Modern Mixed Media Art

The origins of mixed media painting are in the late Victorian years from around 1870 to 1914, referred to as “La Belle Epoque.” Translated from the French, this basically means “the beautiful age,” or “the gilded age.” Fast advances in science, technology as well as loosening social mores influenced artists of the time to explore unknown waters of creative expression. As a result, the arts underwent a radical transformation. Completely new, progressive styles such as Impressionism and Art Nouveau began to cross over from the underground avant-garde to the mainstream.

In the visual arts, a mixed media painting is a work of art which employs multiple material. A good example might be a collage that has paint, seashells, and also bird down. A fairly popular technique for painters is mixing oil, watercolour and acrylic paints to a single painting. Practically any mixture can be used, confined only by the artists’ imagination as well as available materials. A collage has multiple design layers, each created from a different medium. An artist can make use of any kind of medium he or she wants, but paper, pencil, marker, as well as pen are often utilized in a mixed media collage. These collages can possibly be 2D display art, like a painting on a canvas or a page in a scrapbook, or a 3D sculpture.

Another variation of contemporary mixed media painting is combining paint with other paper media including pen-and-ink drawings. Advances in technology also make it less difficult for today’s artists to combine traditional printmaking techniques with digital photography or images. Multimedia art, an associated form, was influenced by mixed media painting. Multimedia art differs from mixed media in that non visual elements may be used. A good example might be combining recorded songs, dance and spoken word poetry into a single work. The various art materials being utilized by artists vary from the conventional to the imaginative. Oil- and water-based paints are frequently utilized in artwork together with ink, pastels, and pencils. In keeping with the non traditional aspect of this art, wide variety of things is utilized in mixed media sculpture and collage art. Modern-day artists have been recognized to utilize string, buttons, newspaper clippings, and bits of glass or metal into their art installations.

Mixed media is normally created in layers. The artist chooses every layer carefully and allows sufficient time for every layer to dry properly. Discovered materials such as bottle caps, matchbooks, or stones are sometimes employed for effect. Bits of jewelry, mismatched buttons, pencils, bolts, cereal boxes, screws and nails might give some additional visual colour as well as interest. Use of these kinds of elements in a painting can provide brand new meaning to such somewhat unimportant elements. This technique adds much more texture and even depth to the work.

Only the creativity restricts a mixed media work of art. A few artists work only with all-natural substances to send an earth-friendly message. Recycled items are usually used in art projects, allowing artists to convey their imagination by repurposing everyday objects as well as used objects. Metal cans, plastic containers, and locally made materials may help tell a specific story through art.