GORGEOUS ARTWORKS BY GUEST BLOGGER CHRIS MARSHALL, PAINTER - COLLAGE ARTIST

(Note from Paula, the original Mixed Media Manic: ) I'll just quickly introduce my guest blogster and then get out of the way! I "met" her on LinkedIn, where she is an enormously  supportive and encouraging presence. Chris Marshall is mad about color (or, as Chris puts it, "colour") and texture. She lives in Perth, Western Australia, with her artist/photographer husband and teammate, Steve, with whom she partners in their business, Marshall Arts. In addition, she coordinates an art centre and gallery! Chris works in acrylics, watercolors, pen, mixed media and the digital arts and maintains a sensational website at www.marshallarts.com.au   Now here's Chris!

Hi, everyone! I’m a mixed media / collage and digital artist and I have fun with my art. I work totally intuitively, love to experiment and let my art come from deep within me so every artwork has something of me in it. I love looking at all types of art but when it comes to my own art, I'm happy in my own skin. That is, I don't aspire to be like anyone else and I don't like being labelled or put in a box. 

Blue Mountains Odyssey, by Chris Marshall, features
texture made from tickets, brochures and other  info collected on  holiday.

I just LOVE mixing my media and creating something intriguing out of often unrelated materials and objects. I work on paper (heavy watercolour paper, 638gsm with a rough surface), canvas or board. I work totally intuitively, sometimes starting with an artwork in mind (eg Blue Mountains Odyssey, above); sometimes inspired by something I find (eg Out of the Blues, below); sometimes I just play with materials and/or a technique and see what happens (eg Absorbed and a Hint of Autumn); and other times I’m totally inspired by the feel of a place that I have been, like Intriguing Wetlands and my Ningaloo series. 

Out of the Blues, which began on an impulse when I picked up a second-hand scarf for $2.
because I was so taken with the beautiful colors.

As watercolours was the first medium that I used, I like washy looking backgrounds and the magic that happens when the wet liquids of different viscosities combine; I often start that way, mixing watercolours, acrylic paints and inks, sometimes also using a light modelling compound in the background. I also often use fabrics of different textures in my surface treatment.                                                                                                                       

I don't have a plan for the finished work but I do go rather zen and let the artwork lead me where it wants to go. I often turn the work in all four directions and work on it from all four angles. Sometimes I work on the painting thinking that it will be that way up, but then turn it around and it heads off in a completely different direction! I find this way of working wonderfully exciting and very creative. Sometimes I am amazed by the finished artwork, wondering where on earth that came from.

Absorbed,  Japanese papers collaged onto a heavy watercolour
paper (rough surface),then caran d'ache crayons on top.

A Hint of Autumn,  started by blowing watercolours
around with a straw! Again it uses Japanes papers then wooden
 buttons, dyed fish scales, threads and other bits and bobs.

I do sometimes use words in my collages but tend to bury them in the artwork so they are not obvious. I generally use impasto gel as my "glue" but usually bleed in some colour while still wet so the added piece sort of emerges from the background.

I do like the finished piece to have unity. I personally don’t like the sort of stuck- on look, so wherever the journey of my artwork takes me, I bring it all back together either with colour, with my penwork or with painted marks and repeated patterns so that everything looks as though it belongs.

Intriguing Wetlands, below, is inspired by the reflections, the stillness, the birdlife of the wetlands....the washy acrylic and ink background with twigs and leaves,  coloured wool, combed out staples of wool that Spinners use (here representing bird life),  a bit of jewellery, some paua shell, some green netting. Throughout I try to match and echo the colours so that you have to look really closely to work out what is part of the background and what is foreground, what is painted and what is a collaged. I'm trying to capture the look and feel of the wetlands when you stare into the water and can't work out what is above the water, what is under the water and what is a reflection.

Intriguing Wetlands by Chris Marshall

Ningaloo IX, Hidden Depths, the latest in a series.

Detail of Ningaloo IX, below, shows the dyed fish scales, bits of orange bag

(the white bits are where gesso has been dribbled through the orange bag and allowed to find its own path). There is also some shredded japanese paper  which has fantastic fibery threads. As you can tell, I often use different japanese papers, especially those with long fibres. Some of them go quite transparent when you stick them on so that all you see afterwards are the individual fibres. Fantastic!

Detail of Chris Marshall's Ningaloo IX

Thanks to Paula for giving me this opportunity to share my passion for mixed media/collage with you. - Cheers, Chris M.

DIMENSIONAL MIXED-MEDIA COLLAGE/PAINTING

Hollow Forms Protrude Into Space

Extend your formerly flat work into the third dimension! Add more depth to your collages by building outward or upward! If you have primarily worked with two-dimensional collage or painting, you may find it easy to expand into bas-relief (low relief). Heavy foil can be rolled, crumpled, creased, and pleated. Or score and bend heavy, thick paper for dimensional effects! 

This work (below) with found objects and scrap materials, portrays my emotions about our dirty air and spoiled environment. The dimensional "smoke-stack-like" forms were made with bits of aluminum tape. They might remind you of volcanoes! I also adhered gritty pieces of flat elements I found at roadside, and used acrylic paint. The title is Industrial Revolution. 

(I suppose some of you will see a face in it, with a red nose!) Feedback is welcome.

Difficult to see here, but the dark "holes" are surrounded by protruding forms!

PLAYING WITH PAPERS AND PICTURES - Altered Art Mixed Media Techniques

Let's Color, Kids!

Altering papers and printed images to use in collage is easy: Stain, paint, tear, stitch, dye, burn, bleach, or scratch them for effect. Of course you can create dimensional paper, too, by folding, pleating, crumpling, and more.


Rolled, crumpled, creased, pleated, scored.



 


Strong coffee, wet tea leaves, walnut crystals, alcohol ink.

 
















                                                                                                          
Tip:   I saturate papers with rubbing alcohol before applying alcohol inks. Then I immediately soften and spread the ink with a brush or piece of felt dipped in rubbing alcohol.


The finished papers after colorizing them.

Alter lab-processed photographs with laundry bleach. This is not an archival technique, but it's fun! Try a gel bleach pen or a cotton swab dipped in liquid bleach. Apply it selectively to lift areas of color. When you've achieved the desired effect, rinse the print under lukewarm tap water and blot dry with a lint-free cloth. (Note that some papers and pigments resist bleaching action. Also, take all the necessary health precautions when working with bleach.)
 

Bleached spots at left, scratched selectively at right.


Abrading a surface lends an aged, distressed appearance. To scratch the emulsion of a commercially-processed photograph, soften it in a tray of warm water for a minute. Blot it on a hard, flat surface and scrape away with a large needle, nail, or other scratch tool. Sandpaper removes large areas quickly. The light-colored marks show up best in dark areas of the photo.

And finally, do try this: Décollage is an art term that refers to a cutting and tearing technique based on the appearance of layered posters on billboards. The result leaves shredded papers, revealing portions of the images and text underneath.


Decollage example

Heritage Art & Collage/Paintings

Old photos, especially portraits, have a way of capturing the imagination. In this post you'll find four artworks using vintage portrait imagery along with paint, art papers, text, shallow objects, and more.

Scruffy old paint brushes were incorporated!

While I love bright colors, sometimes only muted ones will do. 

The example below just cried for soft, neutral tones.                           



A rusty baking pan (sealed) served as the substrate & frame.



       

Collage/Paintings by P. Guhin

(Tactful feedback is appreciated.)

HOW TO MAKE A COLLAGRAPH PRINTING PLATE

A printmaking plate can be created much 

as is a collage, by gluing relatively 

flat materials to a surface. 

The resulting prints are called collagraphs. 

The basic principle behind a collagraph 

is that of relief printing.

Some artists distinguish between a "collage relief print" and a collagraph, the latter of which is then termed an intaglio print. (If the collaged plate is inked up and then wiped of most of the ink on its uppermost surfaces, it is then run through an etching press with dampened paper. Recessed areas or indentations in the plate hold the ink and thus print on the paper.) Some printmakers combine both methods, intaglio wiping and rolling surface color onto the plate.

