Yesterday I went to Daniel Smith Art Supply Store to attend one of their free workshops that they hold on Saturdays and Sundays. Yesterday’s workshop was held by Annie Van Engelen who works in the call center for Daniel Smith. So she has a wealth of knowledge about all sorts of mediums, supplies, techniques, etc. This workshop addressed mixed media, specifically working in layers and what order the media should be laid down to avoid problems with adherence or archival issues.
I was very interested in this demo because I am always playing around and exploring different mediums and I have always wanted to ask if my technique is ok. Will it last? Is there something I need to be doing to address archival issues? I spoke with Annie about what I do and I feel a lot more relieved now! Apparently I’ve been doing it all right without even knowing it. Phew.
Here is the order is which media should be laid down from bottom layer to top layer on your support. Much of this is common sense, but it’s nice to have it listed:
1. Watersoluble media
-watercolor pencils, aqua crayon, aquabrick, watersoluble oil pastels
-ink: watercolor (Dr. Martin)(walnut ink), Herbin Ink, *Sennelier Ink
2. Permanent Inks: once dry, these are permanent and will resist previous listed media
-India Ink, Higgins, FW (Acrylic), Pearlescent Ink
3. Acrylics
-acrylic inks, fluid acrylics, heavybody, mediums
4. Oils
-watersoluble oils, oil paint, oil bars/sticks
5. Oil pastels
-never layer on top of oil pastels as these never truly dry
6. Wax
-encaustic
*Sennelier Inks are soooooo yummy. I got to play around with some supplies that she laid out for us and the shellac sennelier inks’ color is just incredible. I just had to buy a little bottle of Olive Green
*I asked her about writing on top of acrylics with pens/markers. I often write on top of my mixed media panels, but often end up with a ruined pen. grrrrr. Don’t ever use a Sharpie! I’ve learned my lesson with that mistake too many times. She suggested Pitt pens and Microns. But more the Pitt pens. She also said that I may want to try Copic markers. Those always seemed so expensive to me though, but she told me that the nibs are replacable and you can refill the ink, so I would probably save more money buying a Copic marker than buying replacement pens. So I just had to buy one Copic marker just to see.
And then they were having a sale on some canvases…so I just had to buy some of those.
This is why these demos are free. Because of people like me!
I have got to get me to one of those workshops! I always circle all the ones I want to attend (and there are a lot of them) when I get Daniel Smith’s flyers, but I just never go to them.
Sounds like a fun day in the art store. 🙂
i use copics. i only OWN two, a black and a brown. but mostly i use the black. and it does work great on acrylic. imagine a sort of cross between a sharpie and a paint pen that does not get munged up! also, they seem to be lasting a really long time!
I’ve tried copics, but wasn’t that impressed with them…I’m partial to my Pitts and Microns. I did, though, find out that they won’t write very well over backgrounds washed with Caran d’Ache NeoColors… unfortunately!
I wish I lived near Daniel Smith! I really liked that store…I need to visit it again when I come back up there for ArtfiberFest… 🙂