This is the fourth in a series of test pieces I did recently using the same photography mixed with a variety of wax and other media. For this piece, I did some mixed media collage work before ever putting the wax down, which is a new way entirely for me to work!

I first glued down the photograph on cardboard and let dry. Afterwards, I brushed on some white acrylic diluted with water over one side of the image, leaving a few drops for added texture. I then laid in some old handwriting to cover the mouth.

Once everything was dry, I laid some wax over, played around with an image transfer of a tree line over on the left, which ended up not working out so I simply scraped most of it back. I then tried some layers of a creamy white opaque wax and rubbed asphalt patch over top to add some detail and brown hue. The last touch was a few more drips to mimic the paint drips on the base layer and add dimension.

Once I set all of these four pieces together, an artist friend of mine pointed out that they made her think of Earth, Air, Fire, Water. And so they did! I hadn’t even noticed this… it just goes to show that sometimes our subconscious mind is also working out its own ideas while we aren’t even noticing… another important reason for just getting into playing and experimenting! Although these were originally just test pieces, I am considering mounting them together now as a single, finished work possibly. I’m unsure what kind of finished treatment I might do to mount them, so I’ll let that simmer a while. I really hope you enjoyed the process of all four of these! If you’d like to see the process on the other three, here are links to Earth, Water, and Fire. Thanks for hanging with me!