Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Dressing a Paper Doll...and Yourself! Contest Coming Soon to Win a Vintage-Style Dress!

Yes, if you win, the brand new (fabric!) dress will be in your size! Watch this space for the upcoming blog candy and contest rules.

Below is a paper art doll with movable arms and legs, to help get us in the dress-up mood! I embellished her with costume jewelry bits and assorted papers.
mixed media, Paula Guhin
Yes, 1 hand is larger than the other. It's a quirk.
Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you here in a few days when the contest actually begins! It will only be up for a week, so don't miss your chance to win.   --  Paula

Friday, July 26, 2013

ALTERED ARTY HANDBAGS - COLLAGED & PAINTED

You'll have recycling, um, in the bag if you alter worn, unwanted handbags. 

Choose a sturdy leather, faux leather, or hard plastic purse. Vinyl bags may be too soft and yielding, but if you stuff them with newspapers you can re-work them, too!
Choose images and flat (or nearly flat) embellishments. Adhere them with a generous coat of gel medium both under and over the enhancements. Use acrylic paint to make the piece even more interesting. 
altered art

painted purse, art project

























Or make a handbag from almost any vessel. You've seen lunchboxes and baskets used as purses, haven't you? Bags have been fashioned with everything from pop tabs to pillowcases. So put your imagination to work and make a cigar box purse, or devise a handbag from a hollowed-out book or stuffed animal.

Paula Guhin


art blog, mixed media

Sunday, July 21, 2013

OIL PASTEL AS A RESIST WITH WATER-BASED PAINT

Traditional oil pastel (not the water-soluble kind) 
acts as a resist with watercolors, liquid acrylics, 
thinned tempera or gouache.

I used good, smooth watercolor paper and applied the oil pastel heavily in the line design seen below.
art tutorial, how-to
Yup, this is a simple resist demonstration!















Then I washed in some diluted gouache.
resist painting
I added a few white accents later.
Thanks for viewing this post, from the mixed media manic herself!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

A WALLHANGING - COLLAGE

MATERIALS: 

  • Vinyl-covered fabric pieces
  • Vintage images and text
  • Gel medium
  • Acrylic paints and brushes
  • Embellishments (I used a flat wooden number and a rusty keyhole element)
  • A method of hanging the finished piece
  1. I tore some of the edges of the vinyl material and burned some of them, too.
  2. Heavy gel medium joined the background pieces together very well. I allowed that to dry before proceeding.
    how-to, how to, tutorial
    My hanging device is an old pail handle!
  3. Since the background was very white, I scumbled some earthy color onto it.
  4. Next, I selected the collage elements, arranged them to my satisfaction, and adhered them to the background pieces. I also enhanced the piece with a couple of stamped areas. 
    art tute, mixed media
    The finished collage - wallhanging.
    Paula Guhinmixed media

Saturday, July 6, 2013

IN A RUT WITH YOUR ART? HERE'S HOW TO BOOST YOUR CREATIVITY!

If art inspiration just won't strike, use these 
techniques to ignite your imagination, 
motivate yourself, 
fire up some artistic ideas!
  1. Buy some fun art supplies, if you can afford it. Or trade some that you don't use with another artist, exchanging for different materials! Using new and different art materials can get you stirred up and stimulated.
  2. Even if you don't use an art journal, write notes to yourself on anything that moves you or grabs your interest. It's best if you keep the notes together (even in a file folder or a labeled manila envelope). 
  3. Enjoy your art attempts even if they seem to fail. Take chances, and try to have fun and loosen up!
  4. Be receptive. Try to open your mind to novel, offbeat challenges. Attempting to accomplish the unusual is how you will grow as an artist.
  5. See the artist's quotes on creativity and inspiration on Janice Tanton's blog, http://www.janicetantonblog.com/blog/101-quotes-to-inspire-your-artist-mojo
inspiration
MIXED MEDIA MANIC