Have you ever used photo paper as a canvas? The glossy paper creates some pretty magical masterpieces, when paired with liquid watercolors. And today, we’re sharing a few of our favorite ways to do Photo Paper Painting!
I must admit that I had never considered utilizing photo paper for anything other than printing photos…that is, until I came across Cara and Kinley’s stunning photo paper pieces, over on the @raising.kinley Instagram page. This dynamic mother/daughter duo has done it all when it comes to painting on photo paper, and each and every one of their colorful masterpieces is absolutely magnificent. After gawking at all of their photos for several days, my little nugget and I decided that we needed some photo paper art in our lives too! π
Oil Pastel & Watercolor Paint Resist
I’m starting our photo paper painting off with a bang…because I just can’t resist sharing my absolute favorite technique with you first. I’m seriously in love with how these oil pastel and watercolor paint resist prints turned out, and I’m not the only one. When our watercolor application was complete and we set our prints aside to dry, our little nugget proudly exclaimed, “They are just so beautiful, Mommy!”
In order to create your own oil pastel and liquid watercolor photo paper masterpieces…because you know you want to…you will need the following supplies:
- Photo Paper
- Oil Pastels
- Liquid Watercolors
- Pipettes
- Tray or Cookie Sheet (to catch the excess liquid watercolors)
Start by decorating your photo paper with the oil pastels – with any colors and designs that you choose. When you’re satisfied with your designs, it’s time to start adding the liquid watercolors. As you know, oil and water do not mix…so the oil pastel designs will repel the liquid watercolors…creating a fascinating and fabulous end result!
Use the pipettes to apply the watercolors to the photo paper. Our little nugget specifically requested to use green, blue, and purple watercolors for this art activity…and the finished products were simply stunning!
Once the photo paper is covered in liquid watercolors, gently raise one corner to let the excess watercolors run off. Set the photo paper paintings aside to dry completely. Once all of your photo paper paintings have dried, you may need to flatten them beneath a few heavy books, as wet photo paper tends to curl around the edges.
This awesome oil pastel and watercolor paint resist idea reminded us a lot of our otherΒ Oil & Watercolor Painting activity!
Watercolor Paper Towel Prints
Creating these watercolor paper towel prints was our very first foray into photo paper painting, and we seriously could not get enough! We loved every single second of drizzling liquid watercolors onto our large sheet of paper towels – creating a beautiful masterpiece in and of itself. Transferring the vibrant array of colors (along with the intricate design of the paper towels) onto the photo paper was simply magical. We made print, after print, after print. π
To create your very own watercolor paper towel prints, you will need the following supplies:
- Photo Paper
- Liquid Watercolors
- Paper Towels
- Wax Paper (for easy clean-up)
- Pipettes
Start by placing a sheet of wax paper on a table or flat surface. Any residual watercolors that are not soaked up by the paper towels will pool up on the wax paper, making clean-up a breeze! Place a large sheet of paper towels on top of the wax paper. Using the pipettes, drip liquid watercolors onto the paper towels, to your heart’s content.
When you’re satisfied with the look of your painted paper towels, it’s time to grab some photo paper and start printing! Working with one sheet of photo paper at a time, press it down gently (but firmly) onto the colored paper towels (glossy-side down). Remove the photo paper and set it aside to dry completely.
Grab another sheet of photo paper and press it down on a different section of paper towel. Repeat the process as many times as desired. Once all of your photo paper prints have dried, you may need to flatten them beneath a few heavy books, as wet photo paper tends to curl around the edges.
Vegetable Oil & Watercolor Prints
Similar to the oil pastel and watercolor resist art, the vegetable oil and water-based paints in this activity also repel one another to create some pretty stellar photo paper prints! Cara and Kinley refer to these as “puddle prints” because you essentially make a giant puddle of liquid watercolors and oil, and then press your photo paper down on top.
For this art activity you will need the following supplies:
- Photo Paper
- Liquid Watercolors
- Vegetable Oil
- Shallow Dish
- Pipettes
Using your pipette, drip an array of liquid watercolors into the bottom of your shallow dish. Next, place some drops of veggie oil into the dish. Then watercolors…then veggie oil. Continue this process until you’re satisfied with your creation. Grab a sheet of photo paper and gently (but firmly) press it down on top of the watercolors and oil (glossy-side down). Remove the photo paper and set it aside to dry completely. Feel free to repeat the process with more blank sheets of photo paper. Once all of your photo paper prints have dried, you may need to flatten them beneath a few heavy books, as wet photo paper tends to curl around the edges.
Photo paper painting is super cool, right?!? You definitely have to give it a whirl. Make sure to check out the @raising.kinley Instagram page, or the Raising Kinley blog, for more photo paper inspiration. And if you are not already following Cara and Kinley, you seriously need to do so…right now! π We can’t wait to try more of their photo paper art ideas…like their vibrant photo paper bubble prints, or their stunningly beautiful photo paper Pulled String Art!
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