Mixed Media Artist

Welcome to part 3 of our Technique Tuesday series, what the heck to do with tissue paper! There is lots of tissue paper available that is not just plain white! That may be a shock after the last two weeks, where all we looked at and worked with was white tissue, no patterns, no pictures, no nothin’. This week, I want to share a technique with you that is perfect for working with patterned and pictorial tissue, including napkins. If you decide to use napkins, make sure that you have split them down to just a single layer…some of the fancier napkins actually have 3 layers, and it’s easy to miss one. 1. Assemble the materials you’ll need, including a piece of cardstock or watercolor paper to use as your base, patterned tissue paper and/or napkins, liquid acrylic medium, a foam brush, lots of waxed paper, parchment paper, and an iron. I used the piece of black and gold tissue to completely cover my substrate, first spreading a thin layer of acrylic medium and smoothing the tissue over it.

Today we’re going to be looking at how you can use tissue paper to create a paper with inclusions. Your piece will end up looking similar to the handmade papers you can buy with flower parts, bits of text, etc embedded within them. 1. You’re going to need to gather together the items you wish to embed, a sheet of paper to use as a substrate, and some white (or pale colored tissue). Stick down all of your inclusions using liquid acrylic medium. 2. Gently gently gently, apply liquid medium all over your page, including on top of your inclusions. If they are just too delicate for this treatment, you can use spray adhesive instead. But oh, how I hate that stuff! I can never use it without creating a total mess! Anyway, once you’ve got a layer of adhesive down, carefully lay a piece of tissue on top. I like to smooth out most of the wrinkles for this technique, but making it wrinkley like we did last week would give you a whole new set of options. 3. Add any paints that you desire. I prefer

Here is a tissue paper method that works when you want the tissue paper painted in a crinkled style, but not attached to a substrate. Maybe you don’t want the tissue paper as a background, but want to use a thin layer elsewhere in one of your collages. Use freezer paper or waxed paper underneath this piece so that you’ll be able to release it when it dries: 1. Thoroughly crumple the tissue paper. Smooth it out slightly and pour or spray very thinned acrylics (or thin inks, dyes, or other paints) all over the tissue. Let it dry undisturbed. Peel it up carefully and use it as one of your collage layers. 2. I scanned this piece of tissue after it dried and used it in this digital collage called The Boater . Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art ,

There are so many ways that tissue paper can be incorporated into mixed media work that I decided to do a short series on it! Just like with the last series on image transfers , I really hope that you’ll send me pictures to share with everyone of the work you’ve done that incorporates these techniques. And please use the comments section below to share your own tips! We’re going to look at two really simple textured tissue paper backgrounds today. I’m using white tissue, but remember that you can always multiply your options by using colored and patterned tissue as well. 1. Gather your materials. You’ll need liquid acrylic medium (also called polymer medium) in either gloss or matte, your choice. You’ll also need stock paper or watercolor paper, tissue paper, a foam brush and a sponge, and acrylic paints of your choice. 2. Apply a thin coat of medium to the substrate paper. Place a larger piece of tissue on top, and allow it to wrinkle as you adhere it to the medium. You can pretend t

Painted Frame Gather your leftover pieces of fabric trims and bric-a-brac. And don’t forget the ric-rac. Don’t have any? Check the bargin bins at your local fabric or craft store. Don’t buy anything too expensive. I bought this one pricey little piece of trim that had glass pearls sewn to it. Guess which was the only piece of trim that I couldn’t get to work properly? :) 1. I used heavy-weight pellon as the base for my frame, and a sheet of felt to add height to certain areas. Other than that, I just gathered up all the trims and ribbons I had sitting around, paying no attention to their color. 2. Cut out a frame with the appropriate sized opening. Using fabric glue, tack down all of your trims and ribbons. I placed small pieces of felt, sometimes multiple layers, under some areas to raise them. 3. Soak the entire piece with watered down matte acrylic medium . While the piece is still wet, paint with acrylic paints mixed with glazing medium , allowing the colors to run tog