A Mixed Media Treasury of

Techniques and Ideas

Sandrine Pelissier

Les Cabines de la Plage en Bretagne

Mixed Media on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Contents

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas ..................................................... 1

Part 1: with Watermedia on paper (Watercolor, Inks and Gouache) ........................................ 4

Drawing with dry pastels and adding acrylics ...................................................................................................................4

Painting a layer of gouache on top of a watercolor painting ............................................................................................6

Drawing with colored pencils on top of a watercolor background ...................................................................................8

Sewing on paper ................................................................................................................................................................9

Drawing on top of the figure with watercolor crayons .....................................................................................................9

Drawing some areas of a painting .................................................................................................................................. 10

Adding highlights with oil pastels ................................................................................................................................... 11

Splashing water on top of a watercolor painting ........................................................................................................... 11

Using gouache for white highlights in watercolor .......................................................................................................... 12

Part 2 : With acrylics and mixed media on canvas ................................................................... 12

Scrubbing off layers of paint ........................................................................................................................................... 12

Drawing with dry pastels on top of Acrylic ..................................................................................................................... 14

Using dry pastels as an outline for painting with acrylics .............................................................................................. 14

Adding Thread and other small materials to a painting ................................................................................................. 14

Painting with India ink on top of newspaper collage ..................................................................................................... 15

Using encaustic medium mixed with pigment or oil color ............................................................................................. 16

Adding oil pastels on top of acrylic ................................................................................................................................. 17

Spraying water on wet paint to have it dripping down .................................................................................................. 18

Spraying alcohol on wet acrylic paint ............................................................................................................................. 19

Adding watery layers of paint ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Painting underneath layers in contrasting colors ........................................................................................................... 21

Adding texture with modeling paste .............................................................................................................................. 22

Adding texture with tape, paper or tissue paper ........................................................................................................... 23

Adding texture with fabric and thread ........................................................................................................................... 25

Incorporating pieces of drawings into a new painting ................................................................................................... 26

Using a spatula to spread paint ...................................................................................................................................... 27

Painting with a eye dropper filled with ink, or diluted liquid acrylic or watercolor ..................................................... 28

Spreading paint with a credit card.................................................................................................................................. 28

Scratching off paint with a straw, skewer… ................................................................................................................... 29

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Stamping ......................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Mixing gesso and pumice to draw with dry pastels on canvas ..................................................................................... 31

Incorporating charcoal drawings or lines in a mixed media painting ............................................................................ 32

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Part 1: with Watermedia on paper (Watercolor, Inks and

Gouache)

Drawing with dry pastels and adding acrylics

On this portrait I did some contouring with dry pastels, and then painted the

background with acrylics. Some pastels did mix with the acrylic paint giving a

nice effect. When you are using pastels you will have to fix them with fixative. I

am using Krylon workable fixative. Always spray outside and in a well

ventilated area. Fixative will make the colors a bit darker.

dry pastels and acrylic

You can also paint a background in Acrylic on top of another layer of Acrylic, ink or watercolor. I often use this as an opportunity to add effects on the edges of my figures. If you paint a black background for example with India ink and then paint on top a layer of white acrylic leaving some of the ink showing at the edges, you get a very interesting effect.

Acrylic on top of a black layer, leaving spaces around edges show. Detail of Indigo Mania- Mixed Media on paper- private collection

A bird’s eye view of Charlotte

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Acrylic on top of a black layer, leaving spaces around edges show, Detail ofEmpty Space- Mixed Media on paper- Collection of the Artist

Acrylic on top of a black layer, letting edges show. Detail of ADD series: Why didn't anybody tell me before about the smudged lipstick –

Mixed Media on paper- Collection of the Artist

ADD series:Why didn’t anybody tell me before about the smudged lipstick- mixed media on paper- Collection of the Artist

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Day Off - Mixed Media on paper- Collection of the Artist

Painting a layer of gouache on top of a watercolor painting

Adding gouache in particular in background areas is a nice way to have some opaque areas next to some

transparent areas.

