Lately, I've been having some fun experimenting with mixed media techniques. It seems to be the new craze right now; I've found numerous blogs, websites and magazines offering advice, materials, community and other resources. I absolutely love the stuff I find out there, it is all so very inspiring and shows what you can do with relatively inexpensive materials and a lot of imagination!
The challenge of this is to make something uniquely different, something which stands out. A lot of mixed media art does not seem to reflect the artist's unique style, and there is a tendency among creatives to adhere to a certain "look," often very feminine-looking hybrids of Victorian and modernist non-figurative. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely dig this style, with all its lace and flowers, shabby "found objects,"vintage yellowed pages with brightly-colored rubber stamps, splashed paint and so forth. I have also found artists who do let their personal style shine through. I am just still looking for more variety in contemporary mixed media illustration, an area where everything is permitted and thus possible.
Don't look at me, though! I am still just experimenting, as I mentioned earlier. These two pieces are the ones that I have liked enough to keep around so far, and as it often happens with the things I make, the comics influence seeps in everywhere...
