Easy Watercolor Effect

Do not know if anyone checked out Scrapyland over the weekend, and if you didn't then I am here today to show you an easy Watercolor technique. WARNING: This post is a bit long and picture heavy.

There are many ways to watercolor but am sharing this very simple technique using Tim Holtz distressed inks.


You will need one 4.25 or 5.5 sized piece of Watercolor paper or larger depending on what size card you want to make (available at most craft or art stores; 140lb is best. ), a spritzer or mister, an acrylic block (you can use smaller or larger than shown) and some distressed inks. I am using four but have also done this technique with just three.

I used a splat mat to protect my desktop and have on hand a paper towel to clean your block in between colors.

To begin, stamp one color on a small area of the acrylic block

 

then mist; two or three sprays is enough 

gently press the acrylic block onto the paper. Gently press down to spread the water/ink on the paper

you then need to gently lift the block up and away from you, leaving a pool of color. Don’t worry this is the effect you want

I swiped my block on the paper towel to clean it before using another color. If you get too much water on the card, blotting it with a paper towel is an effective way to mop it up.

Continue with the next color 

using the same technique and gently lift up and away

You can see how the two colors mix themselves together giving you a nice watercolor effect.

Stamp the last two colors in the same manner and when you are done it should look similar to this.

Begin tilting the card back and forth or up and down and side to side to gently mix the colors until you are happy with the look and then allow to dry or use a heat gun to gently dry the card

 

Once dry go ahead and flick water on the page to give it an even more distressed watercolor look (You can spritz with water or take a paintbrush dipped in water and smack it against a pen or pencil to splatter it.) Once done, it should look similar to this

 

As you can see my color ran to the bottom of the paper but that is the beauty of watercolor, letting it be a bit messy and carefree. Having a nice white border also looks great! And here is the finished card

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this post!