The advantages of using mixed techniques

Mixed media art allows both novice and professional artists to have fun with their craft because there really are no rules. It involves using just about anything you want to create a finished piece, such as paint, sand, salt, charcoal, and other things found around the house. You can get dirty for the sake of your art. Mixed media, in the visual arts, refers to a work of art in which more than one medium has been used.

Landscapes plus seascapes were good subjects for mixed media projects because the texture and 3-D look that many media give your project could bring the landscape to life. You can find a photo of a landscape in a magazine and cut it out, or find one on the web and print it out. It should be colorful and also contain three-dimensional elements such as trees, flowers, and buildings. Attach the image on watercolor paper and use watercolor paints or pencils, as well as items such as fabric and bark to continue the image outward. Put colors in the original image for further blending. Another technique for younger artists is to always cut out landscape elements like trees, water, and animals from construction paper and glue them onto larger paper, and then add details using watercolors or oil paints.

Handmade greeting cards lend themselves well to a mixed media technique, as you can tailor the media to the theme of the greeting card. Start with a simple collage technique by cutting or ripping construction paper and gluing the pieces to the cardstock. For example, you can use red and green paper for Christmas and orange and black for Halloween. Layer one another for a more tactile effect. Create textures according to the event. For example, place small pieces of pine boughs for Christmas or twisted tissues to represent ghosts for Halloween. If your catcher is a sports fanatic, create a background of your team’s tones and create a collage of sports cards cut out of your favorite players. This process can also be useful for party invitations.

Mixed media refers to anything that can be placed on a table, canvas or any other support and that can be combined with paintings or other supports. Why would you use mixed media? To begin with, it is one of the best methods to enter and teach you the world of art. However, using it is not, as many may suppose, an easy way to make art. Anyone can glue multiple items together, but the results will often look unsightly.

There are many advantages to using mixed media. First of all, it is inexpensive. Newspapers, fabric, and household glue can form the basis of a mixed media project. Second, and most importantly, using various materials from the world around you sensitizes you to things you wouldn’t normally see. Who would have thought that a piece of local newspaper, a piece of wood, and some paintings had the ability to produce a nice piece of art? This is also a great way to train in the world of form, shape, and also color. By combining different shapes and colors of the world around you, you can train the eye very quickly.