Learn from these masters of mixed media. All of these artists use mixed media to create very different effects and paint different subjects. I've chosen 4 artists that not only use mixed media in AMAZING ways, but ones that have inspired so many up-and-coming artists.
For developing your own mixed media art style, have a further look at these artist's work, the media they use and experiment with their ideas in your sketchbook. Do any of their styles or use of mixed media strike a cord with you?
PICASSO
1881 to 1973
Pablo Picasso was born and raised in Spain but spent most of his adult life working as an artist in France. He and Georges Braque together created the celebrated Cubist movement. Subjects and objects in Cubism are broken up into pieces and re-arranged in an abstract form - often a practice used by mixed media artists. They began to use media in ways that artists had never explored before.
Media he used often: Oil paint, pencil, ink, pastel, waste material, bronze, plaster, ceramics, wire.
GEORGES BRAQUE
1882 to 1963
Georges Braque was a French artist that dabbled with many styles, including Impressionism, but is well known for co-founding Cubism with Picasso. Both Picasso and Braque also began to incorporate elements of collage into their paintings and to experiment with the papier collé (pasted paper) technique. This brought together a series of imaginative pieces, bold colours, and distinct shapes and styles to Braque's work.
Media he used often: Oil paint, different types of pasted paper, stenciled letters, blended pigments with sand.
KURT SCHWITTERS
1887 to 1948
Kurt Schwitters was a German artist and worked in several genres and media. Schwitters observed “I could see no reason why used tram tickets, bits of driftwood, buttons and old junk from attics and rubbish heaps should not serve well as materials for paintings. It is possible to cry out using bits of old rubbish, and that's what I did, gluing and nailing them together.”
Media he used often: magazine clippings,
waste material, recycled items.
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY
Born 1983
Njideka Akunyili Crosby is a Nigerian-born visual artist working in California. Akunyili Crosby states that her art "negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collage and photo transfer-based paintings that expose the challenges of occupying these two worlds". She combines collage, drawing, painting, and printmaking in her art.
Media she uses often: clippings from magazines and photographs, print making, paint, pencil.
We find that all these mixed media artists all LOVE:
Collage
Experimenting with different media
Making their own media
Pasting or glueing media on to their painting
Texture
Creating abstract art
Layering of media
If you feel inspired by the works of these mixed media art masters then get out your sketchbook or canvas and start explore their techniques and methods of using different media.
I find that when I'm creating art I have to 'strike while the iron's hot' so get out the sketchbooks while the inspiration is still overflowing and develop your style!