Art Journaling - Wax Resist, Watercolour & Rubbing Alcohol

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Kerrymay._.Makes a Mess

You made it - woo hoo and a Christmas theme to boot!  Tutorial 4 in the Art Journaling Mini Series is covering wax resist and rubbing alcohol using watercolour. In this tutorial I am using watercolour brush pens and an aqua watercolour brush, but you can use any watercolour paint and brushes for these techniques.

What you will need: Resources

Grab some watercolour paper - this is a must, it just doesn't work as well on any other paper. 

​You then need some watercolour paint or watercolour friendly brush pens, a white wax crayon and rubbing alcohol 70 or 90% (you can skip this step if you just want the wax resist  bit).

​There is a video tutorial below if you are more of a visual tutorial follower.

Wax Resist:

On your watercolour paper write or draw anything at all in your white wax crayon. You could just doodle and create random patterns or write a message.  I have gone with Christmas and Ho Ho Ho. Again this can be done with children as a fun 'art play' session, it's so easy and they will love it.
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​Then using your watercolour paint or watercolour brush pens paint over the page liberally. The watercolour will not go over the wax crayon creating the 'resist effect' - pretty cool eh? You can use two or more colours if you wish to create a more blended effect, the brush pens I used do this perfectly.

See the video below for a visual tutorial and how I used the blendable brush pens or read the next part below the video.

Rubbing Alcohol & Watercolour:

Finally you may wish to try adding rubbing alcohol. (WARNING - Don't do this with the children and be safe at all times, do not put the rubbing alcohol near flames and don't apply too much heat when drying the page). I used a 70% alcohol one. Carefully pour a drop or two into the lid and drip a few drops onto the page. Be very careful and always have something protecting your desk or work area. You can do it this way or use a pipette or cotton bud to drip the alcohol. The effect this creates is stunning and it will keep burning through the watercolour until it is fully dry, so make sure there is nothing flammable near by. Rubbing alcohol can be used to create a variety of effects in paint and there are several tutorials out there. If you missed how to create an alcohol ink spray paint be sure to have a read of tutorial 2 here.

I'm rather sad that the art journaling mini series has come to an end, please be sure to share your creations with me on my Instagram / Twitter and let me know in the comments of anything else you would like to see.  Use the hashtag #kmmam
CATCH THE ENTIRE ART SERIES HERE.
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​I also hope to see you in my art journaling group Kerrymay._.Makes a Mess.

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Take Care, Kerry xx