Mixed Media

Mixed Media

How to Start Mixed Media: Crayon, Watercolor, and Your Old Rejects

Wondering how to start mixed media painting? Here’s how I got into it 20 years ago with crayons and watercolor, and how old rejects became my starting point.

Mixed Media

How to Paint a Horse Loosely: Acrylic, Charcoal & Mixed Media

Learn how to paint a horse loosely with acrylic, charcoal, and watercolor. Focus on rhythm and movement, then simplify, lose edges, and let the painting breathe.

Mixed Media

Use a Bad Painting as a Palette: How Accidents Become Art

I used a reject watercolor as a throwaway palette for acrylics, and the accident turned out better than the original. Here’s how mixing paint can become art.

Mixed Media

Chair Painting Exercise: A Loose Watercolor and Mixed Media Workout

Try this chair painting exercise to loosen up. Paint one simple subject several times, starting with watercolor and adding ink, crayon, graphite, and acrylic.

Mixed Media

Mixed Media Cup Collage: Torn Paper and Negative Space Painting

Make a mixed media cup collage with torn scrap paper and negative space painting. A fun, loose project that covers up a reject and turns scraps into art.

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.

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.