Hi there, it's Sarah Pendergrast here today to share a fun technique that most people have probably tried at least once or twice, and that's watercoloring. I've actually been playing with this technique a fair bit lately, but you'll have to bear with me as I take you on a walk down memory lane on some of my very early layouts, which also used this technique, but in different ways!
Supplies
The are actually many supplies that one can use to watercolor on your projects. The obvious is, of course, a set of watercolor paints, but there are many others as well. For example, there are watercolor crayons, watercolour pencils, watercolor papers (like Peerless), dye-based ink pads and markers, twinkling H2O's...just to name a few. You can even raid your kid's stash and try Crayola markers, and kids watercolor paint trays.
Techniques
Well, I'm not an expert by any stretch, so this is just a brief overview touching on a few ways you can use these versatile supplies. Again, please forgive the "vintage" layouts here!
1. Create swooshes of colours
For my gallery layout this month I used my water colour crayons to create large "swooshes" of colour as a backround for my photo. In this case, I just used a foam brush to spread the colour.
If you're not using watercolor paper, you run the risk of your paper pilling. If this happens, wait for the paper to dry, and just brush off the pills.
Kathy Martin used the same technique to create a backround for her stamped image in her adorable birthday card:
Kathy used the following method with her dye-based ink pads to colour. She simply pressed her ink pad onto an acrylic block to transfer the ink. She then picked up the colour with a brush and painted!
2. Color Stamped Images
For the next layout I used a set of outline stamps to create my own patterned paper for the layout (*note* - I was REALLY into using my stamps on layouts back then!). I then colored in the images with my watercolor crayons, and I have a unique page, with the colors of my choosing:
You can also add a colored stamped image as an embellishment. Here I used water color pencils (easier for fine details) to color a stamped image that I thought matched my photo in the layout...lol!
Another way you can use your watercolors with you stamps is to color diectly on your stamped image, then spritz with a bit of water, and stamp your image. This works best with solid images, using either markers or watercolor crayons. It's a great way to create a muticolored image, with beautifully blended colors.
In this example I used my watercolor crayons, a solid butterfly stamp, and stamped on a doily.
3. Paint shapes on your layout
Needless to say, with a blank piece of paper and a set of paints, there are endless possibilities! For this layout, I created a simple set of watercolor circles:
Amy Sorensen used her paints to create a rainbow on her layout. She then ran her paper through her printer, and printed her journalling directly over her painting:
4. Dribble and Spatter
Spray mists are really hot right now, but you can get a very siminar effect with watercolor paints. Just create a pool of color in your tray, and use a brush to drip and spatter your paint on your layout:
You can get a very cool result by dripping watercolors on old book pages. In this example, I created unique little photo frames using that technique:
I hope you enjoyed this brief walkthough of watercolor painting. It's such a fun and versatile technique, so I hope you give it a try!
