Making Your Own Watercolor Paints

I think everyone has had the opportunity to paint with watercolors. Perhaps that is because painting with watercolors has become a regular activity in schools. Watercolors may be difficult to master is subtleties, but unlike oils or acrylics, they are essentially child-friendly. They are so easy-to-use and their water base is non-toxic. This is why most preschools and kindergartens usually use them in parts of their curriculum.

Watercolors are an excellent medium for any budding artist to start in. But before you start painting, how about making your own watercolor paints?

The idea of making paints may sound daunting, but remember most artists before the twentieth century mixed their own paints. With easy access to the ready-made art marketplace, the art of mixing paints is something of a “lost art.”

But creating your own watercolor paints is actually pretty easy. Here is an example making the children’s version – mixing a batch of watercolors for professional use is a more involved process…

First, you’ll have to get together some basic ingredients. You’ll need the following:

• 3 tbsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup
• food coloring

Note that the measurements can be doubled or tripled depending on how many people will be using the watercolor. This should be enough for a small group of four, but for larger groups add a bit more.

By the way, the corn syrup is the binder, the substance that will keep your pigments together, for your watercolor so its pretty important. YBefore there were bottles of corn syrup on the grocery shelf, artists made their own glucose syrup. “Glucose syrup” is just a fancy name for a sugar solution. To make it, just boil two cups of sugar in a cup of water. Mix it well until you have a clear solution. Now that you have your binder, whether a homemade sugar solution or corn syrup, it’s time to start.

First of all, mix the vinegar and baking soda together in a small bowl. It will start to foam, but that’s a natural reaction, so you just keep mixing. When the foaming has died down, it’s time to add the cornstarch and your syrup, to the mix. Keep on mixing until you get a smooth consistency to the mix. This will be your clear base.

Now that you’re got your base, it’s time to create your color sets. Get several bottle caps or small containers of similar size and pour in the base. After you’ve used up all the clear base, you just add a different food coloring to each small container. Be generous with your coloring amounts – the color needs to spread well, so this means you also have to stir a bit. When you’re done, there’s only one step left – put the caps in a cool dry place so that they can dry.

By the next day, you’ll have a dry set of watercolor paints ready for use!

[phpbay]watercolor paints, 5[/phpbay]

Making Your Own Watercolor Paints related articles from the blogosphere…

Paintings And Diverse Techniques | Article Toucan

To paint with oils you only need a brush, a palette, a cloth and linseed oil to clean your brush. These are the most useful materials to begin to work. Paint with watercolor is common too. Watercolors provide a veiled effect unlike the opacity and thickness … Practice as much you can up to find your painting style. Once, you find your style you will create more and better paintings. The possibility to be a better painter is always real. Create your own Tableaux. …

Publish Date: 09/02/2010 13:29

http://articletoucan.com/2010/09/02/paintings-and-diverse-techniques/

Sally Brooks Learn Watercolor Painting Review | Knowledge Archive

Learn Watercolor Painting will help you each and every day that you learn how to paint with use of watercolor. It will provide you everything you need. It will provide you step by step instructions on how to make brilliant watercolor … You will enjoy having your own watercolor paintings. You will love to have your own paintings in watercolor. And so you should pursue learning watercolor painting. You might be little hesitant about going for it but you should not be. …

Publish Date: 09/03/2010 22:48

http://knolarch.com/lifestyle/sally-brooks-learn-watercolor-painting-review/37955/

DIY Watercolor Paints » Pepper Paints

1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup. Pour into your containers —bottle caps, pill boxes, any tiny, shallow container will do. DSC_9463 · DSC_9465. Add food coloring. We used both neon and regular colors of food coloring … 6 Responses to “DIY Watercolor Paints”. sioux @ crunchybits.net says: April 21, 2010 at 11:39 am. That is the coolest! I love making our own art supplies but we haven’t tried watercolors! Thanks for the inspiration and pictures — they really help! …

Publish Date: 04/20/2010 18:40

http://pepperpaints.com/2010/04/21/diy-watercolor-paints/

How to Make Your Own Twinkling H2O Watercolor Paint

I show you how to mix your own twinkling H2O type of watercolor paint using pearl ex powder. Added note: I have read that a 3 or 4:1 ratio of water to gum arabic is a good rule of thumb. More info about gum arabic can be found on the following post ….

