Santa Fe Window

I put in some time in the studio last weekend.  I've been trying to come up with interesting ways to incorporate my photography from my trip last summer into my mixed media art.  As I experimented with my photos in Photoshop, I developed a method of processing them into elements that would work well in a mixed media painting.  This is the first of what I expect will be a series.

 

 

Sante Fe Window

8" x 8"

Mixed Media on Cradled Birch Panel

 

Sometimes, half of the battle is overcoming the blank canvas.  I prepped the panel by sanding and applying several coats of gesso.  I adhered some antique book pages with liquid matte medium.  Using a credit card, I smeared a thin layer of gesso over the printed pages.  I dragged a texturing tool across the wet gesso in wavy lines.

 

 

I lightly painted in a background with FW Acrylic inks.

 

 

Next I did some gel medium transfers of old handwriting.  I began deepening the ink colors.

 

 

I added scraps of patterned paper.  Then, I drybrushed some gold acrylic ink.

 

 

I added a print of my altered original photo.   I tinted molding paste with acrylic inks and spread it over the edges of the photo and around the edges of the gel transfers.

 

 

I painted over the photo in places with acrylic inks.  I used a recipe for faux wax from the book, Surface Treatment Workshop, by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson.  I poured it onto the surface and spread it with a wide plastic blade (the sort of tool you would use to spread grout).   Using Golden heavy body acrylic paint, I stamped the surface with one of my hand-carved stamps.  I added some pieces of mesh paper around the edges of the photo, and painted them to blend them with the background.  I reworked the background a bit more with acrylic paints and inks, and then added a layer of liquid matte medium.  After the paint has time to cure, I will coat the surface with a satin acrylic varnish.

 

 

I will be linking to Paint Party Friday - better late than never!  We'll visit again soon.

 

Until next time,

 

Comments

[Anna]

Hello! Your paintings are beutiful! Could you explain me how to put this handwriting?

[Gloria J Zucaro]

Hello Terri, I finally found you by putting your name + blog in Google Chrome. I tried several of the links, but finally on Pinterest I was able to get to this site. I wanted to thank you for your comment on my blog. You have a "no-reply" address, so I couldn't just click on your name. You do wonderful collage work. I was looking through your Pinterest posts before coming here. This is a very interesting technique combining photo with mediums and paint. Did you print the window on photo paper or just computer paper?

[Carolyn Dube]

Stunning! I love how you built the layers and then the window!!!!! Stunning! Did I mention stunning?

[annie!]

Wow...and wow again. This was definitely worth a second look. I really love this. I think...once I get settled...I'm going to use all of your wonderful tutorials and go through them one by one just playing with your techniques to see what I can come up with.