Mixed Media Workshop

Today I attended a Mixed Media Workshop, run by Southampton Art Society. The brief was to paint a ‘Summer Meadows’ picture using different techniques, by Marina Stuart, today’s tutor.

It was a relaxed session where we experimented with watercolours, embellishing our watercolour paper with mixed media, creating interesting effects. We were provided with a comprehensive list of materials to bring, and Marina also supplied an additional selection of materials for us to use, which included soap, wax candle, oil pastels, gouache, oil pastels, salt, watercolour pencils, glitter, and more!

The first thing we were shown was how to stretch the watercolour paper onto a board. This is to keep the paper from ‘cockling’, keeping it flat, especially if you’re going to use a lot of water on it. For more information see the Winsor & Newton page on Stretching Watercolour Paper.

After waiting for the paper to dry I added splashes and runs of masking fluid to the plain white paper. This took quite a while to dry!

White and blue masking fluids splashed and dripped onto white paper.

Watercolour wash applied – blues, ‘green gold‘ (one of Marina’s favourite colours at the moment), orange and grey.

I used the wax candle on the right, under more green gold paint. The wax acts as a resist, creating an area where the paint won’t reach the paper underneath, allowing the colour underneath the paint to remain visible.

I splashed colours onto the paper in colours of poppies, lavender and cornflowers. I was thinking that the white paper underneath the splashes of masking fluid could become daisies. I also added some stripes of watercolour pencils to indicate grasses and stems.

Using Marina’s photos for reference I added large frilly poppies, cornflower, and other flowers.

I added stems to some of the flowers. I used watercolour pencils in turquoise and purple on each side of these stems just to add a bit of unusual colour!

The final addition was using different coloured glitters on some of the petals. This looks pretty, but I think that the glue I used is too glossy, so there are shiny patches on the flowers, and I’m not sure how to remove it. I might see if I can paint over the top. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I’m not sure that the painting is finished yet, but this was what I achieved between 10:00am and 3:00pm. I’m thinking of adding some gold to the painting, using gold leaf somewhere, but am undecided.

I really enjoyed this workshop and would recommend Marina Stuart to anyone interested in learning some unusual techniques, with helpful and patient nurturing.

Thanks Marina!

You may contact Marina below:

• Etsy
• Website

New Etsy Store

Well, I thought I’d take the plunge and open an Etsy store, mainly to sell some of the pieces you’ll get to see here on the Blog, as time goes on.

My first listing is for an ‘ACEO Original Rainbow Mandala Painting – black ink and watercolour paints‘ at £10.00 plus £1.50 UK p&p.

I painted this piece last year whilst working on painting pebbles for teacher’s presents. I thought working on paper might be a bit of a change, and I love how it sits on the easel – a proper work of art!

Here is one of the pebbles I painted; this one was for my son’s learning assistant – in a henna tattoo style, painted with iridescent acrylic paint.

How to Paint a Batik-Inspired Watercolour Painting

Here are the full instructions on how I made the batik-inspired watercolour painting from yesterday’s blog post.

Fineliner masking fluid applied to white paper.

I splashed lots of watery paint all over the paper

Next I sprayed water over the paper.

I added too much water and some of the colours started to become a bit ‘muddy’, running together too much.

I decided to use a hairdryer to dry the watery paint mixture and most of it was blown off the paper!

I tried again with splashes of paint and didn’t add as much water this time.

Once dried again with the hairdryer I added more masking fluid over this new layer.

I added a wash of watery red/orange paint over the whole page.

Here, I’ve started to peel the dried masking fluid off the paper.

Here’s the peelings – not a pretty site!

Here’s the piece with all the masking fluid removed.

Close-up of the batik effect.

Here’s the finished piece. I decided to add glitter glue to the leaf edges to highlight that area of the painting, which looks beautiful in the sunlight!

Batik Style Watercolour Painting

Batik-inspired watercolour painting.

Close-up: Batik-inspired watercolour painting.

This is the first post on “A Fun Blog About My Experimentations with Different Techniques and Mediums”. I plan to go into detail with lots of photos showing all sorts of arty and crafty activities I get up to in the future. I’ll go into much more detail regarding this Batik Inspired Watercolour Painting too.

Thanks for stopping by!