Experimenting with mixed media
Tried experimenting with mixed media this afternoon, after I did some book project work. Here's how I created the image above, in about an hour:
- Did the ink drawing first, no color, on ordinary sketchbook paper.
- Went out into the garden and picked a bunch of stuff.
- Tried adding the stuff to the sketch outdoors, but the wind kept blowing it off. :-(
- Arranged stuff indoors.
- Took a photo.
- Imported the photo to Photoshop. Cleaned up gritty bits.
- Added colour on separate layers using the Multiply method. Not totally crazy about this technique, though, because it means having to mask out the vegetation bits. I was too lazy to do this, so I tried to Magic Wand out the white bits instead. But again, I was too lazy to do this carefully, which is why you'll notice odd shadows and discolorations here and there.
Conclusion: This wouldn't be a technique I'd want to use for an entire picture book project, but it'd be fun to play around with if I can figure out a better way to add colour. I might try real-life watercolor next time.





