Have You Been Throwing Away your Canvas? Not any more!

Canvas is one of the many materials found around our homes and which is hardly thought of. But wait until you meet a creative person who will tell you to collect as much as any item you come around because you may need it in future.

This simply implies that the readily available canvas can be put into good use for mixedmedia art with a little bit of creativity. When you desire to make sturdy background for your masterpiece, then canvas is the material to consider. If you are looking for inspiration of putting a mixed media idea into action try it out on canvas and the commonly used is “4×4”.

Apart from its availability, it is easy to use because you can either choose to slightly paint it before use or directly spray it. Use damp brushes if you have to paint. Use different colors that blend and once it is dry you can begin to decorate your canvas.

However there is need to use glue which is advisable that you first apply it on the back of the tissue paper and give it a few moments to soak in. Apply glue on the canvas as well and afterwards carefully lay the wet tissue paper onto the canvas which you should smooth out with your finger nail to remove excessive glue and you can now stick out what you want to.

“Voilà! A Mixed Media Art Tutorial”

This essay is a short tutorial about mixed media art. One needs a huge amount of imagination in successfully coming up with a mixed media artwork. So that is the first step, one must have the passion and desire in producing a creative mixed media artwork. One should have a burning fire in his or her heart because that will keep him or her motivated. Aside from that, one must decide on the size of the artwork. How small or how big is the subject? What is the size of the artwork? It will all depend on the artist. It will all depend on you. Next, one must select the base. Will it be a canvass? Will it be a wood? Or will the artist use just simple paper? Again, it will all rely on the preferences of the artist.

After deciding on those matters, comes the most challenging part. At this juncture, the artist will now look for the different media that he or she will use. In looking for the art materials, one can never go wrong with traditional drawing utensils. We have oil, acrylic and watercolor  One can also use the combination of charcoal, chalk and pencil. However, combining various brands of one medium will not count as mixed media art. Even if the brands are different, as long as they are of the same type of medium, the objective of this tutorial to create a mixed media art will not be achieved.

As mentioned previously, one can also look for different household items that can be used in this artwork. So at this point of time, the artist should now roam around his or her house for unique items that can be used to express his or her feelings, emotions, thoughts and ideas. One must be ingenious and innovative at this moment. In considering various types of media, one must remember that it must be a combination of a wet and a dry medium. Different types of paint are considered as wet items. While collage items which are located in our households are considered as dry items. When one uses pencil as a medium, one must make sure that it is a fundamental and essential part of the artwork. Do not use the pencil to merely draft the initial sketch of the artwork. After this, the next step is to create the mixed media artwork itself. This procedure requires patience and perseverance. One must not hurry in creating the artwork. One should not be hast at this moment because it might lead to errors. This is where the artist will express his or her aspirations, ideas, thoughts, emotions and feelings.

After using all the items to complete the artwork, one must now affix the signature and the date of the completion of the artwork. Voilà! The mixed media artwork is now complete. Hopefully, this mixed media art tutorial would be a great help to all the budding mixed media artists out there.

 Here are some great mixed media art tutorials from Mixedmediaart.net

Creating Layers Online Tutorial

-If you are looking for a good video tutorial about Craeting Layers for your mixed media art projects then yo should watch this!

Creating a Gratitude Box

- This is another great video from mixedmediaart.net showing how to decorate an old wooden box. 

Found Objects for Mixed Media Painting

- If you love recycling, then this is a good video that will show you how to recycle things for your mixed media art projects.

Helpful Ideas When Creating Altered Books

Creation of altered books through altered text is an exercise filled with fun. “Altered text” is achieved by putting together certain words or phrases chosen and highlighted while being connected by dark lines connecting the words on the page and in the order you want to read them.

When you intend to start a new altered book page, it is advisable to first flip through the pages lightly to seek words or phrases that may catch your attention while writing them on a rough paper. Over and over the frequent page flips you will be able to pick many more words and phrases that can constitute a sentence and make a meaning out of it.