White gouache can be mixed with any watercolor, to give it some color. I usually like to use a blue-grey.

They keep me company, watercolor and gouache on paper

Interesting textures with gouache painted over watercolor

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Vermillion, watercolor and gouache on paper

Blue watercolor and gouache painted over an orange layer

Multi-colored Days, watercolor and gouache on paper

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Drawing with colored pencils on top of a watercolor background

Once watercolor has dried, you can draw on top with watercolor crayons. Using them dry or dipped in water for a

stronger color.

The flower motif was drawn with colored pencils

Thinking, watercolor and mixed media on paper

Some subjects need a bit more definitions and straight lines, like cityscapes. I will sometimes draw those lines

with watercolor crayons on top of the dry painting, like here:

Here I did draw some of the building lines with watercolor crayons.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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To draw volutes, flowers and other details in those paintings, I used the watercolor crayons dipped in water.

Here for volutes and flowers

Here for the stars and the spaceship.

Sewing on paper

Sewing on paper works great, you are just limited by the length of the machine arm. Here is an example:

And here along edges.

Drawing on top of the figure with watercolor crayons

This is a great way to add details and energy to a portrait. Here I drew some lines on top of the painting once it

was dry, as if I was drawing the face again in a very loose way. I a used red watercolor crayon, so the lines can

be visible looking closely at the portrait but will blend in from a distance.

Here, on the face.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Day off, watercolor and mixed media on paper

And here along edges.

Drawing some areas of a painting

Same idea here, I did draw on the watercolor paper in some areas with watercolor crayons .The area under the

drawing has just been painted with a very light watercolor wash.

The hand and scarf are drawn with watercolor crayons

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Adding highlights with oil pastels

The white highlights on the hair are drawn with oil pastels, before painting, the pastels act as a resist for the

watercolor paint.

Adding highlights with oil pastels

Splashing water on top of a watercolor painting

I really like this technique because it allows me to let go a bit of control especially on my watercolor portraits. I

splash the painting with water and let the paint move where it wants to, I can always dry areas I don’t like while

they are still wet or brush off with water parts when the paint has dried.

Splashing the painting with water

Tales of a lucky hat, watercolor and gouache on paper

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Using gouache for white highlights in watercolor

For small areas, gouache can be more convenient than scrubbing off paint on a watercolor painting.

On this painting I did use gouache on some of the white highlights.

Part 2 : With acrylics and mixed media on canvas

Here are a few techniques I am using in my mixed media paintings on canvas and sometimes paper, the main

medium is often acrylic.

Scrubbing off layers of paint

I like an aged look for my paintings and also complex colors, so I often scrub off paint with a sponge, and

sometimes with sand paper. When the paint is fresh I will just use water, on older paint I might use alcohol to

help remove the acrylic.

Scrubbing off layers of paint

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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One tree: The finished painting

Some paint scrubbed off

Waiting : The finished painting

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Drawing with dry pastels on top of Acrylic

Dry pastels are a good way to try on ideas on your painting because you can always wash the pastel with water if you

don’t like it. You have to fix the pastels with fixative spray; sometimes I also paint on top of the pastel with gel medium to

fix it.

Drawing with dry pastels on top of acrylic, then fixing them with working fixative spray.

Using dry pastels as an outline for painting with acrylics

Of course this will give less resist than oil pastels, but you can still draw with dry pastel and paint with acrylic, the paint

won’t adhere in the parts where you did use the pastel and get mixed a bit with the pastel around the edges.

Painting clouds with a dry pastel outline. I did wash up the pastel when the paint was dry.

Adding Thread and other small materials to a painting

When adding thread, you have to fix it to the canvas or paper, I like to use a heavy layer of gel medium.

Thread add interest to a painting and come sometimes look like a very sharp drawing line.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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The thread is enclosed in a layer of gel medium

Painting with India ink on top of newspaper collage

I am using gel medium to glue newspaper on my paintings, once the medium has dried, you can add layers of

acrylic or India ink on top the newspaper collage to make it less visible.

Trees with Newspaper collage

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Painting on top of the collage with India ink and white acrylic paint.

