Mixed Media and Experimental Surfaces
Introduced| English |
|---|
| resist/rɪˈzɪst/ |
| gesso/ˈdʒesəʊ/ |
| synthesis/ˈsɪnθəsɪs/ |
Combine and prepare
- Combining media and preparing your own grounds turns the surface into a decision.
- Classic pairs: ink line over wash, charcoal over acrylic ground, pastel over watercolour.
- A resist 防染法 (wax, masking fluid) protects the lights.
A ground that lets wet media sit on almost any support is ____.
Gesso primes the surface.
Grounds and supports
- Gesso 石膏底料 lets wet media sit on almost any support.
- Draw on non-white supports: kraft paper, book pages, maps, fabric — the ground becomes meaning.
- Test combinations on scraps first and glue the tests into your journal.
Synthesis or decoration?
Sort each mixed-media choice by whether the material serves the idea.
In mixed media, every material should serve the idea.
Otherwise it reads as decoration.
Select all sound experimental-surface practices.
Piling on for texture alone is decoration.
Synthesis, not decoration
- The CED's synthesis 综合 of materials, processes, and ideas is exactly this.
- Media choices should embody the idea, not just add texture.
- Keep layering stable enough to photograph well — heavy glossy buildup glares.
Wax or masking fluid used to protect the lights is a ____.
A resist blocks media from the protected area.
Match the term to its role.
Three mixed-media ideas.
Mixed media fails when it is just "stuff piled on for texture". Every material must earn its place by serving the idea — random collage and glitter read as decoration, and scorers see straight through it.
A drawing about a demolished home: charcoal on torn, gessoed cardboard, with fragments of the actual eviction letter collaged under the ink. Material is meaning — the surface carries the loss.
Mixed media makes the surface a decision: combine media, prepare grounds with gesso, protect lights with a resist, test on scraps — and choose materials that embody the idea (synthesis), never decoration.