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Let's Get Your Creative Juices Flowing!!!
I KNOW you've seen these foam heads in your local craft store before. But have you ever picked one up and brought it home to create some mixed media art?!
These funny foam heads have WAY more purposes than you'd think :) From Halloween decorations (heck ya - see the black widow girl in the far right below?!), to eye-glass holders (much-needed, thank you), or something that's plain old FUN to liven up a boring corner of your house!
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I've made quite a few mixed media foam heads over the years, and am excited to make a new one today! I hope you enjoy this EXTRA FUN experience on YouTube today because this entire mixed media art tutorial is step-by-step so you can join in the fun and create along with me at home :)
Supplies Needed
Use what you have and love at home! Here's what I'm using:
Click here to start the full step-by-step mixed media art tutorial in my signature "Hamburger" style!
Not sure what I mean by Hamburger System? This is my tried-and-true mixed-media layering process for creating mixed-media masterpieces EVERY TIME. Wanna try it at home with me?
Grab my Hamburger System cheatsheet and follow along layer by layer just like you're following a recipe.
I love the Hamburger System SO much, I turned it into a book :)
Feel free to grab that on Amazon if you'd like to dig a little deeper into how your supplies work, and how to combine them successfully to create art YOU love!
Back to today's project! As you can see in the first step - I'm layering tissue paper with TONS of mod podge under and on top to eliminate as many wrinkles as possible. Then, I use my hair dryer to make sure it's completely dry before moving on to my acrylic paint layer.
Once it's dry, it's time to choose the color scheme for my acrylics. Lots of my students get overwhelmed with how to make this decision. There are SO many colors in the rainbow (these are some of MY faves!!), how can you ever decide which ones to use with confidence?!
I'm SUPER literal about this decision every time, and simply look to my collage materials for guidance. I've found this to be a fail-safe way to create, and it never lets me down! Typically I pick 3 colors from my collage paper and move on! Today I decided to zero in on a lighter variation of my hot pink because it looks a little more like skin tone to me, and that's what I'm in the mood for :)
Click over to watch exactly which brushes I'm using, and which mixed media art supplies come next! If you don't have brushes for acrylic paints, these are great - just choose what size you want. For lots of coverage for something like today's project, I'm using a big fat version, like a #20.
Stay with me till the end of this FUN tutorial because there are LOTS of SPARKLES coming this foam head's way :) She even gets a nose ring (below left!). Go grab your supplies and come get creative with me!! Want MORE Projects Like This?
You might just love my Mixed Media Society art club over at Awesome Art School! We'll dig deep into the world of mixed media art supplies to understand their qualities, and more importantly HOW to use them together to create mixed media art we can be proud of on canvas, in art journals - you name it! Learn more and get notified next time we're open for enrollment here!
What to Watch Next...
Wanna learn MORE about my Hamburger System? This FREE video series on YouTube has SO much to teach you!! I start at the very beginning to teach you about what surfaces you can art on, and how to layer each step of my process - just like a recipe for building the perfect burger :) Check it out!!
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If you're a watercolor beginner or new mixed media, watercolors and water-soluble art supplies can feel a little intimidating and unpredictable.
In today's YouTube video, I'd LOVE to blow those feelings away for you by demo-ing 3 BASIC watercolor techniques to give you a dose of confidence: ✨Wet-on-Wet (creates beautiful blooms) ✨Wet-on-Dry (offers more control) ✨Dry-on-Dry (adds texture) Let's get comfy with watercolors!!
All links are affiliate and are for U.S. residents - always use what you have on hand!
I've REALLY been enjoying working with a variety of my watercolor sets by Prima lately. If you've been hanging out with me on YouTube, you may have seen my videos reviewing both the Terrain watercolor set, and the Currents watercolor set. Missed those?Watch this playlist!
I first got into Prima watercolor sets with the Complexions set because I absolutely LOVED having a little palette of skin tone watercolors all in one place that I could dip right into, without mixing!!