Using encaustic medium mixed with pigment or oil color

Using encaustic medium mixed with pigment, here in the background. Encaustic adds a nice mat texture

encaustic medium mixed with pigment

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Adding oil pastels on top of acrylic

Most of the time I will add touches of oil pastels on edges to make them more interesting. When adding oil

pastels or anything with oil, you can’t use an acrylic varnish and will need to use an oil varnish, in spray so the

oil pastel doesn’t dissolve in the varnish.

Oil pastels are very convenient to draw lines on top of the acrylic paint, they add texture as well.

Detail of oil pastel on the edges to add texture and color

Another detail of the painting

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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The finished painting. Tofino Surfers, mixed media on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

Spraying water on wet paint to have it dripping down

Before spraying.

Here I sprayed water on the red and yellow paint to have them diffuse down

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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The finished painting: Les cabines de la plage en Bretagne, Mixed media on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, private collection

Spraying alcohol on wet acrylic paint

This will make interesting textures on the paint. For this technique to work, the paint has to be quite liquid

(diluted in water).

Drips of alcohol on wet acrylic paint

I had the painting lying flat so the alcohol drops could stay in place

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Here another example with darker paint

Adding watery layers of paint

I do that sometimes with acrylics, or inks or watercolors.

Here a layer of white ink on the sky.

sea wall, the finished painting

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Painting underneath layers in contrasting colors

Here the areas of the blue green buildings have been painted orange.

Feom Vancouver to the mountains, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

All light areas have been first painted in black.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Exhibition : Acrylic on canvas

Adding texture with modeling paste

Modelling paste was spread on the board and left to dry before painting. Some painting has been scratched as well in later layers.

Fall colors at the end of the day

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Adding texture with tape, paper or tissue paper

Adding dry wall tape to add texture to a painting.

Buzzing trees

Pasting tissue paper with gel medium to add texture before painting.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Fall evening in the forest

Piece of paper collaged on canvas before painting.

The lonely road

Here the tissue paper collage has been highlighted with dry pastels.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Week end escapade at the beach

Adding texture with fabric and thread

Tree made with thread and highlighted with dry pastels.

Fabric collaged on canvas with gel medium

Thread Tree, mixed media on board.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Incorporating pieces of drawings into a new painting

A drawing on technical paper collaged underneath the painting.

Winter day walk

Here also a piece of drawing underneath the painting.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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The Picnic Spot- Mixed Media on Canvas

Using a spatula to spread paint

I like the look of paint spread with a rubber spatula, you can get the same effect by using painting knives, or a plastic card,

a piece of rubber...

Using a spatula to spread paint.

Somewhere 11, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 30 inches, private collection

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Painting with a eye dropper filled with ink, or diluted liquid acrylic or watercolor

Painting with an eye dropper

Seaweed Shore- Mixed media on canvas

Spreading paint with a credit card

Scrapping off paint with credit card

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Fields : A Camaieu in Pink

Scratching off paint with a straw, skewer…

Scratching off paint.

Stamping

Stamping on modelling paste and letting it dry before painting.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Stamping and paper collage in layers under the painting.

Stamping under layers of dry pastels.

Spring at the Cabin, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Stamping on wood panel and acrylic

Painting the stamps with acrylic and medium

Mixing gesso and pumice to draw with dry pastels on canvas

A mix of pumice and gesso was spread on the area where I wanted to draw the pears with pastels.

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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Pears, mixed media on canvas.

Incorporating charcoal drawings or lines in a mixed media painting

I like drawing with charcoal on wood panels, the texture of the wood gives an interesting look to the drawing,

Here are two examples:

Lake Louise, mixed media on wood panel

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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You can see the texture of the wood on the drawing here

People at the beach, mixed media on panel.

Adding lines of charcoal on a mixed media painting. They will have to be fixed with workable fixative before painting on

top.

More coming soon...

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

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This e-book is a compilation of ideas I used while painting on paper and canvas with various media. To see

complete tutorials on most of the paintings shown here, you can check out my e-book or book :

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