Possibly related posts:

• Related posts on Act
• Syracuse08 » Repeal the REAL ID Act:
• Act now Barclays, or the Boris Bike is here to stay

• Related posts on Art Materials
• Back to school? Get your kid?s school supplies and be cool! | Kid …
• Online Shopping Is An Art | Articles Fox

Involving children with art helps them explore their creativity, imagination, artistic skills and kill boredom. And for the value created it is very inexpensive. Art is great way for children to express themselves and understand the world in new ways. There are different kinds of artistic expressions they can explore and watercolor painting is one of them.

Watercolors are easy to clean, so children can easily use them. There are also different watercolor exercises that children can do. For example, the wet on wet technique. Let the children apply watercolor on a dry and wet piece of paper. Let them describe how applying paint on dry and wet surfaces are different and where they can be used.

• With color blending, let children mix different colors and draw different images that they see around them.
• Black and white watercolor painting is another great activity. Color the entire paper in black and then let it dry. After drying, draw on the black paper using white watercolor with their own design. It could also be done the other way around, with the paper white and the watercolor designs in black.
• Thread painting uses thread which is dipped in paint. Arrange the thread on the paper in whatever way you want. Then press and pull the thread creating designs on the paper.
• Use watercolor in coloring decorative items that the children have made like paper maches.
• Watercolor painting is also a great activity for parents and their kids. Everything nowadays is so fast-paced that we forget to spend more time with family and children. Watercolor painting is a great way to slow down and enjoy life with our family.

When teaching children with art, it is important to understand that what the children see is different from what adults see. They may color animals which are far from their actual colors. Let the children express themselves in this creative experience. It is important to keep in mind that children have potential for artistic expression. Parents, guardians and teachers have the responsibility to let children express their artistry.

There are different studies showing that involving children in art helps them reduce their stress. They are able to develop self-confidence, since they have created something which is appreciated by other people. Aside from improving their confidence, they are also able to improve the senses like vision and sense of touch.

Teaching art to kids helps in their cognitive growth, improve their memory, increases understanding and encourages compentency. Art also improves their symbolic communication skills since children are able to translate what they see around them into their own symbols and reflections of reality.

For older children, parents may still interest them in painting. Art materials and art books may pique their interest and eventually involve them in art and craft making. Watercolor painting is just one of many art media which can be maximized by the kids. Adolescents and young teens can explore other media like comic strips. Parents should keep in mind that children’s involvement in art should never be forced, instead the children should be provided with opportunities where they can make their own decision.

[phpbay]watercolor children, 7[/phpbay]

Watercolors For Children related articles from the blogosphere…

Elephant Envy: Kathryn Macnaughton's Whimisical Watercolors …

… they make for a fun trip down memory lane mixed with some fun French children’s book-style art. (Via Trendland). Post from: Crushable. Elephant Envy: Kathryn Macnaughton’s Whimisical Watercolors. Click here to cancel reply. …

Publish Date: 08/03/2010 9:53

http://www.celebrityspoiler.com/celebrities/elephant-envy-kathryn-macnaughtons-whimisical-watercolors.html

Face artwork as effortless hit during kids birthday gatherings …

In choosing paints for little ones, make sure that you use only water-based watercolors that can be easily wiped off or washed with water and little gentle soap. To avoid any sensitive side effects, always implement face paints which …

Publish Date: 08/03/2010 4:15

http://get-party-ideas.com/parties/face-artwork-as-effortless-hit-during-kids-birthday-gatherings

TLC Family "Watercolor Paint Crafts for Kids"

Watercolor paint crafts will keep your kids inspired for hours. Show them how to create resist paintings, coffee filter art, painted flowers and more.

Publish Date: 05/06/2010 0:00

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/water-color-paint-crafts.htm

Seastars (Starfish) Watercolor Workshop with Joan Corman

Joan Corman, Artist, conducts a seastar watercolor workshop in Laguna Beach, CA. Adults and children are learning how to use watercolors to paint seastars on watercolor paper.

Possibly related posts:

• Related posts on Artistic Skills
• Cabinet Hardware Enhances The Look Of Your Room | TECHNOLOGY NEWS
• Best Online Forex Brokers » Forex Trading for Living: Strategy …