If you're new to me, I'm OBSESSED with Daniel Smith watercolors, and have done LOTS of videos from How to Start Your first Daniel Smith Watercolor Collection, to How to use the Daniel Smith Dot Cards, and How to Build Your Own Custom TRAVEL Daniel Smith Watercolor Palette.
Daniel Smith makes GORGEOUS, fine art watercolors. BUT... I know they're SO expensive!! Because of that, I'm always on the lookout for Daniel Smith alternatives for my students.
Prima palettes, while not a fine art product, are affordable, and offer great quality and value for their price point of $25 or less, if all ya wanna do is have a little FUN!! I love how the colors in each Prima palette already all go together (making them perfect for projects!), plus they have cute, inspirational names for the sets and individual colors. WHY Watercolor Paper is So Important
Before we get into today's project, I can't emphasize enough how IMPORTANT paper is when it comes to watercolor (or using water soluble mixed media art supplies).
You always need to be working on paper that's been created exactly for watercolor. If you don't, your paper will tear because it can't handle all the water. There are two main types of watercolor paper I use: cold press watercolor paper (which is bumpy and textured, I love this one), and hot press watercolor paper (which is smooth, I love this one).
Typically I reach for cold press paper (shown above), because it's a little more like a sponge than hot press, and I love the texture.
If you'd like to learn more about watercolor paper - this vid's for you and will give ya all the deets!! Wet-on-Wet Watercolor for Beginners
Let's dig into technique #1 for today. Wet-on-wet watercolor is exactly like it sounds. All you need to do to play with this technique is to first, wet your watercolor brush and drag it all over your watercolor paper (or on the parts where you intend to use the wet-on-wet technique). Then, wet your brush again, dip it into the watercolor, and place that directly onto your already wet paper. EASY, right?!
This super simple watercolor technique will make your paint spread or bloom quickly into all the areas where your paper is wet! It's soooo fun!!
Love that shade of turquoise? Me too!! It's from the Woodland Watercolor Set by Prima :) Wet-on-Dry Watercolor Technique for Beginners
Wet-on-Dry watercolor technique is basically the opposite. It's simply dipping your watercolor brush into water, wetting your paint, and putting it on dry watercolor paper.
As you can see below, the second line of color demos the wet-on-dry watercolor technique, and looks much different from the wet-on-wet section above it. Wet-on-dry will give you a much harder line, and more control than wet-on-wet. Dry Brushing Watercolor Technique for Beginners
To achieve a dry-on-dry look in watercolor, dip your dry brush (or whatever applicator YOU want - I'm using a sponge in today's video), into damp watercolor. The watercolor can't be too wet, you want it to kinda feel "tacky."
Then, tap or drag your brush or applicator around on your paper wherever you'd like this effect. This will create vibrant and VERY different marks on your paper compared to wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry watercoloring techniques.
Dry-brushing can really give you some awesome textures to create depth, and can kinda have the look of acrylics.
Ready for a little timelapse? Kick back and relax as I watercolor this adorable fairy in a jar project using all three of the techniques demo-ed today, for one of my online art clubs at Awesome Art School, the Celtic Collective! Wanna Learn MORE About the Celtic Collective?
Or do the project featured in today's video step-by-step with me? Awesome!! I run the Celtic Collective art club with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon. This online art club is all about fantasy art and features drawing, watercolor, and mixed media art lessons on fairies, unicorns, mermaids, mythical creatures, castles and so much more!! We'd love to have you join us! Learn more here.
What to Watch Next
Check out this FREE watercolor tutorial for beginners, as I teach you step-by-step how to paint watercolor poppies! Can you tell which watercolor technique I'm using from the image below??
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If you've been following me for a while, you know how much I LOVE the Complexions Watercolor set by Prima. Since falling in love with that little palette for creating watercolor portraits, I've continued to add MORE Prima watercolor sets to my art supply stash- just like the Terrain set I reviewed last week.
