Check out this is a fun and easy project to get your creative juices flowing! This project is geared towards adults, however I have done this with kids as young as 9 before and it has gone really well. Children just need to be old enough to follow instructions and patient enough to work through the many steps.
Here are the supplies you will need for this project:
- Watercolor Paper: I like 140# paper but you could use a 90# paper as well. This project does work best with paper made for watercolor paint.
- Watercolor Paints and Brush: I used prang student grade watercolors and they worked fine. Just note that the better quality watercolors you use the more vibrant your painting will be!
- Painters Tape
- Rubber Cement
- Black Ultra Fine Tip Sharpie
- Hair Dryer (If you are impatient like me)
Step 1
Use Painters tape to tape your paper to your work surface. This will help keep your paper from warping as much, and it will create a nice finished looking border edge around your final piece.
Now drizzle rubber cement across your page. Let it dry. Rubber cement dries pretty quickly but you can use that hair dryer to speed it along. It does need to be fully dry before moving on to the next step.
Step 2
You will be working with three colors for this project. I would suggest using colors in the same color family to avoid mixing brown unintentionally.
- Warm colors: Red, Yellow, Orange
- Cool colors: Blue, Purple, Green
- Analogous Colors: (Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel) such as Blue, Green, Yellow
Tip: Colors that are opposite on the color wheel tend to make a muddy brown hue such as red and green or purple and orange…
Begin painting with the lightest color of the three you have chosen for your piece. So if you chose blue, yellow, and green, begin with the yellow.
Paint with your first color across part of your page. Leave some white space for the other colors later. Allow the paint to dry (Use a hair dryer is desired).
Step 3
Drizzle more rubber cement across your painted surface. Allow to dry completely.
Step 4
Paint with the second color. Paint across some of the white space you left previously but leave some white space for your third color as well. With the second color paint over part of your first color, allowing the two colors to mix and layer. Dry.
Step 5
Drizzle more rubber cement across your newly painted surface. Dry completely.
Step 6
Paint with your third and final color. Fill in the remaining white space. Paint over portions of your first two colors allowing the colors to mix and layer. Leave some of the colors unmixed as well. Once your are happy with your composition allow your work to dry completely. You can use the dryer for this as well, but make sure to dry it completely before you move on to the next step.
Step 7
Using the pads of your fingers rub off all of the rubber cement, revealing the colors/white page beneath. This process takes a bit of patience and elbow grease!
Step 8
Use your sharpie pen to outline some of the shapes created by the rubber cement resisting the paint. This will simply highlight some of those shapes. You do not need to highlight all of the shapes. Simply pick a few of the most interesting to you! Be creative and have fun! You can also doodle in some of the shape if you wish…you are only limited by your imagination.
Step 9
Pull up the tape revealing the crisp edges of your finished piece of abstract art. Enjoy your masterpiece!
I hope you enjoy this playful project as much as I did! I would love to hear your thoughts or see what you came up with if you feel like sharing! Feel free to leave a comment below.
Jennifer MacIsaac 