I just copied/pasted my pal's instructions. I am hoping I put the right pictures with the steps, to help you see what it should do-but folks, I am kinda guessing, so please forgive me on that. :0)
Just go for whatever happens -happens here-esp. if it is your first attempt. I actually cut down to size, some left over white board (from Home Depot-the stuff I used for our white board in the classroom) but anything that is slightly larger than the paper size, and is hard enough to not absorb water, will do. We used painters tape to seal around the edges. About 1/2 inch or so around the edges-keep it tight or it will bleed, losing that nice edging. The rest of course, will stick to the board. Try not to move the boards if possible. Otherwise, wait until they are dry before doing so. Otherwise, paints will run, plastic wrap will pop off and so forth.
1. There are 3 main kinds of watercolor paper -- rough, cold press and hot press (smooth) -- we used rough. As for the paper-it is expensive-we just purchased out right from Michaels and tore them into 6 pieces each. If you only have a few students-obviously, you can have larger papers.
Arches brand is the best and you can get books (called blocks-so you won't need a board then) .. like this... http://www.dickblick.com/products/arches-watercolor-blocks/ -- it is glued down on all 4 sides so you have a flat surface that doesn't move until you cut it off the block.
2. Using painters tape, tape paper down to a solid surface (example white erase board) not cardboard.
3. Have plenty of water, watercolors (cheap Crayola works fine) and a "good" paint brush that holds water (not one that comes with the Crayola paints), and a rag or paper towel
4. You will need some leaves-real or fake to use on the day they trace. Variety is good!
5. You will also need a pencil, saran wrap, reg. table salt, a couple Q-Tips and Rubbing Alcohol. Oh and an old toothbrush if doing the spatter technique.
Steps to paint the picture:
1. Paint the whole blank paper with water, with a big brush drip yellow and blue and red (primary colors) onto the paper. This is called WET ON WET painting. The colors will blend on their own, if there is enough water and fill the page. Let dry with out working on it.
Here you can see the various early stages....
2. Trace leaves "artfully" across your dry painting. We used artificial ones of various sizes and shapes.
You can see the red, yellow, blue bleeding in the background,
the sketching of the leaves there and the saran wrap.
Actually the purple leaf has the rubbing alcohol affect on it too.
3. Pick a leaf outline and paint it with water then with paint, again this is WET ON WET painting. You can try part of the leaf yellow and part red = if there is enough water and paint the colors will blend and make orange. Do other leaves that DO NOT touch. You can also try WET ON DRY -- leave the leaf outline dry and paint on it with just wet paints. These will not blend, they will stay the exact colors you pick. Let dry.
Saran Wrap look.
4. Now that everything is dry again... pick another leaf and do WET ON WET again -- take a small piece of plastic wrap (Sranwrap) and place it on the leaf while still wet. Do not crinkle it up too much but it should have lines and over laps on it. Do not push down on it either, it will push the paint and water out of the leaf outline. Let it dry with the wrap on it. When it is dry you can peel off the wrap and it will look like a crinkled leaf.
Red leaf has the Rubbing Alcohol technique, the light blue and purple ones
also appear to have the Saran Wrap look.
5. Pick another leaf that has everything around it dry and do another WET ON WET (use fun fall colors like green, yellow, orange, red, brown) and then use a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol. Dip the Q-tip in the alcohol and dot the leaf. Let it dry. It will look like a bug was eating the leaf or cool mold was taking over.
6. After all leaves are painted there are a couple of other techniques that you can play with. You can use a toothbrush and splatter wet paint on dry paper. You can add a new layer of paint to an already painted leaf that you think needs more color. Try not to over work your picture, watercolor should flow like water.
Notice the spattered look this student got from using the toothbrush. Very nice.
This one shows the salting results quite nicely.
Be sure there is plenty enough water on it to absorb the salt-
not enough, the salt will just stick.
7. When all leaves are done the negative space needs a wonderful dark wash. We used a beautiful dark blue with some people adding a touch of purple or green (depending on if they had lots of purple leaves -- they added green, or green leaves -- they added purple). Remember to use lots of water and it should be WET ON WET again to get it to flow and blend. While it is still wet take a pinch or 3 or 4 and scatter it over the "water" let it dry with the salt on it. The salt will move the paint and water out of the way in a fun star-like way.
Nice mix of the techniques on this beauty.
8. Once you are all done and it is dry, take off the tape and look at your painting. Notice how the different layers (or washes) show through. That first step of yellow, red and blue can be seen in interesting places, like where the salt moved the water. Or where a leaf has a sunny hue under it but is painted green too. Figure out which side is up and make sure you sign and date your work.
This is a very young 4 yr olds. So even the little guys can make a keepsake!
Be proud of your hard work and patience. It is amazing how everyone can use the same instructions and they all look so individual and unique! Remember to not worry about "mistakes" after it is all done and you look at the whole picture it looks like you wanted it to do that and it wasn't a mistake after all!
Another 4 yr old's-quite impressive~
Here is a good website to see some more watercolor techniques... http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolor-tutorials.htm
Darker background choice on this one-bleeding, salt
and Rubbing Alcohol show up nicely on this one.
Good leaf color changes, outlines and leaf variance
(and my boy is color blind so he cannot even appreciate
some of these dark colors, esp. the deep purple
and grays-but still not too shabby!)
There you have it-our co-op kids' works of art! I will post the stray student's pic once I get it-she was absent that last day.
Be sure to frame your beautiful pieces of art too!
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