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Breaking Free - a mixed media painting tutorial

Breaking Free
Cyndi Lavin, 2017

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The batik texture in the background of this painting was achieved by the use of a humble kitchen product...waxed paper!



I crumbled the paper to give it cracks, painted it with black ink, and then wiped off most of it before it had a chance to dry.  I found that non-waterproof ink works best for this because the hard core India ink won't wipe off properly.  Let it dry thoroughly and iron it flat before attaching it to your substrate.


I used very diluted acrylic paints to create a watercolor-like background.  Here is a closeup of a small section, showing the ink lines that I added on top as well.  For these lines, I used waterproof ink instead of the non-waterproof.  Yes, it really is worthwhile having both!


I used both paper and resist to mask off areas that would remain bright.  I used slightly tinted white gesso with a small foam roller, but left it translucent enough to allow the colors below to barely show through.


After I removed the mask and the resist, I added a few more ink lines to integrate the background and the subject.

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Copyright 2017 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Comments

Robbie said…
Cyndi, this is a wonderful piece!!!! Love it!!!! Thanks for your step by step!!!!