Dina Wakely Paints – Michelle Style!

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This article is written by Michelle G. Brown

I had so much fun reviewing the Dina Wakely Paints and you can read the article here: Painting with Dina Wakely Paints

mixed media artist Michelle G. Brown

Now here is the detailed tutorial for painting with these paints, Michelle style.

Painting Michelle Style

Materials and tools

10” x 12” canvas

Dina Wakely Paints

Gesso

Impasto Medium

Sequence Scrap

Masking tape

Stencil Girl Stencils

Scrap paper

Removable Adhesive

Black Markers i.e. Golden Black pen Montana Marker with Golden Fluid Acrylic

Archival Inks – Wendy Vechi Range

Mini ink blending tool

Mixed Media Painting Process

1. Gather up your blank canvas or art journal

mixed media paints by Ranger

2. Prime with Gesso and leave to dry

mixed media paints by Ranger

3. Add texture with Impasto medium and Sequence Scrap

mixed media paints by Ranger

4. Leave overnight to dry

mixed media paints by Ranger

5. Add colour with the acrylic paints. I took a fancy to painting squares and rectangles

mixed media paints by Ranger

mixed media paints by Ranger

Continue to build up colours

mixed media paints by Ranger

mixed media paints by Ranger

Leave to fully dry

6. Use the Masking tape to add masked lines to the painted canvas. Here I added angles and torn ends and edges to add interest

mixed media paints by Ranger

7. Add a layer of Gesso,applied with an old credit card

mixed media paints by Ranger

8. While gesso is still wet, carefully remove the masking tape. Take care with this step; it can get a bit messy!

mixed media paints by Ranger

9. Using your range of black markers, outline “roads” and add other features.

mixed media paints by Ranger

Take care with your “good” markers; the gesso seems to ruin some of them! My favourite (xxx0 was the best but I also needed a thinner line.

Also, if you want to do lots of doodling, I’d suggest (next time) to use less impasto medium! While I loved the effect, I was annoyed with the bumpy surface while trying to draw straight lines!

10. Now to fill in the areas between the roads. Each sea was masked sperately, using masking tape and scrap paper with removable adhesive to help hold them in place.

(Again, next time, I may use bigger or less doodles; there was LOTS of masking here!!)

mixed media paints by Ranger

11. Gather your stencils – here I used the August Stencil Club stencils

mixed media paints by Ranger

12. Then I stencilled with the Archival inks, using two shades to add more depth. I tried to use similar colours to those of the painted background, underneath the gesso.

mixed media paints by Ranger

13. Put the stencil in place and add a little masking tape to hold it.

mixed media paints by Ranger

14. Add ink

mixed media paints by Ranger

15. Remove Stencil

mixed media paints by Ranger

16. Remove the masks and admire your work.

mixed media paints by Ranger

17. Repeat steps 10 to 16 for each area you have. For this size of canvas, I found three different stencil designs was a good number to ensure consistency of pattern but not having too much repetition or the same pattern “touching”.

18. Add a few finishing touches and admire your work. I feel this one still needs some words, but the right ones haven’t come to me yet!

mixed media artist Michelle G. Brown

And a few close ups

mixed media artist Michelle G. Brown

mixed media artist Michelle G. Brown

I hope you have enjoyed following along as much as I enjoyed created this piece!

You are welcome to leave a comment below, especially if you’ve made it to the end!!

Happy creating!

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Michelle G. Brown is passionate about mixed media art and enjoys sharing her knowledge and techniques with you to allow you to express your own creativity. Michelle understands that many of us have an inner need to create. By learning a few basic techniques the amazing world of mixed media art is accessible to everyone!

Michelle lives with her husband and two boys in Melbourne, Australia.

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Disclosure: These paints were bought with our own money.  All opinions are that of the MixedMediaArt team. Some links on this page may be affiliate links and any purchases help to support the ongoing work by MixedMediaArt.
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Painting with Dina Wakely Paints

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This article is written by Michelle G. Brown 

I was SO excited to get my hands on a full set of Ranger’s Dina Wakely paints – all 12 of them, plus her black gesso. I just love seeing all of the colours together! Pretty as a rainbow.

