Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery (Paperback)

by Angela Cartwright (Author)
Key Phrases: crackle paste, transparent oil paint, molding paste, Coloring Your World, Art Parts, Soft Scrub (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cartwright, Angela. Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery. Quarry: Quayside. 2007. c.144p. illus. ISBN 978-1-59253-369-5. pap. $24.99. ART INSTRUCTION   Accomplished actress and artist Cartwright takes digital images, photos on film, and Polaroids and manipulates them with an array of traditional art materials and techniques. She adds color with acrylic paints, oil sticks, watercolors, dry pigments, and inks. For texture she uses embossing powders, gessoes, pastes, and wax, and for special effects she experiments by printing photos on unusual substratum, by imprinting, and by using tissue and fabric. Both books accomplish their goal admirably, and both are highly recommended

Product Description

Over 25 unique effects illustrated with process photos, finished examples, and variations.

Mixed Emulsions is a follow up to Karen Michel's book, The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery. Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery takes a slightly different tact, bringing traditional and digital photography front and center, showing the many ways that photographic imagery can be manipulated, not electronically, but using various art materials and techniques. The chapters explore ways to add color (paints, oil sticks, watercolors, inks), ways to add texture (embossing powders, gessos, pastes, wax), and special effects (printing on unusual substrates, imprinting, photo mosaics, using tissue, fabric, cardboard).

Altered art continues to grow as an area of interest for many kinds of crafters.

• A great technique book for artists looking to expand the creative possibilities for altered photography
• A gallery of artwork by other well-known artists offers further inspiration

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books; illustrated edition edition (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592533698
• ISBN-13: 978-1592533695
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,311 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Short on technical information, November 15, 2007

By	Judith A. Stalus "blue iris" (Walpole, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although this book has interesting ideas it lacks basic information. For example, there is a long section on painting on photographs with oil paints but the author never mentions that you can only paint with oil on traditional photographs and NOT on digital prints since the oil will eat away the paper. There are clear acrylic gessos that can be used to coat the paper so oil painting is possible but the issue is simply ignored by the author. Instructions like play around and use your imagination are no substitute for concrete necessary information.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best for adventurous artists, March 10, 2008

By	Linda T. Minton "linnerlu" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I LOVE this book! I buy a lot of artist's books ... altered this-and-that, how-to books, etc. This one does not give much actual step-by-step instruction, which I consider an advantage. It gives you the ideas, beautiful examples, the supplies you need to achieve a similar outcome, and assumes that you have enough adventurous spirit to dive in and try it. This is one of the few books that I have read through, cover-to-cover, and can't wait to try almost every technique the author suggests.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mixin' It Up, oh, yeah, baby - your art that is -, January 1, 2008

By	S. Fishburn (Fort Collins, Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Yes, there has been a proliferation of books this past year on the vast and general subject of Mixed-Media. And why not? Artists and ideas abound, and the techniques showcased by one may appeal to a set group, but others may find themselves out in the cold, longing for a fresh, or at least differently skewed, approach.
Angela Cartwright is a renowned and respected black and white photographer who ups the ante of her shots by not simply hand-coloring, but layering and incorporating her photos, usually as focal centerpieces, within the larger framework of mixed-media collage. The evocatively colored images spill onto borders and wood frames, altered with a variety of methods, some of which will surely spark the imaginative fires of any artist working the genre.
She methodically (I hear she's a Virgo!) covers a plethora of techniques for use in incorporating photographic imagery into altered art, from milk stamping and encaustic to two of her specialties, mosaic and notch tooling. For each section, there is a brief overview and then a Project Launch, which, while not a traditional how-to, serves as a guiding hand to help the reader create a similar effect.
I love the inclusion of an art-full Timeline! Angela also laid out a remarkable Gallery section, which showcases (on a full page each!) the works of nearly two dozen established and emerging artists, from Anahata Katkin, Kelly Kilmer, Misty Mawn and Scott Davis Jones, to Shirley Ende-Saxe and JoFish.