BCA Home Studio Watercolor Ideas

BURLINGTONCITYARTS.ORG/ART-HEART

Contact info + Share your art Please ask for additional materials if you need them. Send or give your painting away or keep it for yourself. Do different versions. You are invited to share it with Art from the Heart + the larger community to be seen in hospital galleries + newspapers, etc. by sending it to Volunteer Services or rschwarz@burlingtoncityarts.org or calling 1-2-3 from the main campus M-F 9am-4pm to have the painting picked up. We only share artwork with consent forms.

There is not one way to use watercolors. Here are some ideas for new or experienced painters.

Materials

Watercolors, paper, brush, water, paper towels or napkins, cup for rinse water

Optional Materials

Watercolor pencils, pencils, pens, markers, salt, push pin, drinking straw, inspirational pictures to look at or to glue down.

Before you start, drip water on each color in your pallet + let sit so colors can soften

Color Mixing Use red, yellow + blue on the wet paper, + mix other colors. Create green (a mix of yellow + blue), orange (red + yellow) or purple (blue + red). A lot of colors will create brown.

Lifting Off

Tape

If you paint something that you do not like, you can almost erase it by lifting off the paint pigment. Use clean paper towel to blot the part you want to change.

Sometimes more clean water painted on the area + then blotted again is helpful. This works well to make clouds on a blue background.

Use masking tape (scotch tape can work but is not as good) to create areas that will not get painted. Ideas: use the tape to make a border around the edges of the paper, or other shapes that are each filled in with a different color.

When you rinse your brush when switching between colors, you might need to dry it on some paper towel.

Scratch With a push pin, draw different lines, shapes + textures on a dry piece of paper, then go over it with paint. Ideas: woodgrain, swirling + patterned musical shapes, writing.

Puzzle Make a puzzle, or cut or rip + glue some or all of the watercolor back together in a different way.

Card Fold the page in half. Gift it to someone blank or write a personal message on it.

Paint on dry paper + wet paper It will look different. Try wetting the whole piece of paper before painting (too much water will create puddles). On damp or wet paper the color will spread out in beautiful + sometimes surprising ways. Dryer paper can give more control of where the color goes.

Draw first Draw shapes or a drawing. Experiment with permanent marker, pen or pencil. The star-like effect on the painting to the left is from a few grains of salt sprinkled on the painting before it was dry.

Paint to music Choose a style or a single piece of music to listen to as you paint. Listen to one piece multiple times if you’d like. Start by closing your eyes to picture what the music might look like, or start by drawing a line that loops + dances on the paper. Experiment with thick + thin lines, + starts + stops to show the rhythm + feel of the music.

Wet a specific shape Make a letter, circle, spiral or triangle on your dry paper using only clean water. Then add color from your brush onto the wet shape.

Splatter While hovering an inch or two over your painting, tap your brush handle or rub upwards on the bristles while they are loaded with paint. Use the back of another brush or a pencil to do the tapping or lifting upward on the bristles.

Idea: use pink or red to make cherry blossoms over tree branches made with the blow technique.

Crayon Use crayons to draw first. The more you press + go over the same spot, the brighter the crayon will show up. You might need to blot the paint off of the crayoned spots if your paint is covering the crayon more than you would like.

Paint words One or many. Paint a word you enjoy, or a quote from from a song or verse.

Wash background The background on this painting was done first + then allowed to dry before the branches were painted. Create a color wash by spreading paint evenly on the page with a big flat brush (or the biggest brush you have) + plenty of water.

Blow Put a drop of saturated color on the page + then blow on it with a straw to create different lines. To control where the lines go, use your brush to start the paint in the direction you want. Ideas: tree branches, crazy hair or friendly monster face.

Sprinkle salt Put salt on your wet watercolor painting, then let it dry.

The salt will draw the watercolor toward it + dry in a dotted way. Idea: create a geode by drawing an oval, filling it in with different colors, and sprinkling a lot of salt on top.