Description
EXPLORING MIXED MEDIA PAINTING:
A Nature-Inspired Class
Instructor: Melissa Gannon. Oct 6, 13, 20
Allow your inner artist out to play in this mixed media class. Using fall leaves as the main theme, you will create your own unique designs. Students will learn to layer color, collage papers, acrylic paint, acrylic ink, granulation medium, stamping, scraping, and more. Melissa will discuss design, value, and color concepts; and talk about complementary colors (students will do a complementary color exercise). We’ll cover the use of thumbnails for exploring layouts and Melissa will demo various techniques for applying layers to achieve interesting texture and depth of color. Please note that the images shown are only one way to make a design. This class will give you the tools to create unique artwork using your intuition. It will add to your design skills and further your knowledge of mixing different media to create something unique to you. Students will work at their own pace.
Class 1: Leaves. Students will bring a variety of leaves and we’ll experiment with designing, layering, and exploring mixed media.
Class 2: More Leaves and a Bird. Students will bring leaves and a reference photo of a bird. Melissa will bring a Song Sparrow reference photo (it will look different that the Golden-crowned Sparrow in the example).
Class 3: More Leaves and a River. We will talk about creating a design that suggests a river in the background.
Artist Bio Melissa enjoys painting nature. Her inspiration comes from travel, hiking, and exploring her local area, the great Northwest. She works in watercolor, acrylic, and oil. “There’s a fascinating complexity in the weeds overlooking the river, or in the interlacing branches of trees. Through layering of both color and texture I seek to show this in my work.” Along with creating art, Melissa shares her skills and knowledge through teaching classes and workshops in watercolor, acrylic and mixed media. Visit her website at: www.melissagannon.com.
Supply List:
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- Leaves (fresh leaves work best for texture).
- Surface Watercolor paper or canvas, at least 12” x 12” (This is a process that takes time and thought – if you only work on one project, that’s fine.)
- Acrylic inks: brown, blue, magenta or red, yellow (These are very fluid. Daler Rowney and Liquitex make them. If you don’t have inks, you can use fluid acrylics or thinned acrylic paint.
- Granulation medium if desired for granulating effects.
- Acrylic paints Suggested colors: Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Turquoise (Phthalo), Quinacridone Red, Alizarin Crimson, Mars Black, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue, Benzimidazolone Yellow Light (or some kind of Lemon Yellow) or bring any colors that you have: basically red, yellow and blue.
- Saran wrap, wax paper or parchment paper to create textures.
- Collage papers (I use thin rice papers).
- Gel medium for attaching collage (I use gloss).
- Airbrush medium or glazing medium to thin paint (you can also use water).
- Paper towels and/or wipes for cleaning hands and brushes.
- Container with lid for paint water.
- Brushes 1/2” flat brush or 1/2” angled flat brush for applying paint and gel medium.
- Wedge shaped cosmetic sponges.
- Easel if you prefer to work vertically.
- Palette Paper plates for palette.
- Stabillo pencil or piece of chalk pastel to draw with (the guild has pastels you may borrow).
- Tracing paper
- Pen or pencil
- Scissors to draw and cut out shapes (could come in handy for adding a bird).
- Extra paper or sketchbook to use for color mixing, thumbnails, small color exercises.
- Bowl scraper (optional) for applying gel medium.
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