Lately, I have been wanting to try something
different, and experiment with different textures and mediums in my
work. I have often looked at Lucy's works and Jill's mixed media works and
admired them for their uniqueness, texture and arty quality. So I took
a trip down to my local art shop and invested in some Gesso, Soft Gel
Medium, professional paintbrushes and a canvas.
I
used the new Claudine Hellmuth paints, yep the one's that are $12.90
a pot,( a very small pot!!!), and I have to say I loved working with
them. I
had a small heart attack when I first saw the size of them, but I
painted the whole canvas with the paint that had attached itself onto
the
lid. I never even dipped my paintbrush into the pot !!!! They are
highly
pigmented so they go a long way, especially if you are aiming for this
kind of watercolor effect, adding water to spread the paint evenly.
I
then hopped over to Etsy to
view some of the amazing collages, created
by ridiculously talented artists and purchased some that appeals to
me to play with. Unlike a scrap layout, I was a novice and had no idea
of where I was
headed terrified of ruining a $15.00 canvas with paint effects that I
didn't like. With scrapbooking you can place your paper and
embellishments down, having the freedom to perfect the design before
you adhere
it to the base. With a mixed media canvas its so totally different.
You have no idea how the painting is going to turn out, so its really
going in blind !!!! I found its just a matter of repetition, painting,
watering down the paint, drying it off and adding more paint to
please your own critique.
Now, I would love
to
say that I was a natural artist and the process of mixed media was a
given, but I was actually totally clueless as to where to start.
(believe me I spent ages looking for some type of tutorial on the
web). The lovely Lucy offered the following suggestions which have
since been modified to suit my creation. I just wanted to share this
very quick tutorial with anybody who wants to try a different genre,
but just needs a little light to show the way.
One
Coat the canvas in gesso. Alot of canvases come already pre-primed,
but if they don't, gesso is a fantastic medium for priming your base
ready to paint on.
Two
Play
with paint.
Remember if you don't like the appearance of it you can water it down,
add more color or play with extra black or white paint to lighten or
darken its appearance. Warning. This is highly addictive. Highly.
You will love the feel of the canvas bending to your paintbrush and
moving with the paint.
Three
Mod Podge
your collage words or images where you want. You can add paint over
the words or images and add different textures like sand, beading or masking tape -
well anything goes. The collage elements were cut out and adhered with
Mod Podge. Now that
is a wonder product. It can act as a adherent or a sealant. Gotta love that. The thin netting, scrim, sequins and other
textures were all again applied with Mod Podge. The brilliant thing is that
it doesn't take long to dry. I found a quick blast with the heat
embossing tool quickly dried anything I had just stuck to the canvas.
Four
Play with texture. Bubble wrap. Foil with pre-punched holes in it.
Sand. Sequins.
The list is as long as your imagination lets it be.
Go for it.
Five
Once your have mucked around with the base and
love the way it looks, just work out where you want your photo. With
"Pure" I picked the photo to suit the colors. Alot of scrapbookers
pick their palettes from the photograph. You can do it either way.
Six
Frame your photo. Textures are fantastic for framing your image. They
are so lush and add a dimensional feel to your canvas. You can see all
the guff I added to mine. I'm loving the Prima Velvet Flowers lately,
they are so decadent !!!
Basic Rule: Layer Layer
Layer. You can never have enough layers. "Pure" has about 8 layers.
This is NOTHING compared to some of the uber-creations I have seen out
there in the big wide world !!!
I was so pleased with the
result and the actual process is so much fun. Its easy to get carried
away pasting and creating, and adding more color. Here is the final result.
Anyhow
I hope you like it as much as I do. I just wanted to share the process
with the other clueless budding artists like me who had no idea where
to start. Anyhow if you got this far, and read through the very rough tutorial I'm amazed.
Have a REALLY blessed week full of laughter and joy.
