Mixed Media Portrait - Work in Progress - Part 1

Hi, servus and welcome to a new kind of post on my creative blog.

I have decided to use my blog a bit more as the means it originally was meant to be - a personal creative diary that helps with keeping track of my creative journey quite easy. The fact that I am sharing my "creative diary" with "the world out there" makes it also a place where you can take a look at the curtains or get inspiration for your own projects. I also write the tutorials not only for you but also for myself - so I can come back to check on any products I have used or look at the steps images. But these "more personal" kind of diary posts will not have as detailed tutos as my projects for my DTs have. IF you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me or drop me a message on facebook, okay?

To start with I am sharing a work in progress that is meant to become a mixed media portrait when it's finished.
This is how it looks so far:

What I have done so far is prepare a mixed media wood panel by glueing on scraps of old magazines and dictionary pages. I have also included some left overs from stamping onto dried and used tea bags.

I also sealed the glued on papers with another coat of matte medium. Then I added a bit of diluted white Gesso and once that was dry I toned the whole thing down with a wash of Walnut Ink Crystals. 

A bit of texture was added using white texture paste through various stencils. Then I sketched the portrait with a soft charcoal pencil. I used a picture from a magazine as a model. 

It is helpful to first lightly mark directions and distances....like the curves and angles of the eyebrows against the angle of the nose, the shape of the upper lip and the shape of the hair. 

Then I filled in some shading with more Walnut Ink. I simply used a soft brush and painted the ink in the darkest spots. The edges from the glued on pages and scraps created a wonderful random texture thus being highlighted by the walnut ink! 

As the surface was sealed with matte medium, I could still go in and wipe back where I had added too much ink.  

Then I let my sketched portrait air dry.

I've not decided yet on what to add...maybe some word stencilling at the top left...some scraped on paint...I definitely need a contrasting colour (like turquoise for example) against the browns for more interest. 

Well....I guess I will continue with first painting the details in the face with a fine detail brush. Maybe that will spark some inspiration for the background. ;) 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Claudia xxx