“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: