Analogous Color Schemes Are Captivating!

Harmonious, related colors are always gorgeous together.


Take a good look at a 16-point color wheel. Analogous colors are those found immediately next to each other there. They look so pleasing together because they are a family of sorts.



Black, white, gray, and the neutrals such as beige and brown are not found on the color wheel,

but they certainly can be used in an artwork with analogous colors. Some analogous artworks

are done in all warm colors (reds, yellows, and oranges), while others, such as the 

sample below, use cool colors--anything  from violet to green. Or choose a combination

     of related warms and cools, an example of which is red, red-violet, violet, blue-violet, and blue. 

This still life was done with wax crayon and watercolors.

Here are some links to other posts about color schemes: http://mixedmediamanic.blogspot.com/2011/09/looking-for-great-color-scheme-try.html and

http://mixedmediamanic.blogspot.com/2012/08/three-color-schemes-and-contest.html

BLOG CANDY WINNER ANNOUNCED! The follower who won the freebie is...

DONNA! I will be contacting Donna via email and shipping the contest prize as soon as I have her mailing address. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who left comments. Follow this blog for another contest soon, and watch for fresh tutorials, too!

                         Below is an original photograph of mine that I found quite apropos for the upcoming holiday.

Another Valentine for my Followers! A Giveaway Contest

To say thanks to my present and (I hope) future followers, I am drawing a name from all

those followers who leave a comment here,

to receive the mixed media collage/painting shown below. I will mail the framed, signed work as soon as the winner (after Friday, Jan. 28)

emails me their postal address.

Remember, be a follower and you only need to comment once, with this posting, by late Friday of next week!

Paint, Press, and Peel! An Easy Technique to Make a Background.

Altering paper to create interesting backgrounds or collage papers is simple and inexpensive. Use an enhanced sheet as an element in a collage or as a ground on which to create a two-dimensional work of art. It can also serve as a mat: Place it between a sturdy support and a piece of artwork, or cut a window and place it on top.
Below you’ll find a tried ‘n’ true tutorial for creating a striking effect on paper.


1. Select vintage papers you don't value too much, scrap sheets, or even newspaper pages.


2. Paint acrylics randomly and heavily here and there onto one sheet of paper. Quickly mix and blend colors as desired, using whatever tool you wish. Leave some of the paint thicker in places.

3. While the paint is still wet, press the first piece of paper into it and lift. Instant texture!
4. Try smaller pieces of paper lifted in different directions to produce variety. Keep pressing and lifting more papers until the desired effects are no longer produced.

(Some of you will think my examples look just plain messy, and I would have to agree with you! However, I do plan to use them, changed, as elements in other artworks.)

Free to a Commenting Follower

Remember my freebie (previous post) to be given to a follower who leaves a comment? If you've already done so below, great! Your name is already in the hat. But if you haven't yet and still want a chance to win the blog candy (Romance, frame and all), please leave a comment here. The random drawing will take place Saturday, January 15. Winner announced then!

New Top 10 List, Don't You Hate It When...

Not blogging about mixed art media this time, folks. But I hope you'll read it anyway!

1. The checkout person at the register not only doesn't count your change back to you, but also puts the coins on top of the bills? Or is that just me?
2. You keep waiting for the pepper to come out of the shaker when you've been vigorously salting your food all along?
3. When a grown man calls broccoli "that green stuff"? And cauliflower "that white stuff."
4. School teachers earn less than nearly any other professional?
5. You hear "Cold enough for you?" for the umpteenth time in a single day.
6. Companies send you bills without return envelopes?
7. Misspelled words in expensive magazines? Where are the copy editors?
8. When someone says to you, "Cheer up," and you're already perfectly happy.
9. When you're talking with someone who keeps rubbing his nose until you finally HAVE to ask if you have a booger yourself?
10. Someone leaves the grocery store with ten plastic bagsful in their cart. Don't they KNOW about reuseable tote bags?