Mixed Media Painting

As human beings evolve, following age-old evolution patterns and creating newer ones, so does art. Each new technology evokes in its wake, an artistic or creative urge to experiment- to mix, mold, malleate, to metamorphose different mediums into a union of brilliance. Mixed media artworks combine ink, cloth, wood, acrylics, oil paints, cement, pencils, watercolors, charcoal etc. to produce a piece that sings as a symphony of mediums and hues. In visual art, mixed media combines all these different mediums to enhance the multiplicity of their artistic voices, whereas in non-visual art mixed media combines audio, performance and other multimedia formats to showcase the potency of a multilayered art piece. Pablo Picasso’s Cubist influences and Dadaist art movements constantly seek to challenge and call out the inadequacy of the material at hand to portray current emotions and thoughts. This avant-garde style arises out of the need to express the force that can hardly be painted; it attaches with itself, a need to announce.

The subtle collaging of material, with hints of pastiche, quotation, and the literary citational method- it is a call to re-discover and as Ezra Pound put it- ‘make new’ with the devices present at hand. Eileen Agar’s ‘Angel of Anarchy’ remains a monumental mixed-media piece and the idea of painting over and together- scrapbooking and refurbishing gains center-space in this medium. Mixed media is closely related to other forms of art such as assemblage and collage. Assemblage is a 3-dimensional technique in sculpture, in which objects are “assembled” together in a strange and unique way. Collage involves the rearrangement of pre-existing items, such as cut-out paper of all kinds (newspaper attachments, gift wrapping, old book pages, stamps, cardboard, etc.), and various other small items attached to the surface of paper, cloth, or wood. Normally, mixed media can include 3-dimensional objects and objects such as cut-out paper as well as artwork that often combines (or blends) media, such as acrylics, oils, crayons, pencils, etc.

Mixed media is fun to explore because it can take many forms; the search can go on forever. With mixed media, anything goes. However, artists will need to take common safety precautions, such as making sure the foundation (base layer) is strong enough to accommodate anything you throw on it without bending or breaking. Some artists also do patch tests to see how different media interact, and to formulate how the desired result can be achieved. For example, applying ink over watercolor will have a very different look than water color applied to charcoal and acrylics on cloth will differ from acrylics with charcoal. By using a combination of media in one work of art, millions of combinations and creative energies can be explored and transformed into existence. ‘The Fall of Icarus’ by Henri Matisse and ‘Mama, Mummy and Mamma (Predecessors #2)’ by Njideka Akunyili Crosby remain popular stylistic examples of the enigmatic mixed-media works, which continually enchant and entrap their spectators. Novel and idiosyncratic, this medium truly goes the extra mile in creativity. mixed media painting, mixed media art painting, best mixed media art painting, buy mixed media painting