Mixed Media Canvas.....tutorial

Abstract and mixed media art is not for everybody, but it is a deep passion of mine.

I decided I did not like the painting on this canvas, so I repainted it one evening, got up the next morning and HATED what I had done............what to do, what to do?

 

 

So I took all the left over acrylic paint and just wiped it over the painting!! Since the painting, underneath, had some thick paint in areas it developed some texture................texture is always good!

Taking away the harsh brush strokes.......

 

......an other layer of thinned down paint.........

 

.......pretty satisfied with the background colors, and once it was thoroughly dried,  I added some gold leafing here and there...........

 

..........again letting it get really dry, I began the nest step.  Using a VERY diluted white acrylic paint, I brushed it over the WHOLE canvas, then quickly laid plastic bags over it and crunched them.  This is a very quick step, a little daunting, but......................

I LOVE the results........an other layer!!!

Stepping back to view the whole canvas at this point.

Time for a little stamping...........using StazOn Timber Brown ink.  To keep it from being dark and crisp, I stamped the canvas when it was still a little damp, since alcohol inks and acrylic don't like each other you get a more aged look. 

I used chalk to layout what I wanted to added..........you can see my journal page propped up in the back ground.....this is what I want to recreate.

Using a Sharpie marker, I traced the chalk lines and began adding more thinned down paint around the edges of the images.  I used my finger and  baby wipes to do the blending, and to wipe the paint off the gold leafing in places.

A closer look shows that ALL those background layers still come through.

 

The last step was to add some highlights to the images, softly blending the edges.

 

I don't usually hang any of my art in the main part of the house (mostly in my craft room and spare bedroom), but I do have this sitting on my fireplace until I can get it hung. 

 

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.........I've been patting my own back for remembering to take the photos!!! LOL!

 

Do you like abstract art and or Mixed Media art?