Bex’s Blog Takeover Week 5 - Watercolour Paper Marbling

Welcome back Boom! Friends.

Its Week Five which means were half way through Bex’s Blog Takeover. I hope you’ve been enjoying it as much as I have so let’s get on with the art.

For this week’s project you will need some felt pens (avoid permanent pens), paper/card, tape, water in a spray container and a poly pocket.(If you do not have a polypocket you can use clingfilm/plastic wrappers or similar)

Pop your polypocket on top of your paper. Don’t put the paper inside as it will make later steps trickier. Then go crazy with the pens on the pocket.

You can work to a rough pattern or just see what happens. This is a good time to think about what colours work well together. You don’t need to fill the whole space.

Once you are happy with the coverage on your pocket it’s time to mist it. Hold your spray away from the page and apply all over – The colour will start to bead this is normal.

Apply paper to inked pocket side. Press firmly until it sticks and then flip both pieces over. You can now see the way the colours have spread and blended. You can fidget it about and play with the colours a bit. You can also push colours into any gaps you see.

Once you are happy with your design gently peel away the pocket. You may have small pools of colour that haven’t been absorbed. You can either dab them away with a cloth/tissue or start moving the paper to create tracks.

As you can see it is possible to block out sections using clear tape. When doing this apply tape to paper before pressing it to pocket. The tape blocks the water from absorbing. This can be useful to create sharp lines for borders. When removing tape be careful not to rip the paper up too.

You don’t need to stop after just one either, repressing the pocket in a different place or pressing a different design can add interesting layers to your work. Once again it’s all about experimenting. Trying all sorts of extra ideas until you are confident you can create what you want.

Here are some things to start you off;

Try using this to frame a piece of work

Apply colours directly to the paper before pressing

Apply colours directly to the paper after pressing

Lift paper and hang upright – watch the drips

Lift, flip work and repress – reflections?

Create repeat patterns

Drag paper before lifting

Once the paper is dry it can be used normally to make unique cards/origami/collage. The possibilities are endless.

For next week I would like you to find a picture of yourself or a friend/family member that you can chop up without getting in trouble. And that’s all the hints you’re getting.

See you next week Boom! Friends.