Category Archives: Mixed Media

Day 10, 11 & 12 Of February’s 30

Day 10, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 10, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 11, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 11, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 12, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 12, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Trio, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Trio, Mixed Media on 6 x 6 Cradled Board. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Paper, matte medium, board. Paint, grass, stems, sky, flowers. Details, pen, puffy paint, watercolor crayon, more paint.

I was not planning for them to be hung side by side. I did not plan ahead. Haha. The grass and stems are crinkled paper, I added dry watercolor crayon to add interest there.

I went too dark with the teal, a new brand of paint for me. When it dried I sanded some of it off. The lettering was still hidden, so I used a pen to accent it. I decided to do the orange flowers as well, even though it was showing through a bit better. The white centers and some of the black dots are puffy paint.

I am calling them done for now. I need to move on. But they look too flat to me. I should add some texture or smudging to the sky. And a few leaves would help as well. There is a texture from previous layers, these are recycled boards. Thought about adding puffy swirls to the sky, haha. Not quite sure I could pull it off. Stressed big time over the teeny tiny birds. Hahaha. Open to suggestions. 🙂

Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons.
Al Hirschfeld

Digital Play For Day 6

Trimmed Edge, Day 6, Acrylic on 6 x 6 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Trimmed Edge, Day 6, Acrylic on 6 x 6 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

I worked on days 4, 5, and 6 at the same sitting. It was late, and when I ran out of some of the paint colors on my palette, I made some marks with the knife and left it to dry overnight. The first layers are below.

First Layers, Day 6, Acrylic on 6 x 6 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
First Layers, Day 6, Acrylic on 6 x 6 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Coming back to it, I added more cream and more of the soft earth tone. Again with the knife. I was not successful in creating an interesting texture, so I played, and played, just filling the paper with paint.

I scanned it. and thought about cutting it down. Finding an interesting section, and cropping it into a new piece of art. Or maybe cutting into long strips, and creating a triptych.

Played some more, made moons. There was a round shape on the right that inspired me. The moons are on their own transparent layer. Clipped top and bottom to fit the canvas.

Moons, Digital.
Moons, Digital.

Decided they needed separation from the jumbled background layer. Added shadow shapes. I had to erase part of this shape, the moons are semi-transparent. I left them that way to show some of the texture from underneath.

Moon Shadows, Digital.
Moon Shadows, Digital.

I copied a section from the background layer and pasted it strategically. The moons needed separation from the areas of the same moon color in the painting. I erased as needed so the edges could not be seen, then I blurred the edges, so they were even less noticeable. This is quick and easy, for this piece of “play”. I would do it differently for a more intentional piece of art.

Taupe Warmth, Digital.
Taupe Warmth, Digital.

On the first day of painting, I taped down the papers. The second day on this one, I had already taken the tape off. It left a messy edge, that I kinda like. This all was just for color play after all. Haha.

Finally, I thought why not add some birds to the mix. Another PNG, transparent layer. I added a color overlay to the black birds, it was just too harsh. A deeper shade of the moon shadows was just right.

Rough Edge, Day 6, Acrylic on 6 x 6 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Rough Edge, Day 6, Acrylic on 6 x 6 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

If you have four minutes to kill, there is a video here that talks about working with layers in Photoshop. There are several short videos that break it down. Sort of a digital collage. LOL. Yes, I am thinking of you Nelvia McGrath! And Sea Dean! Haha.

See what you can do with your daring with color
and your ignorance mixed with it.
Charles Webster Hawthorne,
American Painter, 1872-1930

Day Three, Oh My, Oh Me!

Day 3, Mixed Media on 8 x 8 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 3, Mixed Media on 8 x 8 Paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

I plumb forgot the pot. I made a mental note that I needed to add it back in. But I didn’t remember until the final check. Duh. I couldn’t decide on a color to use to fill the pot, so I just left it. I like it. The bump in the pot is a pure mistake. But I decided to leave that in too. Haha.

The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed.
Right at the top, if you make enough of them,
it’s considered to be your style.
Fred Astaire