Layers Upon Layers: Mixed Media Art

Encased tissue paper

by Cyndi on April 24th, 2007

Wecome to part 3 of our Technique Tuesday series, what the heck to do with tissue paper!

There is lots of tissue paper available that is not just plain white! That may be a shock after the last two weeks, where all we looked at and worked with was white tissue, no patterns, no pictures, no nothin’. This week, I want to share a technique with you that is perfect for working with patterned and pictoral tissue, including napkins. If you decide to use napkins, make sure that you have split them down to just a single layer…some of the fancier napkins actually have 3 layers, and it’s easy to miss one.

1. 
   Assemble the materials you’ll need, including a piece of cardstock or watercolor paper to use as your base, patterned tissue paper and/or napkins, liquid acrylic medium, a foam brush, lots of waxed paper, parchment paper, and an iron. I used the piece of black and gold tissue to completely cover my substrate, first spreading a thin layer of acrylic medium and smoothing the tissue over it. I then applied another thin layer of medium to the top and let it dry while I worked with the other pieces.
2. Take each of the tissue elements that you’ll want to add to your main paper and coat them with a thin layer of medium on both sides. Let one side dry before flipping and doing the other. Don’t worry if the piece curls. Let them dry before proceeding
3. 
   Protect your ironing surface and your iron with parchment paper, and iron the elements at a low temperature onto the background piece. The acrylic medium will melt and form a bond when it re-dries. You can get more details about this process from the Encased Collage tutorial that I did. When the composition has cooled, you can add paints or any other embellishments that you want.
4. 
   This is the digital collage piece that I shared yesterday, that I titled A Mighty Rushing Wind. I scanned my background piece, and then using the magic wand tool, I selected and copied the golden spray of leaves. I then pasted it many many times all over the surface of the piece. I felt it needed some more color, so I selected the brightest red that appeared in the piece and digitally sponged more on where I wanted it.
Tags: Collage, digital-collage, Mixed Media, Paper, tutorials

Related Stories

Star light, star bright
Using tissue paper as a guide
Tissue paper inclusions
Stamped tissue paper
Textured tissue paper backgrounds and layers


POSTED IN: Collage, Digital Art, Mixed Media, Paper, Technique Tuesday, Tutorials & Techniques