Tag Archives: mixed media

Love Came Down and a Watercolour Question

I really want to feel more confident about this mixed-media thing. But what do you do with all the not-quite-amazing canvases when you’re done with them?

I think this little canvas will be part of my Christmas decor. I love the blues.

I used gesso to create the snowy texture, and Faber-Castel Gelatos for the colour. I really like the way Gelatos work as watercolour crayons – I can scribble the colour onto the canvas or onto a palette and then use water to blend. I also used Faber-Castel Pitt pens to add finer details.

This week I will be preparing for my upcoming watercolour classes. I’ll be teaching a few students in my home, and we’ll be doing step-by-step paintings as a learning exercise. This week I will be preparing the student materials – it can be so intimidating for a beginner to purchase supplies, especially as I stress buying good quality materials. It can be nearly impossible to make poor quality paint and paper do what it’s supposed to do, even for an experienced painter.

Seeing as I am putting together watercolour kits, I have a question for you: Would you be interested in ordering watercolour beginner kits from me? I could make them available in my etsy shop – they would cost about $50 and would be jam-packed with everything you need to get started painting right away. Paint and paper would be artist-quality and I would include my three favourite brush sizes. And I am online right now researching camcorders so I can start making how-to videos for you!

 

“Dream” Canvas

Something you should know about me: I’m a homebody. We live on a 5 acre piece of land about ten minutes from town, and it’s a beautiful spot. Living so close to town means that there are weeks when I find myself in town every day – swimming lessons, running errands for my husband’s business, grocery shopping, piano lessons, art supply emergencies – it can get busy! Because I am always brimful of art ideas and projects to accomplish, it’s really frustrating when I find myself booked up and gone from home a lot. And this week is looking like that. The one thing that will be nice about all the driving I have to do this week is the fantastic fall colours – it is the peak of autumn right now and so gorgeous!

On my errand-running today I’ll be dropping off my donation to the art gallery’s fall fundraiser. I created this 12 x 12 canvas for their silent auction:

I think I started over three times when creating this canvas. I initially had fall colours in mind – gold, rust, burgundy – and it just wasn’t working out. Probably didn’t help that I started this in the height of summer and wasn’t really in “fall” mode. I gave myself lots of time to add the different elements – I didn’t want to work on the painting unless I felt fluid in my approach and ideas.  It’s a little more “scrapbook-y” than my usual paintings – I am wondering if that’s a good thing or if I overdid it. Mixed media is all about experimentation!

My favourite part of the canvas is the work I did with gesso – I laid a thick layer down and then impressed a piece of chipboard shaped like a branch, lifting it off quickly – you can see the impression of one on the right of this shot. I then brushed Golden liquid acrylic paint over the dried impression, rubbing it off the high spots so the colour sat in the crevices. I love that effect! I also had another idea for gesso that I’m going to try on my next canvas. In mixed media, it’s important to discover which mediums you are comfortable using – if you are uncomfortable or uncertain with a paint or texture medium, it’s going to show in your work and hinder your creativity.

This painting will be on display at Cafe Europa in Dawson Creek for a month and taking silent auction bids. I hope it speaks to someone there and sells well for the art gallery.

Mixed Media Sneak Peek

So I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. I’ve been playing with mixed media! I’m not sure I’m really getting the hang of it – so often I start a canvas and end up staring at it cluelessly. And I keep trying to get a watercolour look with acrylics and it’s not happening for me.

I have discovered that gesso is a lot of fun to work with! I love the creamy texture and had lots of fun pressing stuff into wet gesso to create texture.

The canvas is tentatively finished and I’ll show it to you when I’ve added a few final touches. The concept is “Dream.”