The Benefits of Working in Multiple Mediums
How working in various mediums enhances painting abilities as well as the appearance and emotional impact of a composition
Any artist can reap benefits through the study of multiple mediums. My visual and tactility sensations were enhanced through the use of various mediums in my continued development as a visual artist. Sounds very serious. It is. Introducing the study of different mediums has had a direct effect on the building of my skills as an artist in oil painting, watercolor painting, pastel painting, drawing and casein painting. I have produced and still produce in numerous mediums. I want to address the benefits of this experience in my life’s work. Very early on, in the infancy of my studies, was the introduction of numerous mediums. My skills were developed through these various mediums and their continued use. I benefited and still benefit through this process. I still use all these mediums. I still enjoy all these mediums and plan to continue. How did this happen? My studies began before art school with a gifted artist by the name of Patricia Kirkeberg and continued through art school and way beyond. All my skills as an artist using a brush have been greatly enhanced through the initial use of Sumi Ink on rice paper. Patricia introduced Sumi Ink drawing to me. The skill that I built through that process very clearly built my use of a brush today. It also led to the introduction to the use of wet in wet watercolor. Gaining control in watercolor due to working wet in wet had numerous benefits. Timing, control, discipline all played their roles. Making great
shapes that implied visual objects and visual cues that I predominately work in when producing any painting. The introduction of various techniques was a real plus. Painting wet into wet. Painting directly. Painting in layered color. All of these pluses are some of the advantages of using multiple techniques in the different mediums. Through these mediums, the possibilities of technical application and technique possibilities became a long pursuit that reaped more insights than I could have imagined. The interesting fact that occurred in my career is: One medium became the teacher for another medium. Mixed media introduces numerous possibilities. Changing surfaces requires adjustment and it is informative. The world of multiple mediums can open your creative thoughts in directions you never planned or hoped for in your work. Painting in casein combines the understanding of the transparent medium and the opaque medium. Both have necessary and desired benefits. Casein can be layered as an oil painting. You may work transparently or opaquely as you build a casein painting. Lack of understanding in opaque color is clearly evident in casein painting. Once you can build a casein painting you can build an oil painting and vice versa. There is such a difference in the outcome of the surface between these two mediums. Casein use was a bear, yet I realize I had gained a skill that can only enhance my oil painting. Pastels painting benefits definitely created the daring side of my pursuit to produce a colorful painting. Plus it pushed me to pursue the layering of colors. Layering one color over another for the correct color for the job is the challenge in pastel painting. Pastel painting produces numerous visual effects along with great color that
can only be achieved through this medium. Building those soft edges is constantly at work when painting in pastel. The light on the color crystals effect on the surface of a pastel painting is like no other. Becoming daring with your color through the use of this medium can only enhance your use of color in oil paint. Away goes your fear level. There are other things to consider as a plus.
Changing surfaces introduces you to so many different looks. Each medium has a great contribution to another medium. I like to say I looked under every rock to find whatever treasure I could from working in watercolor. Edgar Whitney, a wonderful watercolorist, was famous for saying, “The artist becomes the collector of shapes and symbols.” You most definitely do this in watercolor. The importance of making a beautiful shape in watercolor cannot be underestimated. Technique alone will not make a good painting. If all you notice is the technique, you will not have a wonderful piece of art only a technique that causes a momentary stir. Good color will not make it a great design of a painting. The design will carry the load. It is the combination. Over and over making an attractive shape visually cued and correct to the message is difficult. Watercolor forced me to develop into a good shape maker hence a better visual communicator. Making simple shapes or even spotting one through the selection of good shapes lifted from nature instilled the ability to take a shape and make it produce the job I planned for it to do. Oddly enough, through painting in various mediums, the one skill that flew to the top was my drafting skill. All my work in judgment of proportions with a brush or with a pastel in my hand had a direct effect on my ability to draw with a stick of graphite, charcoal or conté crayon. I still recall being shocked the day I took only a sketchbook, a 4B pencil with my kneaded eraser on a day trip with my kids. I went on a narrow gauge train ride from Chama, New Mexico, to Colorado and back again. All day I drew one scene after the other. I have saved some of them from 40 year ago. These drawings still please me and take me back to that day when I realized all my work with a brush had translated so beautifully into great drawing skills! It so surpassed what I had dreamed! Using all the mediums continues to push my skills. My skills grow even stronger as a visual artist with this constant stretching, pulling and pushing of my ability. The oil paintings that I produce today are the direct beneficiaries of all the various mediums that built my skill into what it is today. Multiple disciplines produced great blessings.