The sequence should bring out the complexity in the phrases giving a larger meaning than just the mere read of the text. You can highlight what you have picked so that they can show well up on the page and by this you are set to start the artwork of creating altered books. You begin with the use of watercolors, acrylics, collage elements, permanent inks, markers and colored pencils. You may chose to use a couple of pictures but make sure not cover up the words you have chosen. With this idea you can create a whole storyline within a story with what you have collected.

There are different ways that you can use cereal boxes and plastic sheets for your mixed media art projects. One excellent way to use the plastic sheet inside the cereal box is to use it as a protective covering for your altered book project to avoid the paint from getting around the edges of your book when painting or creating a layout. You can also use it as an alternative for plastic covers which can be bought in department stores. So instead of spending money for plastic covers, you can certainly use the plastic sheet inside the cereal box as the cover for your mixed media art projects.

And for the cereal box, you can actually cut the edges evenly and by doing that, you already have a cardboard that you can use as a book cover out from a cereal box or you can as well use if for paintings.

Creating mixed media art projects is really fun! While creating, you can actually discover things that you can reuse. Recycling things is a good practice since recycled materials are free, it can save you lots of cash and by recycling materials for your artworks, you are helping the environment.

Start creating and recycling now!

Stuart Morris, a Successful Artist

Becoming successful in anything is really not that easy. You will definitely need lots of patience and perseverance to reach your goals in life. Like with arts, there are some artists who prosper and there are also some who fail.

Let me introduce you to one of the most triumphant artist in the world today. His name is Stuart Morris. Stuart is a British artist based in East Anglia. Being an artist, Stuart loves using natural materials such as wood, rock and sand, whilst his bold use of color is a nod to the Post-Impressionists that captured his young imagination.

Stuart has an entrenched textile printing business and is the top charity fund raising in the UK. His company – “Stuart Morris” flourished through the years with different clients from home and abroad including heritage and charity organizations.

If you want to be successful like Stuart, here are Stuarts’s top 5 tips for aspiring artists

Be single-minded and set your sights on what you want to achieve,

Be determined and don’t let anything stand in your way,

Work hard at your craft,

Release your inhibitions and let your personality come out in your artwork,

Be expressive – the best paintings are not necessarily ‘life-like’, but tell a story

Different Ways in Designing an Altered Book Layout

Designing an altered book layout is really fun and exciting since it brings out the artist in you. You can create a wide range of designs using the different supplies that you have to make your layout really beautiful.

When we talk about designing an altered book layout, there are lots of style that you can apply. You can add some borders to enclose the text in your altered book, you can also highlight the words you want to stress, and adding colors to your altered book layout by drawing anything relevant for your layout and many other things that will fit your layout. You are actually free to design the layout as long as you don’t over design it.

With that being said, I know that you’ll be able to create a fantastic altered book layout that you’ll be proud to share with your family and friends.

So what are you waiting for ? Start creating and designing your altered book layout now!

Get that Gloves Off while Painting

Painting is among the famous art work today. There are lots of people expressing their artistry through painting using different techniques that will boost up the appearance of their work. When painting, there are different tools that you can use to paint. You can use a paintbrush, your hands with gloves and some other tools. These tools can help the artist to make his/her painting look good and beautiful.

However, There are painters who use their bare hands when painting. This is actually among the most exciting technique when painting since you can feel the paint in your finger tips and will make you more careful since you don’t want your painting to be messy. Using your bare hands when painting is like going back to your childhood days where you just grab a paint, dip your fingers and stroke it anywhere – remembering the good old days which is really fun and exciting.

It is really nice to experiment sometimes. Painting with that gloves off will certainly make you feel free while painting making your artwork more expressive and personalized. Letting go of your inner child to express your thoughts and feelings can be an outlet to create that masterpiece!

What are you waiting for? Take that gloves off and start painting now!