--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In collage you're doing it in stages so…" description: "\"In collage you're doing it in stages so you're not actually doing it right there. You first of all draw it on the paper, then you cut it up, then you p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94c/paula-rego-32940_artist_in-collage-you-re-doing-it-in-stages-so_1308291.png" --- # In collage you're doing it in stages so you're not… ![“In collage you're doing it in stages so you're not actually doing it right there. You first of all draw it on the paper, then you cut it up, then you paste it down, then you change it, then you shove it about, then you may paint bits of it over, so actually you're not making the picture there and…” quote by Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94c/paula-rego-32940_artist_in-collage-you-re-doing-it-in-stages-so_1308291.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94c/paula-rego-32940_artist_in-collage-you-re-doing-it-in-stages-so_1308291.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94c/paula-rego-32940_artist_in-collage-you-re-doing-it-in-stages-so_1308291.png) > “In collage you're doing it in stages so you're not actually doing it right there. You first of all draw it on the paper, then you cut it up, then you paste it down, then you change it, then you shove it about, then you may paint bits of it over, so actually you're not making the picture there and then, you're making it through a process, so it's not so spontaneous.” [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work often involves planning, layering, and revision rather than instant creation. **In simple terms:** Art is a step‑by‑step process. Key Takeaway Embrace iterative creation. Themes creativity process revision Mood reflective thoughtful Type artistic educational When to use this quote - painting - collage - design projects - teaching Key Concepts artistic methodology design thinking Questions to Reflect On - Do you balance planning and spontaneity? - How does iteration improve your work? A Different Perspective Can become overly analytical, stifling spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Collage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collage/) [Doing It Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-it-right/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Spontaneous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneous/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) ## Related quotes > [Learn more about yourself! Make a self-esteem collage using pictures of other people you wish you were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/learn-more-about-yourself-make-a-self-esteem-collage-using-pictures/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [I'm not interested in collage as the refuge of the composition-ally disabled. I'm interested in collage as (to be honest) an evolution beyond narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-m-not-interested-in-collage-as-the-refuge-of-the-composition-ally/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Collage is a supersensitive and scrupulously accurate instrument, similar to a seismograph, which is able to record the exact amount of the possibility of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-ernst/collage-is-a-supersensitive-and-scrupulously-accurate-instrument/) [Max Ernst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-ernst/) > [Collage is a demonstration of the many becoming the one, with the one never fully resolved because of the many that continue to impinge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-kuspit/collage-is-a-demonstration-of-the-many-becoming-the-one-with-the-one/) Donald Kuspit > [I've worked with collage a lot. And there's this chance thing that happens - you don't always control things. Why did you find this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-marclay/i-ve-worked-with-collage-a-lot-and-there-s-this-chance-thing-that/) [Christian Marclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-marclay/) > [“My mother defines collage as a combination of things unexpected. The artist can choose things that appeal to her visually, and put them together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-christman/my-mother-defines-collage-as-a-combination-of-things-unexpected-the/) Jill Christman > [All my paintings are usually done in drawing form, very small. I make notations in drawings first, and then I make a collage for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-kelly/all-my-paintings-are-usually-done-in-drawing-form-very-small-i-make/) [Ellsworth Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-kelly/) > [Sometimes a collage element I hit upon can inspire the entire drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-owens/sometimes-a-collage-element-i-hit-upon-can-inspire-the-entire-drawing/) [Laura Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-owens/) > [Everything I write, I believe instinctively, is to some extent collage. Meaning, ultimately, is a matter of adjacent data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/everything-i-write-i-believe-instinctively-is-to-some-extent-collage/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Collage is more than just an art style. Collage is all about bringing different elements together. Once you form a sensibility about connection, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-collier/collage-is-more-than-just-an-art-style-collage-is-all-about-bringing/) Bryan Collier > [I liked to scrapbook and collage a whole lot in high school. Im always ripping things out of magazines, and always collecting quotes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-ushkowitz/i-liked-to-scrapbook-and-collage-a-whole-lot-in-high-school-im-always/) [Jenna Ushkowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-ushkowitz/) > [Collage is the noble conquest of the irrational, the coupling of two realities, irreconcilable in appearance, upon a plane which apparently does not suit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-ernst/collage-is-the-noble-conquest-of-the-irrational-the-coupling-of-two/) [Max Ernst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-ernst/) > [Directing is like putting together a collage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-hawke/directing-is-like-putting-together-a-collage/) [Ethan Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-hawke/) > [The best V-Day gift I've ever received was a personalized photo collage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-swanepoel/the-best-v-day-gift-i-ve-ever-received-was-a-personalized-photo/) [Candice Swanepoel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-swanepoel/) > [If you look at Japanese film, it is made up of collage or bricolage, it is made up of lists, and suddenly when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/if-you-look-at-japanese-film-it-is-made-up-of-collage-or-bricolage-it/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## More by Paula Rego > [“If you put frightening things into a picture then they can't harm you. If fact, you end becoming quite fond of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/if-you-put-frightening-things-into-a-picture-then-they-can-t-harm-you/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [To find one's way anywhere one has to find one's door, just like Alice, you see. You take too much of one thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/to-find-one-s-way-anywhere-one-has-to-find-one-s-door-just-like-alice/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [Poetry is good for unleashing images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/poetry-is-good-for-unleashing-images/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [I'm not fashionable at all, and the fact that I manage to sell pictures without being fashionable is thanks to my gallery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/i-m-not-fashionable-at-all-and-the-fact-that-i-manage-to-sell/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [Art is the only place you can do what you like. That's freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/art-is-the-only-place-you-can-do-what-you-like-that-s-freedom/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [To be a dog woman is not necessarily to be downtrodden; that has very little to do with it. In these pictures every woman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/to-be-a-dog-woman-is-not-necessarily-to-be-downtrodden-that-has-very/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [We interpret the world through stories... everybody makes in their own way sense of things, but if you have stories it helps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/we-interpret-the-world-through-stories-everybody-makes-in-their-own/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [I get inspiration from things that have nothing to do with painting: caricature, items from newspapers, sights in the street, proverbs, nursery-rhymes, children's games…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/i-get-inspiration-from-things-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-painting/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [The gaps between the forms worry me. I can never get these spaces right...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/the-gaps-between-the-forms-worry-me-i-can-never-get-these-spaces-right/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [I thought the only way you can get into things is... through the basement... exactly where my studio was ... I could creep upstairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/i-thought-the-only-way-you-can-get-into-things-is-through-the/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [Another thing that escapes me is HOW to give substance to the forms. One day they look solid and 'real' and they seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/another-thing-that-escapes-me-is-how-to-give-substance-to-the-forms/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [Sketches always have more vitality than paintings because you're finding things out through doing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/sketches-always-have-more-vitality-than-paintings-because-you-re/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [Every change is a form of liberation. My mother used to say a change is always good even if it's for the worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/every-change-is-a-form-of-liberation-my-mother-used-to-say-a-change/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [That is why my pictures don't look like modern art. It's some sort of timidity on my part I'm sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/that-is-why-my-pictures-don-t-look-like-modern-art-it-s-some-sort-of/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) [Explore all 15 Paula Rego quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In collage you're doing it in stages so you're not actually doing it right there. 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