Set of 12 Dina Wakely Paints

I made sample swatches to see the colour and how opaque the paints are. Then I mixed each colour with the white from the range (about 1:1 ratio) and also with an acrylic glazing medium (also about 1:1 ratio) and added those to the swatch pages.

Set of 12 Dina Wakely Paints on ephemera

The names of the colours are:

Page One: White, Sky, Turquoise, Lapis and Night

Page Two: Yellow, Tangerine, Ruby, Magenta, Blackberry Violet

Page Three: Lime and Umber

As I knew I would most likely be drawing and writing over the paints (it IS “mixed media”, after all!) I tested three markers on the swatches:

The Sharpie Meanstreak,

– the Sakura Permapaque White and

– my “Julie Prichard” Golden Black pen {Montana Marker with Golden Fluid Acrylic}

Mixed media markers

Most colours are fairly opaque and thick and luscious. When I was watching Dina playing with these paints at CHA 2014, she described them as “creamy” and I would have to agree.

Mixed media artist Dina Wakely

Dina talked about choosing her favourite colours; some bright and some serious. And about the importance for having her paints in tubes to make them easier to apply and close the lids with one hand, as Dina lives in Arizona, where it gets HOT and paints dry out!!

In the wake of my inspiring week at Art Is You Melbourne, I wanted to continue to play my new Dina Wakely paints in the styles of the two artists I had taken classes with; two artist with two very styles styles.  And then I wanted to have a play in my own style. Here are the three canvases to show you the diversity of these paints.

Seth Apter Style

Set of 12 Dina Wakely Paints on ephemera

If you would like to learn more about Seth Apter’s painting, you can find him at The Altered Page.

Kecia Deveney Style

Kecia Deveney mixed media artist

To learn more about Kecia, you’ll find her at Lemoncholoy’s Flight of Fancy.

Michelle’s Style

Mixed media artist Michelle G Brown

My full tutorial for this piece will be available soon!

What I like about the Dina Wakely paints:

– love the range of colours

– love their thickness and “open time” (longer drying time to allow blending)

What I don’t like about the Dina Wakely paints:

– my only gripe is not about the paints but the packaging: when these paints lie on the table, the back side of the label don’t show what colour it is. I found it frustrating to have to pick up a few tubes before I found the colour I was looking for. I’m sure this could be fixed by continuing the band of colour on the front of the label onto the back, making it easier to see which colour is which when they are all spread out.

Set of 12 Dina Wakely Paints

– also I’d like a few more colour, especially a medium shade of green; the LIME is divine but I need a darker green too! And maybe a “nice” brown and beige!

Overall conclusion:

*LOVE* these paints and will continue to play with them, and most likely buy some more. I hope there will be more colours out too. They are a great quality paint for a reasonable price – I have bought [italic] them AND used [italic] them, so that’s a great endorsement from me! (Who will often buy expensive materials and then not use them for fear of “wasting” or “ruining” them!)

Happy creating,

Michelle

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Michelle G. Brown is passionate about mixed media art and enjoys sharing her knowledge and techniques with you to allow you to express your own creativity. Michelle understands that many of us have an inner need to create. By learning a few basic techniques the amazing world of mixed media art is accessible to everyone!

Michelle lives with her husband and two boys in Melbourne, Australia.

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Mixed Media Artist Christine Marshal

Christine Marshal was born in England and now resides in Boston, and is a self-taught artist. Here she is to tell us a bit about herself – take it away Christine 

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I am a self-taught, abstract artist, originally from Manchester, England but been living in Boston, Massachusetts for almost 11 years working with teenage youth with learning disabilities/mental health problems. Qualified as a Reflexologist in 1999 (no I don’t have a foot fetish, but I do believe in holistic therapies:) Also enjoy black & white photography and I’m a crazy “MANCHESTER UNITED” fan. My friends call me Rooney’s Girl :p

