Paint?
Acrylic paint is a synthetic paint - pigment is suspended in a polymer binder.
Acrylics saw their first use by artists in the 1940's. The popularity of acrylics has grown substantially among painters, rivalling that of oil paints, mostly because of its great versitility.
Acrylic paints offer vivid color, the ability to be used on almost any surface, and can be used with other media. Acrylics have a fast dry time, and soap and water cleanup, rather than chemical solvents.
Additionally, techniques used in other forms of painting are easily accomplished with acrylic paints; they can be applied in an impasto style, reminiscent of oil painting techiques, or applied in thin, transparent washes, much as watercolors are used. The dried finish of acrylics can be matte, semi-gloss or glossy. Once dry, the paints are permanent unless special solvents are used to remove them.
From a collector's point of view, there is little to note between acrylics and other types of paint. Depending on the technique used by the artist, once dry it is difficult to tell an oil paint from an acrylic paint from a watercolor.
The word collage is a French word derived from the word coller meaning 'to paste or to glue.'
Collage is defined as a picture or design created by gluing elements (such as photographs, text, wallpaper or illustrations) to a flat surface.
The origins of collage is open to debate, but it is generally agreed that as a fine art form, the Cubists pioneered the technique (Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in their papier colles).
The beginning of any collage is the pasting of paper to board, paper to paper or paper to other materials and continuing from there. Additions of paints, inks, crayon, photographs, cloth, string, shells, wallpaper, ribbons, beads and the like is within the definition of collage. Most elements are what is considered a 'found' element (very often discarded by its first owner), and put to artistic use.