Gavin McDermott

I was thinking about what best to seal a collage with… Specifically, I was wondering about an acrylic on canvas + collage (paper stuck with PVA)—and if Mod Podge still my best bet to seal as a top layer?

Anyway, I stumbled upon a mixed media YouTube video by Karen Miller and yes said Mod Podge confirmed as reliable thing to use… (Dries really quickly!).

There were also a few others with positive feedback around, too (not least Golden Soft Gel Gloss).

So, once I’d solved my particular problem I was then curious to continue working on some earlier pieces, confident in my ability to isolate layers.

So, from 6+ years ago, this waterfront (of acrylic and gesso on paper) was ‘expanded’ from this:

To this:

Similarly, a base of charcoal, ink, and acrylic was sealed and more collage and acrylic added (stuck and sealed with Mod Podge).

Oh, but there’s more: I then found a demo by the Danish Painter (aka Marie Louise Eriksen), who mentioned charcoal as part of mixed media project (with a spray fixative and matte medium), so I had to give it a go… well, actually, I thought soft pastel would be even more fun.