What is Mixed Media? How do you start and how do you use it? What are the basic techniques that can be used?
Do not panic, this article gives you the basics of Mixed Media. A little illustrated demonstration just for you, that will help you understand the use of materials and paints.
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I- THE DEFINITION OF MIXED MEDIA
Mixed media is a form of artistic escape that allows you to combine several techniques on the same surface in order to obtain amazing effects. This technique mixes acrylic paints (water-based) with alkyd-based colours or resins (selected products from Pébéo). With mixed media all techniques are allowed!
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II- THE FANTASTIC FOUR OF MIXED MEDIA
1/ ACRYLIC PAINT:
The studio acrylic paints are suitable for canvas, wood, cement, metal and for collage work.
Pébéo Studio Acrylic Paints can be applied by brush or palette knife and are particularly suitable for impasto. They can be used undiluted or mixed with different mediums (Gels Studio, Modeling Paste, Bindex, and sand texture gel),
2/ CERNE RELIEF OUTLINER:
- DESCRIPTION: water-based colour paste, very opaque, presented in a cannula tube. Available in 12 colours.
- MIXED MEDIA APPLICATION: can be used straight from the tube for contouring, decorating, writing and drawing in 3D. The relief must be thick, high and without gaps if you want to encircle fluid paint like the FANTASY Paint ranges Vitrail, Moon or Prisme
- DRYING: Touch dry in 1 hour, 24 hours to set.
- CLEANING MATERIALS: Water
3/ VITRAIL PAINT:
- DESCRIPTION: liquid, bright, alkyd-based paint. The Vitrail Paint can be used in conjunction with other solvent paints to create more airy coloured areas in Moon or Prisme patterns. It is available in opaque or transparent and in 36 colours
- MIXED MEDIA APPLICATION: can be used with a brush, spatula, a pipette or simply poured in a generous layer on a flat and horizontal surface (canvas, wood, glass, metal, plastic and porcelain). The VITRAIL paint mixes well with other acrylic paints like ceramic colours, relief outliners, mirror effect leaves, crystal or colored resin.
- DRYING: 1 hour for thin layers, 12 hours for thick layers
- CLEANING MATERIAL: White spirit or Turpentine substitute
4/ FANTASY PAINT:
- FANTASY MOON: Fluid and thick paint, pearlescent, shiny, opaque with hammered and marbled effects. Available in 20 colours.
- FANTASY PRISME: Fluid and thick paint, slightly spangled, shiny, opal, opaque paint which forms magical honeycomb effects when dry. Available in 30 colours.
- DESCRIPTION: Solvent-based reactive paint that shrinks, distends, and twists as it dries to create original combinations and abstract patterns. Slight odour, nice opacity and great effects of transparencies.
- MIXED MEDIA APPLICATION: Poured or applied with a spatula, stick or pipette in a generous layer on a flat and horizontal surface (canvas, wood, glass, metal, plastic and porcelain). The FANTASY paint blends well with other acrylic paints, Vitrail paint, ceramic colours, relief outliners, relief mixing, mirror effect leaves, crystal or coloured resin.
- DRYING: Touch dry in 8-10 hours – 72h to set.
- CLEANING: White spirit or Turpentine substitute
III- DEMONSTRATION
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1/ ART MATERIAL:
- Acrylic painting (painting in progress on linen stretched canvas/wooden frame)
- Fantasy Prisme Paint
- Fantasy Moon Paint
- Vitrail Paint
- Cerne Relief Outliner
- Toothpick
- Graduated Pipettes
- Odourless White Spirit or Turpentine substitute
- Cleaning Paper Tissue
- Spatulas
- Plastic cups
You can find all these items at GreatArt (Online and Shoreditch Store in London)
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2/ APPLICATION SHAPES : CERNE RELIEF OUTLINER
This technique allows you to embed fluid and thick paint in a flat shape with thick, raised edges.
After painting on my stretched canvas, I wanted to create flowery reliefs. My acrylic paint is dry, so I can start the 3D details.
I put my painting flat and horizontal on a table and with the Cerne Relief Outliner, I create a flower shape. It is better to wait until the relief is completely dry before starting to colour the flower.
