watercolor step out photos 1

I told you Faber-Castell is my favorite brand of crayons....here they are in their mahogany box (set of 60)...one of my prized possessions! Like I said, you can use other brands. I usually use Strathmore 140 lbs. cold press watercolor paper but others will work as well.

You apply the aquarelle (fancy name for wc crayon) directly to the rubber. I like to use wood mounted stamps for this over the clear on acrylic block, just because I am applying force. If you are careful, I suppose you could use clear stamps. I can be as rough as I want with the wood mounted stamps. I like to use different colors if the subject calls for that.

Spritz the stamp with a fine mist of water, with the spray bottle being held several inches away from the stamp. Here is the whole experience thing...too much water and your image will be a little juicy....too little and you don't get an image. Often you can do the second impression without misting again. You can get several images from each application, but you see that each generation gets a little lighter.

I like to work in my wc paper tablet, filling the page with images but leaving enough room to cut them out and use them on cards. I leave the extras in the book and when I need a quick card, I can grab one of those images and use them. The first couple of impressions will be better than later ones, but we will talk about ways to fix that too. Monday we will look at what you do next. The shell is an Inkakindado stamp.