MIXED MEDIA WITH PEROCI – JUST WHAT CAN I MIX WITH WHAT?

Mixed media refers to artwork created with more than one visual art medium. The beauty of this technique is that it increases the creative boundaries of an artist, which in turn leads to new avenues of self-expression. Rather than be constrained with the use of just one product, combining two or more will create contrasts of both texture and application, and may result in completely new effects when two products are combined. It also challenges artists to abandon their assumptions about a product and let the influences of a second product take over.

However, many people are reticent to explore mixed media for one very simple reason - they don’t know what products to use together. While there are no hard and fast rules for this, some products do complement each other better than others.

Let’s look at charcoal first. Charcoal comes in various forms and the three most common are:

Compressed Charcoal: This consists of charcoal ground to a powder then mixed with a binder before being compressed into stick or block form. Unlike pencils, compressed charcoal does not come in a large range of grades. It is usually classified as either soft, medium or hard. These variations are achieved by varying the amount of binder added to the charcoal powder. The Peroci Compressed Charcoal Blister Pack contains six square sticks of charcoal, two each of the soft, medium and hard varieties, which makes it a good choice for experimentation.

Charcoal Pencils: These are also another option if fine details are required, and are simply compressed charcoal within wooden casings, just like other pencils. These pencils come in, either soft, medium or hard, but can also sometimes be graded as H, HB, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, and 6B. The range is not as extensive as that for graphite pencils simply because charcoal cannot be made extremely hard. The Peroci Charcoal Pencil Box contains 12 pencils, 4 each of soft, medium and hard varieties, and is a good starting point for those wishing to experiment with charcoal pencils.

Willow Charcoal: This is a lightweight stick version of charcoal. It usually comes in various circumferences from fine to very thick. As it is very fragile, the thin sticks must be used with care to prevent breakage.

These are only some of the products that can be used when working with mixed media. Next issue we will look at other mixed media products. While I have mentioned combinations of some basic drawing media, you could easily increase the number and see what effect you get. Always remember the mixed media golden rule: if at first you don’t succeed, then try something else!

For your nearest stockist of Peroci Pencils and Charcoal please contact Artworks Essential on 02 9637 2022 or email derivan@derivan.com.au

“Rather than be constrained with the use of just one product, combining two or more will create contrasts of both texture and application, and may result in completely new effects when two products are combined.”