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Mixed media is a form of creating art in which you can use many different items to create an image. One of my favorite ways to create mixed media and teaching others to create it is using the technique of collage. Collage is creating a picture from paper, fabric or photographs. Collage is a great way to start out in mixed media. For the project we will create below, our base will be a collage.

Mixed media is a wonderful way to gather your thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper or in a journal to help you process stress and situations in your life. Because you are consistently allowing yourself to create a story around the images and colors you use, you will start to see what beauty can come out of tough situations.

Stress relief is something that is needed big time in each of our lives today. Let this little lesson take you into a new and beautiful way of expressing your stress and learning to relax your mind as you create.

Step #1: Gather your materials.

You will need some old magazines you don’t mind tearing up.

Artist’s acrylic gesso clear or white, you can find this at the craft store or here on Amazon.

Crayons, or oil pastels, or chalk pastels. Maybe all 3 if you like!

Charcoal, regular pencils, colored pencils, ballpoint pens.

Sketchbook or journal

Glue, can be school glue or Modge Podge glue found at craft stores or click the link to find it on Amazon.

A brush that you can use for glue, and a brush to use for gesso paint.

Step #2: From here, you can start to search through your magazines and find images and colors you feel are related to how you might be feeling. Remember that your feelings and emotions will be different for your particular situation so no ideas are off limits. That’s part of the fun of art.

After you have found some images and colors you like, glue them onto your sketchbook or journal page with your glue of choice. I love using Modge Podge. It gets the paper glued down really nicely. You just created a collage! This is the base of your mixed media work.

Layer your images and colors a bit. They do not need to be separated a whole lot. It will make for more interesting subject matter as you go along if there are images nearby each other. Of course, you also want to place your images that represent your emotions and feelings in particular places if you feel that will benefit you in your expression.

Step #3: Now you are ready for gesso to be applied. Over your images spread a thin layer of gesso. Enough to cover the images but still opaque enough to see through. Allow the gesso to dry, maybe 30 minutes or use a hairdryer to speed up the process.

Take your pens and pencils, crayons and pastels, charcoal and colored pencils and decide what you would like to use first. In my piece, I like to outline certain elements of my images such as a persons facial features or maybe the outline of a plant or tree using a ballpoint pen.

Next I’ll add color with crayons or pastels, blending and adding color here and there where I feel it will look or feel the best.

Step #4:Using pencils or charcoal, I will create marks or mini drawings over my images, again creating a sense of layering throughout my work. These marks can mean something, or they might just be decorative.

While you are working, allow yourself to be very relaxed and focused on your action, giving your brain a break from worry and stress. You will find that focusing on your act of creating can help you relax and unwind very well. Do not try to be a perfectionist in this. That is not the point of creating. The point is to help your mind to process things in smaller bites rather than overwhelming you and causing a lot of stress.

Continue working color, doodles and drawings into your picture until you feel satisfied with your piece. Once you are finished, look at your piece and try to assess the feeling you get from viewing what you created. You may be surprised at how many emotions came out while you seemingly just glued and painted and drew!

I hope you enjoyed this little lesson in mixed media for stress relief. If you have further questions, ideas or just want to share your piece I’d love to hear from you! Contact me or leave me some comments below!

Have a blessed and beautiful day!!