Affordable Paints For Art

Here I am again with another post about Art on a Shoe String! Art for budget minded artists. Don't get discouraged, you can get some incredible results with affordable products.
Today let's look at  Washable Kids' Paint from Walmart. This set of eighteen paints cost me $2.97. I am going to walk you through four sets of color projects.

 This set has some really beautiful colors.

Little pots of pure sunshine and rainbows!

I started with some scraps of watercolor paper

and the cheap paintbrush that came with the set.
It is important to use a heavier paper when you
use this much water.
Watercolor paper or mixed media paper will
work just fine!

 I began by spreading some water on the paper surface.

I dipped a wet brush into the little pot of pink 

and started dabbing the color onto the paper.

 A couple things happened.

The water caused the color to begin spreading.

Then I took a paintbrush and helped the color

by pushing it around in the water.

You may have noticed that I changed paintbrushes.

El Cheapo was not the best brush.

It kept dropping bristles into the paint.

(WalMart has inexpensive paintbrushes

on the craft aisle.)

 Then I picked another color and repeated the process.

As I added more water to the paper,

little puddles and streams of color began

to appear.

Again, I aided them by pushing them

where I wanted them to go with the

paintbrush.

This little technique is called dripping.

Really not a rocket science kind of technique.

While there is plenty of water on the paper,

tilt it to one side or the other and the

paint will start running down your

paper causing these wonderful drips.

Where the pink crosses over the blue - 

you start to get purple.

Basic color mixology.

I felt like the pink was a little too watered down,

so I added some more . . .

 

 . . . and  walked that pink all the way

around the blue.

Then added more blue.

I could never have too much color 

for my tastes!

 While it was good and wet, I added more drips.

See that bit of purple starting to build down

through the middle of the blue?

Like a little rivulet of awesomeness.

Next I turned the whole piece to the side

and ran the drips from side to side.

Once it dried, this is what I ended up with. I love it! All ready for tangling.
*** Important *** Rub your hand over the surface of the dried piece. If you feel residue, buff the surface with a paper towel and remove that residue before you tangle. Your pens will thank you!

 Second project - I used a paintbrush and

wet the entire surface of the paper with 

lots of water. 

A wet mess.

Then I started adding yellow in long brush strokes.

 Using lots of water first allows you to 

add the yellow as a color wash. 

I covered the entire paper.

 I thought the bright green would go well with this color.

 So I added it and started spreading it.

Adding water to the paintbrush made this easier.

 Anytime I have a lot of water -

my brain goes straight to dripping.

It's engrained.

 Originally I was going to add blue,

but this mauve really called out my name.

Truly. It did.

I used a wet brush to pick up some color from the little pot and started spreading it onto the already wet yellow area.

 You can create a little texture by being "choppy"

with your brush and color.

If you need to add more water before you start your drips, that is so easy to do. Just load your paintbrush with clean water and shake drops of water into the color mix. Then let the dripping begin. 

Voila!

 Third project. 

I wet the paper but not the color.

I just took a brush full of color straight from the pot

and swirled it around onto the 

water covered paper.

 You can see without any real help -

the color is spreading into the water

causing lighter shades around the edges.

Again, just a blob of color on a dry-ish brush

spread across the top.

 And because there was so much water on the paper,

the purple starts spreading and begins mixing

with the pink.

 Did I mention I started with a ton of water

on the paper?

Drips were the natural direction to go.

 I tend to throw the color wheel out the window.

I play with whatever color catches my eye -

whether or not it is actually going to look good.

So I grabbed the orange because I hadn't 

used it yet.

And I loved the color!

And . . . I am so not an orange person.

 I did have to add a little water to make the 

orange spread. 

Enough to make dripping necessary.

Dry. My favorite of all I created today.

 I've been working on a non-stick craft

sheet - you could use a plastic placemat or something similar - and I had wet color left behind.

Not wanting to waste that color,

I placed a piece of paper over the wet

and blotted it up.

 I turned the paper and came at it from a different angle and lifted more.

 I was disappointed with the small amount

of color I could actually see -

I really, really love bright and crazy!

While it was still wet, I took a paint palette knife -

a butter knife from your kitchen would work -

and tapped it up and down in the wet color.

 Just lifting and placing it back down.

I liked the bit of texture this gave.

(Even though the picture is blurry.)

 But I just had to add a little more of that

beautiful orange color!

 And that created drips.

For all the tanglers reading this -

I like drips because of the look they give.

But I like them even more because 

they act as a string

and give me sections that can then

be tangled.

Start thinking about them like that.

 And dried!

I hope that you will consider 

art-ing on a shoe string with me,

because it really can produce beautiful results!

And just because she is so adorable, here is a shot of  Studio Assistant Aurora awakening from her afternoon nap. She's seriously wondering what all of you are doing in her room. Hahahaha!
Art on a shoe string. It's where it's at!