During the Enlightenment Period (1685-1815, also known as the Age of Reason), people associated the sense of sight with learning and wisdom. The Spanish artist Francisco Goya lived and worked during the second half of this period. He is now remembered for creating a series of socio-political prints that combine image and text. These provocative works were subtle attacks on the church and nobility. His series The Disasters of War and Los Caprichos used double entendres (a word or phrase with two meanings) that present wisdom about life in the Age of Reason.

Goya was not the only artist to use art to present political ideas and truths: the French artist Jacques Callot created a series of etchings in the mid 1600s called Les Misères et les Malheurs de la Guerre, (The Great Miseries and Misfortunes of War). Callot used text to describe each print, and the series became one of the first to make a statement against war. French painter Honore Daumier and English artist William Hogarth were both political satirists who created prints about life in the 17th-19th centuries.

What sets Goya's work apart from others is the language that he used. His texts are subjective and playful, but only sometimes interpretative. His figures have distinct social roles, though they are never identified as specific people. This makes his work feel relevant despite the passing of time. Viewers can view them and consider universal themes, like war, religion and poverty. Goya's series sets the stage for modern work that juxtaposes language and image.

The Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) brought social, cultural, political and industrial change to the Western world. Society began preferring products created in factories, by machines, rather than by people. This industrialization changed the way printed matter was made. With a sudden surge in the amount of printed material that was available, readymade texts found their way into artwork. Advanced printing presses and more texts produced meant rising literacy rates and a growing urban middle class. These people had disposable income, which they began to spend on arts and culture.

In the early 1900s, artists like Pablo Picasso and George Braques created Cubism: an abstract style of art known for bringing many viewpoints into one picture plane. These artists, among others, began to collage papers into their Cubist artwork, which referenced the new industrial world. Newspapers, flyers, sandpaper and wallpaper are examples of cheap or free papers that were mass produced. Picasso combined these elements with bold geometric shapes and bright playful colours. The collaged text in his work acted as an aesthetic layer in his paintings. These are some early examples of the combination of found text and image in modern art.

Collage was also taken on by the Dadaists (see Blackout Poetry project). The Dadaists were a group of artists working mainly in Germany and Switzerland during the interwar period. Their chaotic multi-disciplinary work was a response to the upheaval brought about by WW1. Hannah Hoch's Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany (1919) is a prime Dadaist example of how text made its way into artwork. Fellow Dadaist Francis Picabia's artwork L'oeil Cacodylate (1921) also presents text in a chaotic but purposeful way. Picabia uses language in this work both as a symbolic and aesthetic expression of Dadaist values.

In the 1970s artists once again begin using text in art. Conceptual Artists think of art as an idea. They make artwork that utilizes text as a literal and intellectual statement. Artists like Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer and Lawrence Weiner create bold, typographic images that live inside galleries and outside as provocative works of public art. Kruger, a former graphic designer, brings her knowledge of typography and advertising to create text-based fine art, exploring consumerism and feminism. Artist Jenny Holzer creates a body of work based on themes of power, feminism and notions of freedom. This work carries a specific but subjective message, depending on where it is placed and who is viewing it.

Artists around the world, like American Pop artists Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Canadian artists Joyce Wieland and the collective General Idea, apply text in a more playful but subversive way, creating work that straddles art, advertising and literature.

Review the summary notes, in particular the final paragraph, and then look at the work Truisms by Jenny Holzer, and the paintings and drawings of Ed Ruscha. Notice how the text stands alone or uses the background images to convey meaning.

Now it’s time to decide on what kind of statement you would like to use as the main component of your artwork. Try to think of something that expresses your life experience. How would you describe your experience at home, while doing school work, or in your community right now using just one sentence? It does not have to be a quote that you made. If you’re stuck for something to come up with, think of a quote by a public figure, celebrity, from a novel or from a friend that has impacted your life.

Make a list of five top quotes on a blank piece of paper and write them out in various ways using different sized words, different types of letters (bold, bubble, thin, curly etc.) As you do this, think about how the meaning behind each statement is changed. Does a powerful statement become more subdued and playful when you write it out with curly-cue lettering? Would it be more suited to large block text?

After you have written out your top five quotes in several ways, choose your favourite quote paired with a writing style. This will be the main component of your artwork.

Now it’s time to think about the imagery that will help emphasize your text, and which media you will use to create that imagery. Many of the contemporary artists found in the “Examples by Other Artists” image carousel (below) have used printmaking, painting, collage, textiles, sculpture and more - so there’s no limit on what media you can use to create your image.

If painting and drawing materials are scarce, try using collage materials, which can often be found in free newspapers and magazines, or in printed images from the computer. When all else fails, try taking a picture with a cellphone and using an app like Instagram, SnapChat or Drawing Desk (free version) to add text, and paint or draw on top. Decide which media you would like to work with and gather all your materials.

Now, begin making your artwork in your chosen materials.

If you choose to make your artwork with collage materials:

• Start by finding a large background image - sourced from magazines, online or newspapers - that your text can be placed on top of. If you can’t find one image that works well with your text, you can always cut and paste many images together to create an ideal background. Remember: the background and the text should be harmonious in the artwork, working together to convey the meaning you’ve decided upon. Don’t settle for the first image you find!

• On a large sheet of paper, arrange all your images. Juxtapose them in different arrangements until the image seems right to you, ensuring you leave areas that are suitable to be covered by your text. Remember to think about how the image will work with the statement once it is introduced. Do you want the text to be ambiguous, in relation to the background, like Ed Ruscha’s artwork? Do you want your artwork’s final message to be obvious and balanced, like Jenny Holzer’s Raise Boys and Girls the Same Way, from her Truisms series (see the image carousel below)? When everything about your background looks right, glue it in place.

• Now it’s time to pair the text with your image. You can choose to draw or paint directly on top of the collaged images, find text from a magazine, or draw on paper and glue it on top. All of these methods are good and valid, but they each change the feeling of the final work. Text written in block letters on white paper, or cut from a magazine and pasted onto your image, may feel edgy and artistic. Thin, flowing script applied directly onto the background may add a softer tone. Consider all your options and choose one that enhances the overall feel of your work.

If you choose to make your artwork with painting or drawing materials:

• First decide whether your chosen text will be laid on top of a background image, if your text will be hidden by soft washes of paint or blended graphite, or a combination of both. Start with a pencil sketch to plot the general locations of each part of the artwork.

• As you bring your artwork to life by drawing or painting over your initial sketch, remember to think about how the statement you chose fits with your image: does it have to be centred on the picture plane? Will some of the background flow over top of the text to conceal letters or whole words? Why are these things important to the picture?

No matter the materials you choose, it’s always important to consider the overall aesthetic of your image:

• Is there balance between the text and images?

• What aesthetic decisions will help your eyes wander through your final artwork?

• Does the text contrast with the image? Does this help or hinder your message? Consider how a conflicting text/image relationship will change your artwork versus a harmonious one (For example: an image of a cat paired with the harmonious text “MEOW” - or - an image of a cat with the conflicting text “BOW-WOW” - or - an image of a cat with the ambiguous text “I AM A STUDENT OF ART HISTORY”)

When you have completed your work, photograph it and if you feel comfortable post your text-based artwork on Twitter, hashtag them with #MacLarenWedge and mention us @MacLarenArt so we can retweet your work!

Search for text-based artwork that other W-Edge participants have made, and look for your creations on our Twitter feed on this page.