Lately I have been venturing into the world of mixed media faces. I love the layering effect you can get building up layers of paper, paint and pens. It’s also a great way to use up all those art supplies you may not normally use. I decided it was time to create a version of myself. With each piece I do there is a little bit of me in it. Well, to be truthful, there is a lot of me in this one! I’m going to walk you through the process so you can see exactly how I created her/me.
These are the supplies I used.
– 7×10” piece 140lb. Canson Watercolor paper, gesso, mod podge, dual tip Tombow pens, black PN pigma pen, watercolor paints, torn book pages, gelli printed paper, white uniball gel pen, pencil, red acrylic paint, Carandache watersoluble wax crayons
The first step to creating a wacky face like this is, I draw it out with my non dominant hand. I don’t have any control so the features come out quite funny! I really enjoy this part, and I can let go of my perfection!!
The next step is to add in some color using watercolor paint. To make things a little easier for myself, I use my PN pigma pen to draw over my pencil lines. I do this kind of sketchy and add more than one line. After this, I add in color using my watercolor paints on her face and neck and Tombow pens on her hair. The shadows on her face and neck are done using paynes grey watercolor paint.
The next step is to add some clothing. I do this with my gelli plate papers. I trace over the area I want to fill in such as her shirt. Then I put the tracing paper onto my gelli plate paper and transfer the shape, cut it out and mod podge it to my paper. Then I take my torn book pages and mod podge these on randomly around the page.
Next I gesso over top in various areas. I use a scraper to apply my gesso. My scraper is just a 2×3” piece of cut up mat board. While my gesso is still wet, I can write into it using my pencil. I write my feelings that I need to release into the gesso.
After the gesso has dried, I get really creative with how I color my page. I use a variety of watercolor paints and my watersoluble Carandache wax crayons. I also added more Tombow pen work to her hair and some red acrylic paint using this weird brush I have in my studio. After everything is dry, my next step is to add in my glasses and hair bow using the same gelli printed paper. The very last thing I do is add the lettering. I did this using my black Tombow pen. I even added a little hairy mole using my pencil!
I never have a plan of how I want it to turn out. I use my intuition along the way. At the very end when I add in my lettering, a phrase will come into my head and it’s the phrase that wants to be put on the page. I honour my intuition by writing down what it’s telling me. Creating these mixed media girls gives me a real sense of satisfaction. What I really like about the process is, it’s a way for me to express my feelings into a piece of art.
If you would like to see more of my mixed media girls, you can follow me on Instagram @artgalsal.
