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Exploring Mixed Media Art Techniques, Painting on Plywood and Image Composition


I started to paint what I thought to be my only painting on 12mm plywood canvas until my teacher, Greg Pryor, told me to go bigger. My decision to paint on plywood was driven by a previous painting I made on a smaller board. The experience of painting on the board itself proved to be flexible, and I wanted to have the option to incorporate mixed media art techniques and elements such as paper or cardboard further down the line as it would allow a three-dimensional feel to it.


My next task was to choose the images that would make the final composition for my first painting. The first three images below, I had to make them cohesively into one. To do that, I took photos of each manipulation, uploaded them to the Canva website, and started creating a new collage until I was happy with it. The result is in the fourth image.


This process not only gave me the flexibility to manipulate further but also allowed me to critically analyse tonal contrast between each layer and the priority of information. In reflection, the aim of positioning these elements was not to create distance but for each image to engage in the space it was placed.


I have provided a snippet of two plywood board compositions which will guide my final paintings. I will discuss more in the next blog post.







oil paint on plywood
Manipulating Europe

Manipulating Europe (Oil on board, 2023) is available for purchase.

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