If doodles reflect the thought process, there was a lot of thinking going on here.

Digital collage, 9 layers © 2025 Liz Ruest
From the Pretty/Angry series

This is one of the simpler piece, layer-wise, but each digital layer has plenty of physical elements too. First, there’s a really overworked collage as the base, with lots of pink, dark text, fluorescent yellow marks, black paint, and white spackle. I added large red paint marks on manila paper to even out some tones. A watercolour wash in red and pink continued that process, this time covering up some of the lighter areas. Next, a scribble collage adds some asemic interest, top left, and texture near the bottom. Geomety diagrams along the right continue the scribbled circles theme with more precision. Finally, a layer of cream paint overlays it all, and unifies the palette.