3 Techniques to Make Your Mixed Media Pages POP!

Do you ever feel like some of your mixed media pages look a bit blah? Or maybe you’re part of the way through your art journal page and you don’t know how to finish it off. This is a common problem when working with art journaling and mixed media.  

Today I’m taking 3 of my own unfinished and underwhelming pages and we’ll transform them together. Along the way, I’ll show you exactly what’s going wrong and how to fix it.

Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more.

The Unfinished Mixed Media Page

The unfinished mixed media page happens to all of us. Especially if we’re learning techniques and experimenting with unfamiliar materials. It’s so easy to get focused on the process and before we know it, our project has gone in a direction we haven’t anticipated.

But the great news is that when we’re working with mixed media, nothing is truly finished and it can be fixed. We can always add more to the page, adjust the colors, and turning something that’s a bit blah into something amazing! 

3 Techniques to Make Your Mixed Media Pages Pop!

There are many techniques that we can use to alter our pages, but today I’ll share the three techniques that I fall back on when I’m struggling with completing a mixed media page.

Technique 1: Negative Painting

You may have heard the term negative painting and don’t know what this means. Basically, it’s adding paint or ink to the negative space around your image.  If you’re image is disappearing into the background, adding lighter (or darker) paint or ink to your background around the subject helps it to pop off the page.  

The Problem Negative Painting Solves

Negative painting is very helpful for toning down a page that’s too busy or doesn’t have a strong focal point. This page didn’t have a strong purpose when I started creating it. I used the surface for demoing a watercolor background, then for demoing a toilet paper roll technique. Then without much thought I added a flower that I had hanging around from another demo to the page.  

This page was used as a place to demo and experiment, but it’s time to finish this project. The main problem with this page is that the Parrot Tulips are not the focal point. The toilet paper technique and the bright colors are detracting from it. There are just too many colors and textures going on. This is a blah page for me and I don’t love it, so it’s time for some negative painting!  

How to Fix This Mixed Media Page with Negative Painting

I have a choice. I could go with very light-colored paints or darker colored paints for this technique. One of the many problems we can have with our pages is that they lack contrast. We may have a lot of color, but the color is all a similar value.

If you’re looking for tool that can help you determine if you have enough values in your projects, try using this value tool. It’s helpful for understanding what lights, darks and midtones that you have in your project.

In my case, by using dark blues, this allows the lighter values of the yellow tulip to contrast from the background.  

Adding Matte Acrylic Paint

Today I’m testing out some new matte acrylic paints (often known as acrylic gouache). Using a combination of Holbein Matte Prussian Blue and Josana Matte Colony Blue paints I’m adding paint around the tulip and leaves.

You’re Covering Up All Those Layers!

Yes, I am covering up these layers, but it’s important that I do. Every time we make a page, we need to decide what the focus is and what feeling do we want to evoke as we create. It’s all part of the creative process!

I want to create space around the tulip, but you’ll see that I’m not adding in heavy layers of paint. The colors from below are poking through and adding a lot to the design.

Don’t get too attached to your first layers. I know, it’s hard not to! But these can end up adding so much texture and design to your page, even if it’s not exactly what you originally expected.

Tips for Negative Painting on Mixed Media Pages

Start with Thin Layers of Paint

If you’re like me and you don’t want to completely obliterate those beautiful mixed media layers you’ve created, don’t apply your paint in a thick layer. Thin out your paint with water, matte medium or glazing medium. This way you create translucent layers and can build the color gradually. I tend to add heavier color just around the subject and then thin out the paint as I move out.

Opacity vs Tranlucency

The matte paints are going to be opaquer than your average acrylic paint. Most student and professional art paints will have an indicator on the tube if the paint is opaque, transparent or semi-transparent. This can help you to choose the right paint for your negative painting (depending on how much of the background you want to cover up).

What if I Cover Up Too Much of the Background?

If the background gets too solid or opaque, you can always lift some of the paint while it is still wet.

You can remove the paint with a damp paper towel or a baby wipe. For this project, using a stencil and a baby wipe, I gently rubbed the surface to remove some of the color. This can create a unique pattern showcasing some of the beautiful layers underneath.

Can I Add More Layers on Top?

Yes, you can absolutely continue to add layers. For this page even though I toned down the background, it felt a little too toned down for me. By adding in some washi tape and some stenciling with paint over the top, this was a way to add in pattern while keeping the focal image on the tulip.

The final touch was adding in my words. Looking at it now, I wish I had the letters a bit smaller, because I ended up covering up more of the background that I expected. But this is how we learn. We try things and we learn what we like and don’t like with each piece.

Technique 2:  Adding in Highlights to Mixed Media Pages

If you have a background or a page where things are too dark, this is an opportunity to add in some highlights.

The Problem with this Art Journal Page

The problem with this art journal page is that the background lacks detail. The focal image is very contrasting, but all the work that I put into stamping and coloring the leaves doesn’t translate well.

This happened when I was learning new techniques in an online class with Dyan Reavely. I was following along with the instructions and didn’t take a step back to critically look at the page. The red I chose was quite dark. The black mica spray had so much mica in it, this really affected the contrast on this page.  

