Mixed Media

from the "In Search of the Superlative Horse" series

30" x 22"

Mixed Media 

on Paper

$1500.00

I love making art and all that goes along with it. This means that my studio is a virtual archive of every art supply shop I have ever entered and every supply catalogue I have ever browsed. So it seems only fitting that I would create quite a lot of mixed media art.

I love the weight and the feel of Saunders Waterford Watercolour paper. It's still made in England, and although I've never been and seen this for myself, I've been told it's being made the same way it's been made for 100's of years. Anyway, it's lovely paper and I always start is with a whole sheet. I lay down a sheet of paper and mist it with water. Once it is damp I apply a veil of watercolour. While it is still damp I may throw a handful of salt or lay cling film over it to create a pattern. I repeat this process until I think it is ready for to be drawn upon.

When I draw I use a variety of pencils and pen & ink. Ink is amazing stuff. Waterproof or not, some made with shellacs, some made the same way for centuries. All have different qualities and react quite differently. One of their virtues is that I can't control them.

And so I draw. The surface of the paper helps me to decide what to draw and where. Once the drawing  starts I will bounce back and forth between it and more watercolour.

At some point I start adding bits of paper, acrylic lifts, and or 23 karat gold leaf. The gold leaf needs to be of a high karat so that it will not tarnish, which in itself would not be a bad thing, it is just that the change in color would effect the balance and intent of the painting. The gold comes in a variety of colours too, ranging from a deep reddish gold to a pale almost silver.

I sometime work on a painting for several days, sometimes several weeks. I work on different paintings at the same time so there is no way for me to ever know exactly how long each one took to create.

This painting is the result of just such a process.