While I was in Scotland for my last Scottish Castle Art Retreat, I happened to be in a little art shop and noticed the CURRENT watercolor set by Prima that I'm reviewing today. It's kind of hilarious because I've been meaning to buy this little set forever, at home, and just hadn't. So, while in Scotland, I decided it could be an artsy keepsake from my trip, so into my suitcase, it went!
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If you aren't familiar with any of the Watercolor Confections sets by Prima, there are TONS of things to love! First off, they're SO AFFORDABLE! A cute little palette of 12 half pans will only run you about $20-25 on Amazon, or just $2 per little half pan of color!
Love the paintbrush shown below and featured in ALL of my watercolor and fountain pen ink videos? ME TOO! It's by the lovely and talented Polina Bright. Learn more about WHY I love them in this video (or get 10% off your own brushes on her website using the coupon code KARENCAMPBELL at checkout!).
Last week on YouTube, I reviewed the Terrain watercolor set by Prima, and shared with you how much I also love the cute little swatching card Prima includes with their watercolor sets.
As you can see below, somewhere in my swatching journey over the years, I decided to DOUBLE swatch my watercolors using these cute, skinny watercolor journals - even when a swatch card is included with my set! The main reason I do this is because the little swatch cards are exactly THAT- small. It can be super easy for these little cards to fall out and slip away into oblivion when you open and close the palettes.
Because it's a LOT harder to lose an entire watercolor journal, I started doing this as a backup, just in case :) Plus- I've kinda just fallen in love with the mindless activity of swatching watercolors. It's like art therapy! There is no skill involved, and zero pressure of any kind. I simply put on whatever music suits my mood, grab a paintbrush and totally enjoy myself. Something about it feels kinda like spending time getting to know a quality, new friend to me.
In terms of the colors represented in the Current watercolor set I'm demo-ing today, I LOVED them. I did, however, feel there were a couple of shades that were SO similar to another one that they almost felt redundant.
I know!! That's if I'm being really picky. Instead of focusing on that, I tried to appreciate the subtle differences of the colors that felt alike, and challenged myself to use EACH and EVERY shade in the project you're about to watch unfold!
The project featured in today's video is from a lesson in my Celtic Collective art club over at Awesome Art School.
The Celtic Collective is ALL about fantasy art drawing and painting, all things fairies, elves, castles, unicorns, you name it! If you'd like to learn how to draw AND paint this magical (dare I say, HOT?!) elf - hop over to the Celtic Collective for the step-by-step drawing and painting lessons in real-time (no timelapse!). You're also in luck if you happen to be reading this in July 2023, because I'm currently taking on NEW Celtic Collective members right now (enrollment is also currently open for the Mixed Media Society and Fun Fab Drawing Club if those are more your style!). Can't decide which club sounds more fun?! Me either!! I love them all!! There's a club for that too, called The Wonder Bundle. Buy two clubs, and get ONE ABSOLUTELY FREE!! Enrollment for new club members only happens 3 times a year, so if you're looking for an amazing art community overflowing with FUN lessons designed to make YOU an awesome artist - I'd love to have you!!
If you're not in the mood to draw or paint along today, and would rather watch this hottie come together in minutes, meet me over on YouTube instead!
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Karen CampbellFounder of Awesome Art School. Mixed Media Artist. Author of 19 Instructional Art Books! Whose work has appeared in...Archives
April 2024
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"Karen is flipping hilarious and she's very real...I like the way she teaches in a way that really gives you confidence, whether you're a beginner or advanced there's always something new to learn!"
- Elizabeth W. |
What Fans Are SayingKaren, you are absolutely fabulous! You make me feel like I can draw anything. I have recently retired and finally have the time to do some of the art that I have loved since I was in school. I am really at the beginning of my art journey and I hope to learn as much as I can. Thank you for all you do. |
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