TONKING AND MIXED MEDIA

Tonking : Sounds a bit erotic, doesn’t it? 

But I used the technique to create painted

paper for a mixed-media work. 

Mashing paper onto an overworked painting is a way to remove excess paint (usually oils). But I was painting over an old canvas and wanted papers to add as collage, so I applied acrylics to the substrate heavily and “tonked” before they were completely dry.

The paper pulloff was rather nice (a monoprint) in itself, but I tore pieces to add to the substrate.

The finished collage - painting.

Oil painters often use plain newsprint for tonking, but do try papers with text, too!
(My tonking paper for this project was white drawing paper.) I love that word: Tonking!
I also stamped the canvas in a few places and added depth by painting a shadow effect to some shapes.