Sunday 17 February 2008

watercolour texture effect with bubblewrap?

Hi this is just a convenient place to post this image. It's a little experiment using bubble wrap paper ( small bubbles) to create a texture effect in a watercolour background.



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

The paint is applied fairly freely and then before it dries it is covered in a film of bubble wrap. Obviously there are different sizes so use the most relevant to the size of your image. The bubble wrap must be left in situ until the paint is dry, I put a card on top and a small weight to hold it in place but it may not be necessary. The plastic film forms a meniscus where it touches the paper and "wicks" the paint to the join.
This can also be done with scrunched up cling film or similar plastics. I read about this technique some time ago and have only just tried it to demonstrate the effect, factors such as wetness, paper and drying time will all have an effect. If you want to try this technique I suggest a few experiments for yourself.
BTW you can't tell from this photo but I have just found a set of watercolours containing mica. Gives a wonderful glitzy/sparkly effect for backgrounds. In the right circumstances it can add another dimension to these backgrounds.
Back soon with more ATC's.

3 comments:

Linda said...

Hi John,

Hey that is very cool looking. I'll have to give that a try if I can find some bubble wrap. Thanks for conducting your experiment. It helped a lot.

Linda

Anonymous said...

I think bubblewraps can be used for earth colours for cobblestones and broken bricks. Why not try it and have a look.

John Dyhouse said...

Thanks for the suggestion, always open to new ideas