outlines of the larger elements of my design like: the ark, the swirling sands and sky and then the flow of the rainbow colored foam tiles.
4. Glue in the embroidery floss for the sand and sky in a swirling pattern. I chose to contrast very bold colors: blue, red, orange, hot pink and yellow, as accents against the majority of the other elements like the ground, clothing of the people and ark, in a soft neutral color palette: tans, browns, beige etc...
5. I cut the tiny mosaic tiles from craft foam as these were glued down in rows.
6. Then after giving the floss and tiles plenty of time to dry, I used a brown pen to draw on the woodgraining of the ark and small window.
   
7. Next, I applied a soft tan shading to the skin tones of Noah, wife, sons and daughters.
   

Left, the rainbow, a sign God sets in the sky to remind himself not to flood all of the earth. Right, the flesh of the people is colored a soft desert sand color with a large pen tip. The sands beneath their feet are beige embroidery floss.

Left, the contrast between textures is subtle but effective. Right, the tiny tiles continue the from the sky and down in front of the ark.

Search our Genesis coloring sheet for more ideas relating to the flood story...