OH Happy, Happy Summer day everyone!
Today I am so excited to share an Extra-Special Summer Mixed Media Tutorial over at STAMPlorations. I am going to share with you all the steps in one of my very favorite mixed media processes, and these five steps created these lovely 5x7 canvases.
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| A. Step #1 |
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| B. Step #5 |
I will show you how to go from "A" to "B" in just five easy steps. So go grab a drink, because this is going to be a long one, but totally worth the read and of course, there will be LOTS of photos! Smile
Step 1. Create A Background:
I
like to start with a layer of inky paper towels glued to a canvas board
using a matte medium. Use matte not glossy, because paint and ink adhere better to the matte surface. The medium also acts as a sealer so
the ink on the paper towels does not reactivate and blend to an ugly, muddy color. Let it dry
completely.
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Step 2: Stamp An Image:
When choosing an image look for one that has a lot of open space and not too much shading detail. I chose the Large Morning Glory stamp from STAMPlorations. When deciding where to stamp your images, look for places on your canvas that you want to highlight. The more contrast in the area where you stamp your image the better it will look in the end. Do not worry if it doesn't stamp perfectly, we will fix all of that later, just make sure you can see the main outline of your image.
When choosing an image look for one that has a lot of open space and not too much shading detail. I chose the Large Morning Glory stamp from STAMPlorations. When deciding where to stamp your images, look for places on your canvas that you want to highlight. The more contrast in the area where you stamp your image the better it will look in the end. Do not worry if it doesn't stamp perfectly, we will fix all of that later, just make sure you can see the main outline of your image.
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| I originally stamped 5 flowers |
Step 3: Paint Out The Background:
Once you
have your composition stamped you will now paint all around the stamped images
with a thin layer of white gesso. This is when you will really see the
personality of your piece begin to emerge. It is okay
to leave a small halo around your images and don’t worry too much if
you paint over some lines because you will be re-defining all these lines with a black pen later
on in the process. You can completely cover up the background OR
you can just “fade it back” allowing some of the colors to peek through. Start
with one coat of watered down white gesso and let it dry before
deciding if you need more layers of white (to hide the background more). I always start with a white
background but then may decide to change the background color to enhance the
image...
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| And then I painted over 2 of them |
This
is also where you can paint out something you don't like. Notice I
originally had five morning glory flowers stamped but decided it looked
to busy, so I just painted right over the ones I did not want to keep. At this point I
also decided to change my background colors to a soft yellow with a hint of
gold to look more like "morning".
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| Notice the background color change |
At this stage I like to add some book paper to my images to add some interest. I
typically choose a flower petal or a leaf or two, and sometimes I even add an entire new flower stamped on book paper. For this canvas the stems and leaves of the morning glory stsamp are very detailed and did
not stamp well, so I re-stamped them onto some book paper, cut out the
pieces I wanted to use and glued them in place. I even added more vines
and leaves just because I could. You can use this technique to add
images to the layout or to replace a stamped image that really didn't
stamp onto the canvas very well.
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Step 4: Add Background Patterns
Now it's time to break out the stencils! Using
a stencil and acrylic paint in complimentary colors you can sponge on a
background pattern. Dab the paint off
your sponge before applying it to the canvas and use a light touch to build up
your color, making some areas darker than others. Add one pattern or many, it is all up to you! Use a mask to protect you main images (a mask is an image you stamped on some scrap paper and cut out to
cover up
and protect your stamped images when you are adding paints and pastes to
the backgrounds). I use painters masking tape to keep my masks in
place. You can use the same masks over and over.
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Now
we are going to clean up the main images. First make sure the
background paint is completely dry and using a black, fine-tipped,
waterproof maker (I like my fine-tipped Sharpies) re-define all the
black lines. Also this is when you can add color to the book paper you
have added and beef up the colors of your stamped images. I like to use
my Peerless Watercolors because they act like stain allowing the words
in my paper to show through. You can also use very watered down acrylic paint, but it is not as translucent.
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Step 5: Add A Sentiment and Some Texture
If you
choose to add a sentiment to your piece, add it now. Use my Tissue Paper Technique for this. Go to THIS BLOG POST for that technique. And finally this is
where you can decide to add a little bit more texture to your canvas with
stencils and pastes. I like to use Stampendous Dreamweaver
metallic pastes because they dry quickly and the colors enhance rather than
overpower the images. Pastes are used in
mixed media to create texture, but since the inky paper towels I started with
already creates wonderful texture not every canvas needs pastes… you get to
decide.
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| Canvas #2... It does not all go smoothly every time! Grin |
Now I want to share with you this second canvas I created because it truly was a case of "I love it!" "I HATE it!" "Oooh
now I love it again!" and I want to share my process with you to demonstrate
that you can change anything on your canvas at any point in the
process, and that it IS A PROCESS! Smile
Christy Riopel, a dear friend of mine and a wonderful mixed media artist and teacher, (who was taken from us much too soon) gave me the best a advice I ever received for the mixed meida process:
"If you HATE it you are NOT finished yet!"
And her voice saying just that was what kept running through my head as I struggled to make this one work!
I
started with this background and right away I ran into problems when my
images did not stamp well at ALL! So I did a lot of book-paper cutting
out to fix it, and even added complete flowers stamped on bookpaper and eventually I
really LOVED my layout... (sorry no picture ).
But then I decided to get a little crazy and added a background pattern in a very stong red paint... Ooops...
YUCK! hate this (grin)! Now if you are just new at mixed media this is the point
where you just might throw up our hands, say "I QUIT!" But
remember what Christy said: "If you Hate it you are not finished yet!" sooooo
I added a very thin layer of white acrylic paint to fade out the
background... Better... I can see my flowers now, but I am still not
LOVING it...
So
then I decided to change the color completely and used a sky blue to
compliment the yellows and oranges of the flowers. Notice how even
though the background is now blue you can still see the original red
pattern faintly peaking through the paint. This is all part of the
mixed media process. Now I am liking it even more, but still not LOVING
it, too much blue! Soooo.....
I broke up all that blue by pouncing on some white paint through the ARTplorations Overlap stencil and created something that looked like the rays of the sun
shining down on all my flowers... NOW I am LOVING IT!
A layer of Peerless watercolor paint to color all that book and music paper and an accent in gold Pebeo Cerne Relief (this product is like Ranger Liquid Pearls but metallic) and it has become one of my favorite pieces this summer!
So
that is my Special mixed media tutorial for STAMPlorations for the month of July. I will
be back in August with one more, so do come back again to see what other
amazing project I will be sharing!
Lynne Mizera, Mixed Media Artist
For the STAMPLorations Mixed Media Design Team
Remember to use this Code STAMPGIRLLYNNE to get 20% off your entire order at STAMPlorations, even sale items!
STAMPlorations Products Used on this project:
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| Morning Glory-Large |
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| Happy Sunflower-Large |
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| Helenium-Large |
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| New Beginning |
Other products used on this project:
Golden Fluid Acrylic Paint
Liquitex Fluid Matte Medium
Pebeo Cerne Relief
Peerless Watercolor Paints
Ranger Archival Ink
Sharpie Fine-tipped Marker
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