Butterfly three mini mixed media collages

I started painting in Jan 2013 when I couldn’t find a wall art that I liked for a big wall space at home….I thought, “I bet I could do one myself”! I practiced on small canvas and discovered a talent I didn’t realize I had and I absolutely love, love, love it now !!!!.  I’m constantly thinking about my next projects and it’s keeping me awake at night. agghhh. My friends nicknamed me Picastrokes (hee hee)

Although a perfectionist, art has given me the freedom to embrace and enjoy my mistakes in a fun and exciting way. I’ve always loved texture and shimmering objects so you will see these in lots of my artwork. I especially revel in metallics, gel mediums & embellishments that add structure and interest. Many of my favorites include:-

  • Jewelry
  • Mica
  • Beads
  • Metal
  • Wood
  • Words/Lettering
  • Thick gel mediums
  • Glass beads
  • Broken ceramics
  • Steampunk
  • Candle wax
  • Sequins
  • Driftwood
  • Glitter
  • Buttons

I never ever plan what I am going to make. I just like to experiment and see where it takes me. I have a large selection of paints, embellishments and found objects surrounding me ready to throw in the mix… I like to call my work “creative accidents”

three mini canvas in greys

This year (without any experience or help) – I created my first online gallery shop on Etsy, called “Key2MyArt” as well  as  creating a Facebook page “Key2myart – Christine Marshall“.  Please feel free to post your pictures of YOUR art on my page…Would love to help independent artists share and sell their work!

I was also very happy to sell numerous mixed media art at my first ever arts and craft show at ASSEMBLED in Somerville, MA. (with no experience in this field at all). This is all very new to me, as is learning about all the different art techniques available. I’m so eager to dabble in everything, but right now I’m hooked on mixed media and can’t absorb myself enough in all the beautiful art that I’ve viewed on so many websites recently. There are so many unique artists out there. I’d love to own a large castle to display all of YOUR work!!!  I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoyed creating them for YOU !!

Butterfly three mini mixed media collages

The Butterfly Effect-  Used acrylic and metallic paints with gel mediums on deep gallery wrapped canvas and threw in some glitter and tiny beads to add sparkle & more texture. Finished with 3d gold foil adhesive butterflies.

three mini canvas in greys

Gimme Some Lovin’ –  Acrylics on deep canvas. Ink stamped with love and face motifs. Adhered 2x glass beads and silver sequins to add a little bit of glitz.

mixed media canvas collage

Tealing Earth – This canvas art is painted in a teal and metallic bronze acrylics. I then carefully glued the following embellishments to the canvas:-

  • TURQUOISE and JADE STONES from a broken necklace,
  • OLIVE GREEN RIBBON
  • METALLIC OLIVE painted PEARLS
  • GOLD GLITTER PAINT
  • TEAL SEQUINS
  • FRAYED YARN
  • BURLAP
  • PENCIL WOOD SHAVINGS .. Yep I will use anything and everything in my art work if I think it will work 🙂

mixed media canvas collage with beadsMr Blue & Mrs Bronze-  –  Coated the canvas in turquoise blue acrylics and once dry added a copper metallic paint with a few dabs of titanium white. I then adhered buttons, tiny beads, sequins, broken ceramic, broken jewelery, blue glass, tiny square mirrors and copper colored foil from a chocolate wrapper.

3D mixed media canvas painting

Birds In Chaos – I wanted to create a modern crazy, mish-mash of shimmering embellishments with a mixed media 3D  effect that would capture the viewers eye and pique their imagination with this shiny collection. I like to view this art as an exciting waterfall of objects that blend together perfectly and looks stunning when natural light captures it.  I first covered the canvas in a very thin layer of gel medium and then dropped handfuls of embellishments upon it. Some objects need to be adhered securely with glue. When dry I dabbed a little black with metallic gold and copper acrylics to add more color, then drizzled some fluid paint across the whole project. Finished with a gloss sealant to add more shine and protection. Look closely to find all the embellishments. Can you find the birdies?? 🙂

    • Gallery canvas = 16x20x3/4
    • beads, buttons, metal and mirrors
    • shimmering mica
    • Metallic acrylic paints
    • gleaming broken jewelery
    • two purple ceramic birds
    • gold and red foil
    • sequins
    • stones
    • pearls

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