Monday 6 May 2013

Mixed Media Artworks are More than a Thousand Words

There is a famous adage which says that a painting can depict a thousand words. However, this cliché can be modified if placed under the context of mixed media art. Mixed media art is worth a million words. But what is mixed media art? Mixed media art, as the name implies, is a work of art that utilizes more than one (1) medium.This is the reason why it can exceed the words that a one-medium painting expresses.

There are various ways by which an artist can produce a mixed media artwork. Two (2) or more drawing materials can be used in order to come up with a painting. For example, a lovely picture of a lady on a canvass can be produced using oil, acrylic and watercolor. Some mixed media artworks also use collage materials. These simple items can be found in our homes like plastic bottles, magazines, newspapers,wood, scrap metals and fabric. In fact, for some people these products can already be considered as trash. This makes mixed media art more interesting because aside from expressing one’s ideas and thoughts, the artist can also help in saving mother earth. Plastic bottles are considered as non-biodegradable. They do not decompose. As such, they reduce landfill spaces and they pollute our oceans and rivers. It also takes huge amounts of fossil fuel, a limited natural resource, to produce them. Scrap metals, when used in a mixed media artwork, also saves the environment because instead of throwing it away, the artist recycles it. Old and defective appliances like television sets, cassette players and VHS players can also be employed in creating a mixed media artwork.

We can also derive a lot of mixed media art ideas from famous artists because a lot of them utilized the said type of artwork. Leonardo da Vinci used charcoal, black chalk and white chalk in coming up with a painting entitled, “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist”. The said artwork is currently located at the national gallery of the United Kingdom. In illustrating the biblical scene of the Annunciation, Leonardo da Vinci used tempera and oil. Tempera consists of colored pigment mixed with a binder that is soluble on water. This painting is the first artwork of Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo also used the same technique in “The Torment of St. Anthony”.

Mixed media artworks are not only limited from the legendary artists of the renaissance era. There are a lot of existing artists which are very passionate about this field of art. The perfect example of this artist is Serena Barton. Would you believe it? She mixes wasabi with common painting materials in some of her collection! Wasabi is a spicy green paste paired by the Japanese with sashimi and sushi. Rhea Carmi, an Israeli mixed media artist, combines sand with other painting media in several of her works. Other artists also use mud in their artworks.

In other words, there are countless ways by which an individual can create a mixed media art piece. The options are endless. One can use simple materials that can be found in one’s bedroom, garden, living room, kitchen or even bathroom. One only needs a huge amount of imagination to succeed in creating a mixed media artwork.

Here are some awesome Mixed Media Art Ideas for you to try out...

Quick Handmade Mothers Day Gift
- In this post, you'll be able to discover a wonderful gift for the up coming Mothers Day which you can humbly present to your Mom.

Creating Layers Online Tutorial
- Creating layers for mixed media art is really easy, watch the video in this article and you'll surely appreciate the importance on mixed media art layers.
- If you want to learn how to create a layout for your Art Journal, this a very informative post about creating a nice Art Journal layout 

Faux Dichroic Glass 
- Creating something from different stuff is really cool and fantastic. If you want to learn about using glass for your artworks then this post is just for you.
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