I've had quite a few requests to learn about my technique when creating my mixed media pieces, so I thought I'd do a little tutorial for you all with the piece I'm currently working on. It is a wax based piece with collage, ink and oil pastel layered over the top of the wax.
Your first step is to melt your wax onto the canvas. Now wax comes in many forms including basic crayons. The advantage of crayons is the range of colour you can get. I would suggest though that when using crayons you should use only pure wax crayons; some may have other ingredients in the crayon which may produce unexpected results when melting onto your canvas.
When melting them it's useful to use hot glue to secure the lump of wax to the canvas, or use a fork or other metal implement to hold the wax in place until it melts sufficiently to not roll away anymore. Hot partially melted wax makes a big mess when it is pushed across the table or floor by the airflow from your heatgun or hairdryer! Which is how you melt it: it's so much fun to watch it melt, and you can kind of control the direction of the flow by the angle you hold your heat gun on. Varying the airflow strength will also allow you to play with different types of splatters and flow within the wax.
Once I had covered the canvas in wax (which took a good few hours), I then used cut and torn book pages to create the shape of the tree trunk and branches. I collaged these pieces straight over the wax with Liquetex Gloss medium, which you can obviously also use as a collage glue. Once that was dry I used black and white oil pastels and drew in the shape I wanted over the collage. I used them also to shade a little to give the tree some depth.
I then used more Liquetex to seal the oil pastel, and once that was dry I used white and black ink to redraw the shape again and to add in more shading and colour on the trunk.
I started to add in smaller branches at this point as well.
The process basically consists at this point of alternating layers of ink, then Liquetex, then oil pastel until I'm happy with the tonal qualities of the tree.
Once I am happy with that, I then use more oil pastels to create more colour over the wax. I'm not aiming to cover the wax, rather use the pastels to make the colour in the wax pop a bit more.
And here is the end result. Finished bar collaging the edges and a final varnish. It's a reasonably simple however quite time consuming process. But the end result is definitely worth the time put in.
I won't have any more posts up now until after Christmas and New Year. I'd like to wish all my readers and their families a happy and safe festive season, and say thank you very much for your support!
Merry Christmas To You All!
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Your first step is to melt your wax onto the canvas. Now wax comes in many forms including basic crayons. The advantage of crayons is the range of colour you can get. I would suggest though that when using crayons you should use only pure wax crayons; some may have other ingredients in the crayon which may produce unexpected results when melting onto your canvas.
When melting them it's useful to use hot glue to secure the lump of wax to the canvas, or use a fork or other metal implement to hold the wax in place until it melts sufficiently to not roll away anymore. Hot partially melted wax makes a big mess when it is pushed across the table or floor by the airflow from your heatgun or hairdryer! Which is how you melt it: it's so much fun to watch it melt, and you can kind of control the direction of the flow by the angle you hold your heat gun on. Varying the airflow strength will also allow you to play with different types of splatters and flow within the wax.
Once I had covered the canvas in wax (which took a good few hours), I then used cut and torn book pages to create the shape of the tree trunk and branches. I collaged these pieces straight over the wax with Liquetex Gloss medium, which you can obviously also use as a collage glue. Once that was dry I used black and white oil pastels and drew in the shape I wanted over the collage. I used them also to shade a little to give the tree some depth.
I then used more Liquetex to seal the oil pastel, and once that was dry I used white and black ink to redraw the shape again and to add in more shading and colour on the trunk.
I started to add in smaller branches at this point as well.
The process basically consists at this point of alternating layers of ink, then Liquetex, then oil pastel until I'm happy with the tonal qualities of the tree.
And here is the end result. Finished bar collaging the edges and a final varnish. It's a reasonably simple however quite time consuming process. But the end result is definitely worth the time put in.
I won't have any more posts up now until after Christmas and New Year. I'd like to wish all my readers and their families a happy and safe festive season, and say thank you very much for your support!
Merry Christmas To You All!
Enter your email to be the first to know about art sales and receive exclusive member only discounts!
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ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful work!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThank you for this tutorial! Once the holidays are over, I might have to try working with wax. Looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteIt is so much fun Jessica! You should definitely try it.
DeleteGlad you had a lovely Christmas. I see you like me are a member of the BloggerChallenge2014. I have followed you and can't wait to read your posts.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lippylikes.com
Thank you!
DeleteI love the end result x
ReplyDeleteHeather | Of Beauty & Nothingness
Thanks Heather! The painting is almost done, I'll be posting once it is fully completed. :)
Delete