More Mixed Media!

Lately I have been on a mixed media frenzy!  I really love it!  I think it's because I feel so much freedom in it.  There isn't that worry of messing things up because I just keep layering over until I get the look I like!  It's fun and to me it's a great way to play and experiment with other mediums that I haven't tried before.  So this week I have taken an old piece of wood that used to be on our old woodshed.  I primed it with primer, began painting, and here's what I got!

I took an old board from our former woodshed, primed it, and then painted it with a yellow undertone.

I then added some decorative tissue paper from the Tim Holtz collection.  I love this stuff.

I added lots of Mod Podge to it, beneath and on top of the tissue paper.  I also highlighted it with some blue acrylic paint.

Probably one of the most challenging parts of mixed media is if you are wanting to put lettering on your piece.  There are a few options to do this without making it really difficult.  You can free hand and write your message, but I personally find that hard to do.  I don't have a problem with writing or the lettering but rather the spacing.  It can look very unprofessional if your spacing isn't consistent. This includes height and width of each letter.  You can use stamps as they work great, but you may not have them available or have the right size of stamps.  So another option is finding a font that you like on the computer. There are also websites available for this.  My personal favourite is www.dafont.com.  I  types out the message and the size of lettering I wanted.  After I have printed it, I now had to transfer it onto my artwork.  What I found works really well is taking a charcoal pencil and tracing over the lettering on one side.  I then pressed it down onto the canvas or board and this left a print of the lettering on the canvas that I could then paint over with a fine brush.

I then added some extra little things to bring the piece together, like some old buttons.

I also added some burlap and tags with some whimsical houses that I sketched out.

So there it is.  Have fun creating this week and don't be afraid to experiment.  You may just find your niche! Happy creating.

Trish