Have you Tried Micaceous Iron Oxide for Pastels?

'Summer Love'           10x8            pastel            ©Karen Margulis
available $165

I love my artists friends! They have the greatest ideas. Every time I teach a workshop I come home with a new tip. And now with my Patreon Page I am learning things every day from my patrons! Last month I got a great tip from a Patreon artist. She uses Micaceous Iron Oxide to make a home made pastel support. I had no idea what it was but it sounded intriguing. I looked it up and the next time a placed an art supply order I added a jar of the stuff. I just tried it for the first time. WOW! Thank you for sharing this with us! 

I made a video of my first experiment with the Micaceous Iron Oxide. Click on the link below if you'd like to see. If you are a Patreon member I will be sharing this video with EXPANDED commentary at some point this month. 

 https://youtu.be/KvGhpt-e9sE

So what is this magic material? It is actually a metallic acrylic paint by Golden. The makeup of the paint has metallic pieces that are like mica sense the name. When it is applied to a surface it is a dark metallic with a slight grittiness and sparkle. Very cool! You can thin it with medium or water but I used it straight from the jar. A little went a long way. I applied it to a piece of Multimedia Artboard but you can use any surface that can take wet paint!

Applying the MIO

Look carefully for the sparkle!