Mixed-Media Illustration: Activate Your Imagination

Mixed media illustration to activate imagination

“We have reached the end and I hope that the techniques we saw in the course allow you to experiment, let go of the hand and free your mind. Starting from a simple image, shape or stain opens a door to the creation of images and visual stories. Following the different exercises of the course you will be able to build your creational inventory. This will be the project that you will present to us. You should have at least one example of these seven techniques: photomontage, pareidolia, image on image, mixed media, stamping, crossing between visual and written language, and a small alphabet. To get started with the various techniques, gather a variety of materials, such as newspaper and magazine clippings. Have them cut before starting the different practices. You will see that they are very stimulating because of the various possibilities they offer. Next, I leave you a series of tips that will help you create your creational inventory. When you do your observational drawing practice, try to sharpen your gaze on the environment and your own personal experiences. It is very important to make conscious what we like and attract. Use your observation to feed your imagination and generate new ideas. This will help you improve your ability to express yourself graphically. When working on the photomontage , think of it as a puzzle; In other words, you will have to unite until you find meaning, whether they are meanings or aesthetic findings.

In the pareidolias , do this same exercise and intervene whatever you want until you find what you are looking for. Remember that working images on images is related to merging two formats. You can work with photographs or photocopies, and then intervene with paint and pencils. The important thing is that you explore different possibilities of exploration and that you experiment with the materials to find new forms and meanings. When making your stampings with scraps , keep in mind to have all kinds of elements on hand: fabrics of all kinds, tree leaves, and even boxes with different textures. Everything can help you find something interesting. One of the important things when generating crosses between visual and written language is to have a lot of material. Always have magazines, old books or others on hand from where you can choose texts. Do not forget that this is a reflective and imaginative exercise, so also keep in mind the importance of wanting to capture a concept or want to tell a little story through these resources. Finally, to assemble your inventory container , remember that you can make an envelope type folder or box. I recommend a cardboard or cardboard that has a sufficient weight to give firmness. With all these steps, you will have your own creational inventory in your hands. I hope this is just the beginning of your plastic explorations and creative games. As I have done, scan or take a photo of your creations and upload them to the forum. I would like you to explain for each technique what your process was: what did you do, how and why. This will be very useful not only for you, as a reminder of your process, but for others as well. I will come as often as possible to comment on your tasks and projects. In the meantime, see what your peers have done and comment on their posts. Thank you for joining me. I wish you good luck, and see you on the forum!”

Partial transcription of the video

“Final project We have reached the end of this journey of technical and creative explorations to make up our creational inventory. Now it's your turn to do your project. We will review the activities you must do to do it. We observe personal experience and environment through records with pictures and we saw that it is a fundamental practice to improve the ability of graphic expression. We also did imagination exercises from that observation. I showed you some techniques and materials that I work with and that offer infinite possibilities. We start by learning the technique of analog photomo...”

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Course summary for: Mixed-Media Illustration: Activate Your Imagination

• Level: Beginner
• 99% positive reviews (196)
• 3482 students
• 4 units
• 15 lessons (3h 12m)
• 4 downloads

• Category

  Illustration

• Areas

  Acrylic Painting, Collage, Drawing, Fine Arts, Traditional illustration