For our purposes, we'll refer to collage relief prints as collagraphs. Materials with different surfaces and textures are assembled on a flat base (called the plate). The base is often made of Masonite, wood, sheet metal, or heavy cardboard. Objects in low relief are first glued to the rigid backing. The heights of the various materials should be somewhat similar--there shouldn't be too much difference in elevation. Put down newspapers or plastic to shield the work area.

Simple collagraph printing plate before being inked up and used.

Possible Materials for Collagraphs:

Woven fabric
Lace
Doilies
Rickrack
Embroidery
Braid
Buttons
Toothpicks
Clock parts
Gaskets
Sandpaper
Coins
Textured wallpaper
String
Feathers
Washers
Flat rubber pieces
Mesh
Corrugated cardboard
Screening
Flattened plants

When the glue is dry, you can make the printing plate more long-lasting
with a coat of gesso, varnish, or acrylic medium. (Varnish is a protectant,
usually clear, that may also affect the sheen of the surface.)

When the sealant has cured, select a soft but strong printing paper.                                         

Printing the Relief Plate: 
Water-based block printing ink cleans up easily later. Squeeze ink onto a glass slab and smooth it out with a brayer. Ink up all the raised areas on the collagraph plate evenly with a brayer (an ink roller) . Varied heights require careful inking. If you miss any areas, try daubing ink on the printing surface with a brush or a piece of felt.
Quickly place a clean sheet of printing paper on the inked surface. If the paper is thin, cover it with another sheet of paper before you begin rubbing. Press over it with your fingers and the flat of your hand, gently rubbing to transfer the ink to the paper. Take care to keep from tearing the printing paper. Finish by rolling a clean brayer over the paper with as much pressure as possible without damaging the paper. Peel the paper carefully from the plate and set aside (or hang it up) to dry.

The printing plate is usually, but not always, re-inked for each impression. Sometimes enough ink remains on the plate that another print, a "ghost" image, can be made.

Variations include making a multi-colored print by inking up various parts of the plate in different colors, or printing only some elements separately on the same sheet of paper. You can even add more color by hand after the print is dry! 

The same plate was printed 4 times on one paper.

(For an interesting and unusual result, overprint several different collagraph plates to create a single artwork on the same sheet of paper.)

THREE MIXED-MEDIA COLLAGES & A WINNER ANNOUNCED!

Last week's giveaway contest was won by Scrapper Jude, whose name was randomly selected. Congrats to the winner, who will receive a brand new copy of the Creative Painting book! 

Art Book Prize

Scrapper Jude, please privately contact me with your postal mailing address. And my thanks go to everyone else who participated, too. Please watch for another freebie contest in a future post.




THREE COLLAGES WITH NATURAL OR FOUND MATERIALS

The first, below, includes a vintage book page, a real feather, and a piece of natural bone. I also added acrylic paint and a transfer.

Injurious Insects, 9 x 12" by P. Guhin

This piece, with a "flying" theme, also uses bird's feathers, images, and acrylics. I incorporated fibers as well.

Original collage/painting

>

Finally, the collage/painting below is the most dimensional of the three, and the most textured.
I added gritty fillers to acrylic mediums, and found pieces of roadside trash with which to build up key areas.

9 x 13"

It's a non-objective work that I sealed with matte medium.

GIVEAWAY - BLOG CANDY CONTEST - FREEBIE FOR A FOLLOWER!

(This contest is now closed, but there will be others!)
I appreciate my followers and want to reward such loyalty with an art book, brand new, to the one whose name is drawn at random when the contest ends.

This big, beautiful freebie is for a follower of this blog, so if you must sign up now to qualify, please do! It's my hope that you stay with me for future giveaways, too. 

This art book includes all the major paint media!

All the usual rules apply: Leave a comment below, at this post. If you win, you must privately send me your postal address within a reasonable time. I will not use the address for any purpose other than to send you the book. I will announce the winner's name in a future post, likely between March 30-April 1, 2013. Thanks in advance for participating!