Mixed Media
Cat Silhouette Painting: A Playful Mixed Media Collage Idea
Paint loose, quirky cat silhouettes over a collaged reject. A simple mixed media idea for beginners that works with any subject: food, birds, dogs, or tacos.
Free Lessons
Free drawing and painting lessons in watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media. Watch, practice, and start loosening up. When you’re ready to go deeper, the Lab is waiting.
Watercolor
Loose Watercolor Barn: Start With Blocks of Color
Paint a loose watercolor barn by treating the first wash as blocks of color. Let them mingle and dry, then carve light and shadow into soft shapes.
Mixed Media
Loose Painting Progression: Paint One Subject From Tight to Loose
Try a loose painting progression. Paint one subject in acrylic, then push each version further from control with splashes, a palette knife, and new colors.
Mixed Media
Cut-Out Collage Technique: Paint on Scrap Paper, Cut It Jagged
Learn a simple cut-out collage technique. Paint a bottle on scrap paper, cut it out with jagged edges, and layer it over an old watercolor for a mixed media still life.
Mixed Media
How to Fix Mistakes in a Collage Painting (Lemons & Strawberries)
Messed up a painting? Learn how to fix mistakes in a mixed media collage by swapping in fresh paper, with a simple lemons and strawberries demo.
Mixed Media
Embrace Imperfect Art: Loose Collage Painting Tips
Loose art can feel wrong at first. Learn how to embrace imperfection in collage painting, why a little drawing first helps, and why you should make many, not one.
Mixed Media
Mixed Media Painting Experiment: Why I Let Unfinished Art Sit
Not everything you make is meant for now. See how a reject watercolor became a mixed media experiment with an acrylic border and collage.
Mixed Media
How to Use a Collage Border to Rescue a Painting
Learn how a simple collage border can interrupt a painting you don’t like and give it a fresh start. A quick mixed media trick for any reject.
Mixed Media
What to Do With Paintings You Hate: Turn Rejects Into Collage
Don’t throw away paintings you hate. Learn how collage interrupts a reject, changes the mood, and turns a failed painting into a mixed media experiment.
Process
Loosen Up Your Drawing: Expand Your Range of Motion
Drawing too tight? Learn how switching tools, pencil, marker, crayon, and charcoal, expands your range of motion and helps you draw looser.
Process
Banana Drawing Exercise: Explore Mixed Media Sketching
Stop trying to draw bananas “right.” Use them to explore graphite, marker, and crayon in loose sketches and discover your own expressive style.
Mixed Media
How to Paint Loose: Why It Takes Practice (and How to Start)
Want to paint loose and expressive art? It takes practice, not luck. Learn why exploring beats chasing finished pieces, with a mixed media still life demo.