Are you ready to get messy?
When I mention that I love mixed media to people I often get asked two things.
Firstly, what's mixed media? And secondly, is it difficult?
Well, the answer to question one is easy. Mixed media is basically art that involves more than one medium, so a mix of techniques. And is it difficult? No! It's the easiest thing to do as there are no rules. You just dive right in and get going!
To illustrate what I mean here is a simple little mixed media project I did recently.
Isn't it cute? If you know me you will know my favourite place in the whole world is the beach. It's the one place I feel totally stress free and at home so you will find that I often use the beach as inspiration in my art.
To make these little hanging plaques I took small pieces of mount board (you could use a little board canvas either) and I glued down layers of hessian and cotton fabric from my scraps box. I used Soft Matte Gel from Finnabairs Art Basics range to stick down the fabrics and also gave them a quick brush over with the product too to seal them.
Next I chose two seashells from my HUGE collection and stuck them in place with Heavy Body Gel which is another product from Art Basics. This is a really strong glue with the texture of creme brûlée and it will hold just about anything!
I added some crushed seashells inside the big shells with the heavy body gel (although the soft gel would have done either as these aren't too heavy) and I allowed the whole project to dry.
Next I gave everything a good coating of Pebeo black gesso and dried it with my heat tool.
When the gesso was dry I took a small amount of Pebeo gilding wax on my finger and lightly brushed it over the surface of the crushed shells and fabric.
I then selected two of Finnabairs amazing Art Alchemy Opal Magic paints and dry brushed them across the whole of the plaque and on the outer edges of the shells.
Next I added a pearl bead to each shell with the heavy body gel and an inspiring word from my Tim Holtz Big Chat book.
To finish off I punched out two holes with my Cropadile and threaded through some twine to hang the plaques up.
How easy was that?
If you have been inspired to try a little mixed media for yourself I would love to see your art. Please share it on Instagram and tag me @craftsiteshop.
Supplies used are available to order from Craftsite.co.uk. Just click the item to go to the website.
 |
| Art Basics Heavy Body Gel |
 |
| Art Basics Soft Matte Gel |
 |
| Pebeo Gilding Wax |
 |
| Tim Holtz Big Chat Stickers |
 |
| Pebeo Black Gesso |
