Mixed-Media Painting Techniques

Learn how to make the most of your art with techniques for using acrylic paint, watercolor, encaustic, masks, and more with instruction from leading mixed-media artists.

Texture & Layers with Paint and Stencils

It’s National Craft Month! And in honor of all things crafty, we’re excited to take part in the Interweave blog hop. When asked what craft we would take to a desert island, of course the Cloth Paper Scissors team started thinking about Lisa Kesler’s highly textured multi-media project, which uses handmade stencils and found objects.…

Because of its translucency, tracing paper can be an artist’s best friend when it comes to auditioning designs for artwork.

Sandrine Pelissier’s 4 Tips for Trying Out Patterns

Patterns are a fun addition to any design, but they can be very time consuming to create, especially for large projects. Before committing to an idea, it is nice to be able to visualize how a color or a pattern will look so you can more confidently apply it to your work. Here are four…

Use Acrylic Paint Skins to Make Abstract Flowers

What do you do with leftover acrylic paint skins? If your answer is “toss them,” get ready, because this post is about to change that! In the September/October 2017 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, artist Staci Swider shared a superb idea for transforming leftover dried acrylic paint skins into vibrant abstract flower collages. Follow Staci’s…

5 Astonishing Art Techniques from Rae Missigman

Rae Missigman is our Artist of the Month for September, and we’re so happy to spotlight this artist and her unique art techniques. Rae brings so much vibrancy and excitement to mixed-media art, and her work has inspired countless artists—and me! As we celebrate Rae this month, we rounded up some of her most eye-opening…

Wave Your Flag, Mixed-Media Style

Mixed-media artists rarely follow a formulaic approach to making art. Give us a tutorial, and we’ll add our own special touches until the finished piece is uniquely ours. That’s what Sue Pelletier did when she attended a paint bar with friends. Instead of painting the Statue of Liberty with the class, she painted a flag; then…

The Keys to Color for Watercolor Painting

As part of my never-ending, insatiable desire to learn all about art and creating, I was thrilled to view Danielle Donaldson’s new video, The Art of Creative Watercolor: Color Schemes. I enjoyed seeing her perspective and watercolor techniques, such as color selection, blending, shading, definition, and adding small details. No matter your experience level, Danielle…

Watercolor Techniques from Danielle Donaldson: Your New Bliss

If watercolor isn’t part of your mixed-media playbook, now is the time to add it. Danielle Donaldson has a new kit that includes a book and videos all about watercolor techniques, and they are exactly what you need to shake up your routine and discover what you’ve been missing. Color, composition, storytelling—it’s all here, and…

Stencils with Watercolor: Recipes for Creative Success

Sometimes the hardest part of my process is coming up with something new to paint. There are days where I’m pretty sure I have run out of imagination completely. And don’t even get me started about the days my brain forgets how to draw! I have developed a great way to give myself some grace…

The Perfect Mother’s Day Art Project

There is no better way to honor the mothers in your life than with a gift of art. This Mother’s Day art project works a few different ways: You can make a beautiful work of art for your favorite mother, make the project with your favorite mother, or give a special creative mother in your…