The Joys of Mixed Media

I am currently teaching an eight-week mixed media course at Salcombe in Devon so thought I would include a little of my experience of this exciting genre here. It’s a technique that I personally enjoy and use frequently in my own art practice.

By combining different materials and techniques it’s possible to create really unique and dynamic pieces through, what is, an explorative, experimental  approach. It allows free expression– to work outside the box – and can add layers of complexity in paintings by what I call ‘disrupting the surface’.

This approach enables me to create a wide variety of textures, depth and dimension by layering different materials such as acrylic paint, watercolour, pastels, found materials and collage elements. In this way I am not only building up the surface but by scraping back into it I am adding further visual interest.

If you have never used mixed media in your work I would encourage you to give it a go, whether you are a hobby artist looking to try something new or an experienced professional wanting to push the boundaries of your creativity. The possibilities are endless and the results [and happy accidents] can be very surprising!