Sumptuous Sirens and Botanical Beauties

Andrea Matus deMeng
Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 August

Remember those old carnival sideshow posters…like “Cobra Girl”…or the “Two-Headed Boy”…? I just loved those posters. What was so amazing about them you ask?…well, maybe the vibrant eye-catching color? Or perhaps the promise of seeing something beyond belief…whatever the reason – I love those old posters and decided it’s time to re-invent the art of the sideshow poster.

Prepare to do some carnivalesque transformative magic of our own as we take everyday images and change them into large scale mixed media masterpieces.

Using a combination of collage and paint we are going to take the ordinary imagery and transform it into something wildly exciting and out of this world. While having fun bringing your new sideshow creation to life you will be learning everything you need to know about the different ways to use paint and otherwise unrelated imagery, combining them beautifully into a unified composition that will allow us to create your new sideshow persona.

Materials:

Canvas medium weight, primed but not stretched 24”X42” (can be a bit longer if you want)

Paper, ephemera and collage items, think carnival textures and symbols and bring your favourites (Flowers, tentacles, butterflies, spiders, wings, numbers, swords, words, extra eyes, hands…anything you love, tissue paper, old sewing patterns, lace, handmade papers, old letters, text from an old book….you get the idea) Sections of beautiful wallpapers make great backgrounds (try home depot and other home décor stores for remnants)
**One of the most IMPORTANT things is to remember the scale that we are working on is big so have some of your images photocopied large!

Photocopies of faces – magazines, vintage photos (**faces should fit the space of an 8½X11 sheet of paper) bring a few to choose from and have them copied onto glossy paper if possible (I’ll have some extras just in case) If you have a favourite face you want to use, bring two copies of it so you feel free to really explore without worry.

Paint – Golden Acrylics fluid or heavy body (white, black, and any blue, red, and yellow, plus a couple more of your favorites)

Paintbrushes – bring just a few in different sizes (at least one larger –like a 2” brush and a couple of detail brushes)

Palette & Water Container

Paper towel and/or baby wipes

Golden Matte medium – large 16oz.

Golden Soft Gel Gloss – small size

Scissors

Teacher will bring

  • A variety of miscellaneous Collage Items
  • White Gel pen
  • Black sharpie – extra fine tip
  • Portfolio Brand Pastels
  • Watersoluble Crayons like Caran d’Ache
  • High Flow Acrylics
  • Fineliner paint
  • E6000
  • Stencils
  • Other Mark Making tools

Kit Includes – package of collage materials and ephemera