Acrylic with Pastels: I have found that I'm quite happy to work with acrylic paints and enjoy mixing colours for the right shade. I also have found using a simple piece of card to paste the paint onto the canvas/card to be very pleasing. However I also like to use a brush and then sponge over for effect. What's more I find adding a little soft pastel to the final touches after the paint has dried works very well.
Watercolour: I was surprised to find that I liked working with watercolour as I have been avoiding it for years. I have realised that extra care has to be taken as mistakes can't be painted over like acrylics. Whites and light spaces can be a problem although masking tape and masking fluid can help keep these parts from being drowned in colour. Another golden rule with watercolour is stay away from the black and mix blue and brown instead. This advice helped tremendously.
Mixed Media/Collage: I found this style to be really enjoyable as it was a messy off the wall project that didn't really have any rules. The picture completely came out of my head and I didn't even have a plan to start with, which can be a lot of fun. However I had decided that the piece shouldn't have to make sense but instead imitate a mixture of ideas and moods. I used some of my own photographs along with acrylic paint and shredded pieces of paper glued on to the piece for effect.
Ink: I got the idea to work with ink through the first textile art class with Tom however chose to use a sponge to add my background colours and then added dark ink over the top to add the detail of walls and windows etc.
Photoshop: The photoshop painting was taken from a photograph I took a few months ago of a demolished house in Bolton. I simply added the paintbucket effect using a variety of colours and then used the smudge effect to create a melting type scenario after which I added a few faint large strokes of paintbush in some areas and then I added the 'Dark Strokes' effect which gave the painting a touch more depth and atmosphere whilst still retaining the colourful abstract style.
Here are some of my art pieces.
