Watercolor Workshop: Resist With Glue

So last week I mentioned that I had tried glue resist and had a request for a tutorial. This one is for you, Angela!

While doing this tutorial, I learned something new and kind of cool about working with glue.Cool enough that I may not swear off this technique after all. Curious? Read on. 

My birthday is Monday, so more cake just seems appropriate. 

To start, you will need white school glue (I used Elmer's) and paper (preferably heavier paper 70lb-press or more, so when you watercolor the paper doesn't pill)

 Draw on your paper with the glue. Keep in mind that whatever you do needs to be loose and flowey. School glue doesn't do sharp edges and right angles very well.

When you get to the end of a word, double back as you release your pressure on the bottle. It minimizes the stringy ends.

You can leave it at just words.

Or you can doodle around the edges.

Let that dry for a couple of hours or overnight. I let mine dry overnight--it minimizes the stickiness of the next part. 

Get out your watercolors and a nice big round brush.(I used an 8)

Wet up your watercolors by dripping water off of your brush and into the the paint wells.

Load up your brush with water and then with paint, and start painting. 

 As you move around the page, your designs will start to appear.

Switch colors and keep pushing that paint around.

Add a third color and keep painting.

You will notice that the letters show up better when the paint is darker. We are going to outline them later, so just get down with whatever colors move you.

Once your paper is full, you can add a line of color around the edge. I think a border keeps the eye on the page.

And because I can't get enough of layers, lets go ahead and spatter some more paint on there. I used two colors, red and magenta.

 Looking good! That needs to dry, so set it aside. Depending on the weight of your paper it could be dry in 30 minutes or in 3 hours. If the paper feels cold to the touch, it's still damp.

All dry!

Get out a permanent pen. I'm using a fine-tipped Pitt pen. It's a felt tip and I love the way the ink flows from it.

Outline your words.

POW! They really pop, don't they?

Now, here is the interesting thing about school glue. Once it is dry, you can color on it with colored pencils. How cool is that?! 

Go ahead and bust those babies out.

And color on your glued bits. I was enjoying this more than I should have, probably.

So there you go. Glue resist. Fairly easy for all ages. 

And while I was waiting for things to dry, I worked on another tutorial for next week. 

Have a super awesome weekend!