How to Add in Highlights

How much we highlight depends on how much contrast we want to create.

If I wanted the leaves to be as bold as the bird image, I could have highlighted the leaves with white. But I wanted a more subtle look to this project. My idea was to pull out the detail in the leaves so that they contrasted from the background, but at the same time not competing with the focal image.

I tested a few different acrylic markers and found the Molotow Ochre Brown paint pen to be the right shade for this project. This color was lighter and opaque bringing more definition to the leaves.

I would not normally suggest the Molotow markers, as I haven’t had good success with them up to this point. They seemed to work better on the mixed media surface than they do on smooth paper surfaces. If you’re looking for help choosing the right paint marker for you, here’s 2 articles that can help you find the best paint marker for you.

The Best Acrylic Paint Pens: A Paint Marker Comparison

The Best Inexpensive Acrylic Paint Markers

You can see that now that I’ve added the paint marker around the leaves, they pop from the background more.

I also added in some gold details with a Pentouch Gold Paint Pen. I find the Pentouch Gold is one of the most vivid gold color paint pens I’ve found.  

Final Touches

For this piece, I added in a few final touches with paint pen.

I outlined the quote in black paint pen and added in gold marks around the quote. To make the bird image pop a bit more, a little bit of white Posca pen was perfect to highlight the catchlight in the eye and around the bird’s face.

By adding a bit of black Posca paint pen to the shadows, these little touches just make the images look more dynamic.  

Technique 3:  Adding in Shadows to Mixed Media Pages

So sometimes we have a piece that feels a little bit too similar. Similar colors, similar values, and similar patterns. By adding in shadows, subtle colors and contrast this can turn any so-so page into a masterpiece.

This was another page that I made during an online class, but I used alternate colors and designs from the instructor. I purposely went for the blue and white color scheme, sticking with neutral and monochromatic colors.

The problem with this page is that it has a lot of mid-tones, no contrasting dark or light areas. It also doesn’t have a strong focal point. So how do we fix this?

Use Watercolor Crayons

I love using Caran d’Ache watercolor crayons as they are easy to apply. You can use them to create a creamy watercolor look, or you can use them to add subtle texture and blending to any project. They are an investment, but having a small set has been very useful in my mixed media work.

To create contrast, I started with adding blue shadows to the grid areas. The beauty of the watercolor crayons is that you can add the color, then use a baby wipe or a brush with water to blend out the color.

The other option is that you can dip them in water and apply them directly, this will cause them to add soft color straight to the surface.

Creating a Vignette

The watercolor crayons are also excellent for darkening the edges of the page. As I have sealed the surface with matte medium, this allows me to add and subtract color without risk of damaging my surface.

Add in the watercolor crayon (it’s going to look rough when first added), then use a baby wipe to smear and blend the color. You can also wet your finger with water and use it to smear and move the color. If you find that the color is too dark, just remove more of it with the baby wipe. As this is a water-soluble product, you can easily add and remove color.

What I love about this technique is all the color and texture that is brought up by mixing and swiping the watercolor crayon onto the mixed media surface. This technique helps bring up all those beautiful textures created by the layers of text paper and napkins.

Adding in Subtle Color

I do want this page to be primarily blue, but the focal point still needs to be the flowers and birds. To help bring the eye to the images, I’m using my Van Gough Metallic Watercolor set to add subtle watercolor accents to the flowers.

Instead of using strong colors or straight metallics, I’m using interference white and interference violet watercolor paints. This helps to create colors and highlights, but without overwhelming the piece. Interference paints also have a beautiful color flipping quality to them that is both unique and beautiful. It’s a great way to add accents without taking away from the overall feel of the page.   

Adding Shadows and Highlights Next to Each Other

The final way I’m going to add shadows to this project is with a Stabilo All black pencil. This is a water-soluble pencil that will write on glass, plastic and a variety of surfaces. What’s really unique about this pencil is that when water is added, it can be blended.

Using this pencil, I’m adding in areas of shadow around the birds and between the flowers. Some of the color is being blended out with a brush. Other areas I’m dipping the Stabilo All pencil directly into the water and applying it to the page. This is an easy way to add and remove the darker color until you get a shadow with the consistency you like.

It can be easy to go a bit too far with the shadow, so for some of the birds, I’m adding in lines of watercolor crayon right next to the shadow areas. By having these areas next to each other, this helps draws the eye to the focal point. It’s a simple trick, but super effective!   

You Can Make All Your Mixed Media Pages Amazing!

These are just a few of my tried and tested techniques for getting great results with my mixed media pages.

As artists and creatives each of us has different sense of taste and style. Perhaps you learn towards a maximalist style, or perhaps you’re gravitate towards soft, subtle colors. That’s great! These techniques are not project dependant and can help you make any mixed media page pop!

The key is continuing to grow in our creativity and learn techniques that will give us the results we want.

Looking for More Inspiration?

Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter for more mixed media tips and to be notified about my new articles and classes!

Project Supply List