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3/ COLOUR APPLICATION : FANTASY MOON PAINT
MATERIAL:
- Fantasy Moon Paint
- Spatulas
- Toothpick
- Graduated Pipettes
- My Flower shape with Cerne Relief dry
With a spatula, I mix Fantasy Moon paint in its jar before use.
Then I take a pipette to apply my paint within the dry cerne relief. As the paint is fairly fluid and thick, I use the pipette which is much more useful than the brush.
The pipette is a flexible plastic tube that begins in a tip and ends with a pump. When I squeeze the pump, the liquid paint goes up or down in the pipette tube. We can see the colour through the tube.
After applying Fantasy Moon paint inside the cerne relief shape, I use a toothpick to draw the paint to the edges. The toothpick is more useful than pipette or brush.
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4/ COLOUR APPLICATION: VITRAIL PAINT
MATERIAL:
- Vitrail Paint
- Spatulas
- Graduated Pipettes
- Toothpick
With Solvent Paints: Fantasy Moon, Prism and Vitrail , 2 things to remember:
- Always mix the paint before using.
- Work in fresh paint to mix colours and create effects.
Using another pipette, I apply my Vitrail paint onto the flower Shape I already created with Fantasy Moon Paint. With the toothpick I mix the 2 paints.
I continue the creation of several flowers on my painting..
So, I will let it dry overnight and store my painting completely flat whilst drying! As of tomorrow, I will finish the details of the flowers.
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IV- THE RESULT: FINISHED PAINTING
Over the following days, I kept working on my painting (following the drying times). I made other flower shapes with the cerne relief outliner and I had fun mixing Moon, Prisme and Vitrail paints to create pretty graphic effects!
Here are some pictures of my finished painting!
V- TIPS BETWEEN ARTISTS
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1/ STORAGE OF THE COLOURS:
I put a little paint in the lid of my Vitrail, Prisme and Moon jars to make it easy to find the colours that I use.
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2/ CLEANING TOOLS & MATERIALS:
MATERIAL:
- Plastic cups
- Pipettes and spatulas coated with paint
- Odourless White Spirit or Turpentine substitute
- Cleaning Paper Tissue
- 2 plastic cups are convenient to clean the coated material.
- I pour white spirit/turpentine into two cups.
- The first cup containing white spirit is used to wash my pipettes. I activate the pipette pump several times, making the white spirit go up and down in the tube takes off the paint little by little and gives back the transparency to the pipette.
- The second cup is used to rinse and remove the last traces of colour in the pipette.
- I wipe my pipettes.
- However, drops of white spirit remain in the pipettes. I then take a last cup (clean this time) and I have a little paper tissue at the bottom of the cup. Here, I put my pipettes points down and let them empty, and dry quietly.
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VI- MY USER REVIEW:
- I love working with Vitrail, Moon or Prisme paint, with a clear preference for Fantasy Prisme with its honeycomb effect. The smooth, vitrified appearance of these paints plays nicely with light and reflections. The creation has a magic side because the effects appear as the colours are drying. It is amazing!
- Like the majority of solvent paints, they require time to dry well and some odours may be unpleasant when they are applied. Be sure to work in a well ventilated area.
- The only “problem” I found is the effects of mixtures. They are difficult to control. In this technique, the randomness has an important place, especially for the effects that appear at the end of drying.
DISCLAIMER : cet article est une collaboration sponsorisée. Je fais partie des artistes référents qui utilisent le matériel proposé par Le Géant Des Beaux-Arts – France et GreatArt – United Kingdom. Vous venez de lire mon article issu de cette collaboration. Au risque de me répéter, sachez que j’apprécie les marques distribuées par ce partenaire depuis des années, et que je suis convaincue de la qualité du matériel destiné aux artistes et aux personnes créatives. Même si cela paraît logique, je précise que je suis LIBRE sur la thématique et le choix des produits mis en avant, LIBRE sur le contenu, LIBRE de donner mon VÉRITABLE avis, et c’est également pour cette raison que ce partenariat est important car je peux donner libre cours à mon imagination et ainsi proposer du contenu frais et de qualité.
