Steampunk

Poppy capsules mixed media

Angela PorterLeave a comment

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I’ve decided to do my best to be brave and confident and use my own drawings and designs in my mixed media work.  The poppy seed heads and the ‘zentangle’ patterns are drawn by myself.

The inchie with the quote on – creative journey – is milky as the Glossy Accents on the tile hasn’t dried yet, but it will dry clear and glossy.

Here’s a list of the media I used:

  • Papers – 300gsm watercolour paper, cream paper for pencil and pastel work, marker paper, kraft card, mixed media paper
  • Paints – Paperartsy Fresco paints, Liquitex copper paint, Cosmic Shimmer copper iridescent watercolour paint
  • Pens and pencils – Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens, Derwent Inktense
  • Leafy and flower stencils
  • Sizzix Big Shot and dies for cutting some of the gears and an embossing folder to add texture to one of the background papers
  • Metal gears and keys
  • Glossy Accents
  • Cosmic Shimmer acrylic glue
  • Archival Ink in black and sepia
  • Distress inks
  • Spray bottles – one filled with plain water, the other filled with water and copper Perfect Pearl
  • Gems
  • Wow Holographic Sparkle embossing powder and a Versamark pen
  • Cut and dry foam
  • Various brushes

Romanesque bird ‘punked mixed media

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I’ve come to a standstill on this one.  I don’t think it’s finished but I don’t know what is missing.

The focal point is a small sketch I did of a Romanesque bird; I used coloured pencils on coloured paper followed by Pitt Artist pen.  I also ‘distressed’ it with Distress Inks and water spray.  It is a very, very sketchy drawing, but I feel I need to be a bit more confident in using my own drawings/art in such mixed media art.

I just don’t know what else this needs, though.  I’ve tried out the idea of using wire spirals wrapped with finer wire and beads, and that doesn’t feel it would work, not unless it’s one of the first things I make and use.  Flowers don’t work, neither does foliage…

So, I’ll leave it be for a while and come back to it at a later time…sometimes that’s the best thing to do.

Flowerpunked

Angela Porter2 Comments

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This is todays mixed media creation (approx 5.25″ x 11.5″.  I think ‘Flowerpunked’ is a good name for it, or for the series of works like this.

I found a way to lift the flowers up so they have more dimension; wish I’d thought of that when I was adding the cogs., still there’s always the next one!  It’s all a learning process – it never ends!  I also think the stenciled patterns on the background are a bit dark and heavy … and just didn’t quite know what to do about them at the time as I didn’t want to lose the pretty background colours/patterns I’d already created.

Two completed mixed media pieces

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Unnamed mixed media work in progress

Angela PorterLeave a comment

I’ve been working on this project over the past three or so days.  It’s not finished, far from it I think.  I’m having to take a break from it to let the glue that I’ve used to stick some metal embellishments to it cure.

I’ve tried to take photos that show how the cogs and foliage look almost verdigris from one aspect, yet metallic from another.  The paper I’m working on is A3-ish in size; I’ve used 300gsm watercolour paper as the substrate – it’s sturdy and doesn’t warp too much when water and water-based media are used on it, or when heat is used to speedily dry each layer as they are added.

I know I want to add some gems to the cogs (gotta have sparkle!), I may add some flowers, maybe not.  I do need to add shadows too.  I’m not sure if I’m going to add some kind of quote up in the top right corner or whether I’ll just leave it as it is.

More mixed media

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I’m really enjoying this, perhaps a bit too much as I’m not focusing on what, perhaps, needs focusing on. However, it is true that a change is as good as a rest!

It’s a nightmare trying to photograph these pieces of artwork as they are so metallic and iridescent, but hopefully you’ll get a fairly good idea.  I’ve tried to scan them, and for the ATCs it’s a no go, and the scan of the other image isn’t any better than the photo.

The ATCs have been so much fun to do, especially as I’ve been collaging and playing with texture, and gears…gotta try a little steampunk-ish type stuff every now and again!

Media used :

  • Distress oxide inks
  • Die cuts of gears and snowflakes
  • Ranger Gloss Multi-medium
  • Tim Holtz’s collage medium, matte
  • Perfect pearls
  • Imagination Crafts Rusty Patina
  • PaperArtsy Fresco paints
  • Posca paint pens
  • Liquitex and Pebeo iridescent and metallic paints
  • Various gems, glues, papers