The Art of Mixed Media

I have just had the pleasure of spending two days this weekend in an art studio at the Museum of London. The tutor explained the recipe for different kinds of paint. (I should say at this point, before you eat Skittles again, check out what shellac is made from)(and you probably won't eat Skittles again!)After this we dispersed to try our hand at playing with the different kinds of 'mark makers'. This is my 'play' (as opposed to 'work'). I used india ink, wax crayon, gouache and oil stick. The scene was out of the window. There are some jokes in there if you can see them. The torches were a silvery metal, and didn't have fire burning in them. It just needed brightening up.

The technique we were introduced to on the second day involved using turpentine to scrape the paint of a magazine picture and turning the picture into something completely different. I could not see the point of this until I came across an article about Margaret Thatcher. Then I thought Yes! I could enjoy scraping the smile of your face! so I did and it turned out to be Blackpoool Tower, because that is made of tempered steel - or some such metal.
There's lots of layers here, india ink, gouache, pigment, tissue paper, and wax crayons.This is not the finished article, but the colours came out better in this photo. The finished one has a bit more white gouache highlighting.
It was a fun weekend with lots of inspiration from the others on the course.