Amethyst Magic and Frosty Pearl

Hello everybody,

If you haven't had any chance yet to see, how versatile Icing Pastes are, you will be delighted with today's post by Juliya. Her cosmic canvas shines so beautifully! Though Black background makes it a little bit mysterious. Watch her video tutorial to see her techniques for Icing Pastes. Enjoy!

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Hello there, lovely creative friends!

Today I'd like to share with you my inspiration - a mixed media canvas with new Art Extravagance Icing Pastes. I chose three pastes - White Gold, Amethyst Magic, Frosty Pearl.

Amethyst Magic Icing Paste has such a beautiful cosmic color that I decided to make a canvas about our desires and space.

In this work, I used pastes slightly diluted with water. I was curious the effect. I applied them with a brush. Oh, how much they shine!!!! It is a real pleasure to work with these pastes!

I made splashes of White Gold Icing Paste. Wet, beautiful, so hard to stop! )))

After drying, the pastes darken and acquire a beautiful radiance. I also tinted the star. One jar can replace a set! You can apply icing pastes through a stencil, toning with them, making beautiful streams by diluting them with water, drawing ... I am breathless from ideas and possibilities!

I have prepared a video tutorial for you so that you can see the materials. I hope you enjoy viewing!

I believe that the universe listens to us. Our desires and dreams. You just need to understand what is most important for you right now. Focus on what's important. And remember that great things take time.

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store:

Art Extravagance Icing Paste - White Gold 966171
Art Extravagance Icing Paste - Frosty Pearl 966140
Art Extravagance Icing Paste - Amethyst Magic 966218

Art Basics Gels - Video Tutorial and Gel Giveaway!

Hi again my dears!
Do you remember I've promised to make a Live Show explaining how to use my Art Basics Gels and why? So I did... and here is a recording of this video - for you to watch and share... and I'm really counting on you now! I'm getting a lot of questions in my social media and email about "how to use..." or "where to start..." - and I completely get it, mixed-media may be overwhelming... so maybe, if you will help me share this video other artists and crafters will have a better chance to see it and we will all help them create? What do you think? Deal? I'd be so grateful!
But wait!
To say thanks for your help, there is a Gel Giveaway too! Am I Gel crazy, or what?! Check it out below the video!

Would you like to win a set of my gels of your choice (glossy or matte finish)?

Here is your chance!

How? 
Share one (or more) of the Gel InfoGraphics in your social media 
and tell your friends about this tutorial and Giveaway!

Then, if you are lucky, you may be picked as the lucky winner!

Here are 3 InfoGraphics for you to pick and share (yes, you can share all of them):

Rules are simple: 

- leave a comment, telling me where you've shared the InfoGraphics - we really want this tutorial to be visible!

- share the info about the giveaway and video in your social media

- keep your fingers crossed so you will be the lucky one!

Giveaway is open till Sunday 23rd September, 9 pm of Irish Time (BST) for all countries, except the prohibited areas. The lucky winner will be announced next Monday on the blog - so don't forget to check!

Thanks again for all the help with spreading a word about this tutorial - this will help me so much!
Sending best wishes!

“Wonder” Mixed Media Canvas Tutorial

Hello lovelies,

Who doesn't love to look at the starry sky... It is mysterious. It makes us to ask ourselves existential questions. But it also has beena great source of inspiration for artist throughout the ages. Today Sanda shows us how Impasto Paints and Rust Pastes work great together at creating a galaxy.

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“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” -  Stephen Hawking

Hi guys,

I’m back today sharing with you my newest project for the Team, a mixed media canvas, that I hope you’ll enjoy. The inspiration for this canvas came when I read these words written by Stephen Hawking, a while ago and because I was always fascinated by how much beauty our Universe holds and how wonderful our planet looks from the Space, I knew immediately what I’ll create this month… 

I started by applying a generous amount of Finnabair black heavy gesso, covering all of my canvas, including the sides. I dried it completely with a heating tool and then I covered it again, this time with a mixture of black and cobalt Impasto paints to “soften” the harshness of the black gesso. I used about 1 part cobalt to 2 parts black. I dried the canvas again.

For my next step I mixed the same colours again, but this time I added a bit of white Impasto paint to the mix. I used only very old brushes to paint the galaxy as you really need to scrub the paint into the canvas, so don’t use your good brushes as they will get ruined.

I applied my paint with a very light touch at first, as you don’t need big amounts of paint on the canvas.

***In fact, for this technique to work, you need tiny amounts of paint that will be spread (literally scrubbed LOL) onto the canvas, in order to create those masses of gas clouds in the outer space. As you’ll be able to see in my video demonstration, we will be able to create transparent veils of colour, with an almost iridescent luminosity, just by using Impasto paints.***

So, after I applied my paint to the canvas, I started working in a circular motion, adding more and more pressure, trying to spread the paint as far as possible.

With this technique, the paint is drying almost instantly or requests very little drying time, so you can layer other colours on top immediately.

To create luminosity and a glowing effect I added first white paint and then yellow mixed with the tiniest amount of red, every time spreading and scrubbing the paint away from the edge. 

When I was pleased with the result, I filled my canvas with myriads of stars, by splattering diluted white Impasto paint.

When everything was dry, I sketched the Earth and the Moon with a white Polychromos pencil.

I started painting the Earth with some of Finn’s Rust Effect paste (all the colours used are listed below) using a Finnabair dabbing brush, as I wanted to add a bit of texture to the dry land on the planet. For the oceans, I used Cobalt Impasto paint and then, Jade and White for the clouds.

I hope you’ve got inspired by this project and you are ready to try some of these techniques in your artwork.

Here is my video where you can watch my creative process and see the products I used. Enjoy and have fun!

Have a lovely day, my friends,

Sanda xoxo

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store:

"Use your wings" shallow canvas

Hi my sweet friends,

On the northern hemisphere Autumn is coming. Leaves are turning into brown and golden but there are still days, when the skies are blue. This beautiful color combination was used by Bipasha to create the canvas below. On the video you will be able to see step-by-step transformation of white, plain circle into this marvelous, deep ocean themed project.

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For me, an art composition is so much more than just using clever tricks and fancy techniques.I love to think outside the box and create interesting off the page projects with unique shaped bases, coupled with emotions and my personality traits. For this month's project, I was inspired by the quote "Use your wings" to create a rusted deep ocean coral themed project using a shallow paper mache canvas. Its truly amazing how the different rust paste and fantasy rust paste sets can be mixed and matched to create a custom rusted scene! I used the rusted hues in browns, patina and blue powder for my composition along with the impasto paints in the same colour family.

At the very outset, I primed the surface with heavy white gesso to prepare it for further mediums. Once dry, I applied texture crackle paste and paper texture paste simultaneously through a stencil and with a palette knife respectively. Once I was happy with the subtle textures I let it air dry thoroughly and created the composition with assorted metal embellishments layered and adhered using 3D matte gel. I love the way it holds the dimensional elements strongly.

Next, I started with the colours. I used impasto paint in cobalt and jade and occasionally sprayed some water to create a water dripping effect and removed the excess with a wet wipe. Then I added the pumpkin impasto paint to the embellishment followed by highlighting the elements and the surrounding with coordinated rust pastes in browns and blues from the rust paste and fantasy rust paste lines.

Finally I added the powder blue rust paste from the fantasy rust paste set to highlight the details of my composition. I finished my project with diluted white gesso splatter.

The possibilities of these mediums and pastes when combined, are limitless. I hope you are inspired to create your own fantasy scene with these beautiful textured pastes, that becomes an outlet to your emotions infused with your unique personality traits.

Happy crafting!
Bipasha

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store: