After decades of painting, Henri Matisse found himself unable to continue due to ill health. But from his wheelchair and his bed he continued to make work with the help of assistants. Large scale collage became his medium of choice. Matisse called this work “painting with scissors”.
His work focussed on natural forms such as flowers and plant, the human figure and still life, and you could make work inspired by Matisse.
The paper used for these pictures was made specifically for the purpose, painted with gouache to achieve the colours Matisse wanted. You could use any kind of paper, from glossy magazine to coloured copy paper, but I would advise keeping to just glossy or just matte within a single work for a good result.
It would be good to start with some preliminary sketches so that you can explore your subject. Matisse often rearranged the elements of his work over weeks and even months before finalising the designs, a thoughtful and playful process with many possibilities. He also had a number of pieces going at the same time giving the opportunity for ideas and methods to inform the individual works.
