Wacky Watercolor

Willett's Wacky Watercolor

In recent years I have found a wonderful way to not only give myself new ideas for my artwork but to also combine media. In the workshop for Knob Noster, I used paper that I had marbled ahead of time and, then, we water over the top of it.
There are several recipes for marbling the paper. I used Marble Thix (from Sax art supplies) to thicken my water. It forms almost a jello like surface. You mix 1 teaspoon of Marble Thix to each quart of warm water. Let it stand for 6-12 hours to thicken. However, I have worked with it in less time. Then, I take acrylic paint (the small bottles from Hobby Lobby--Delta, Apple Barrel, or Plaid) and mix 1 part paint to 3 parts water. It is very watery. With an eye dropper in each color, I drop the color onto the surface of the gelatin like surface. (It should be about 2 inches deep.) Add color over color and it will spread on its own. You can take a comb and swirl it if you'd like or you can use it just as it is. I place a paper over the color and, then, carefully remove it. I use any kind of paper available but it works particularly well on watercolor paper. We used water color post cards at the Knob. Let the papers dry. I've done hundreds of papers at a time just adding more colors as the others deplete.
OK...now I take my watercolors (Prang 16 pan or professional...it doesn't matter) and begin to bring out the images presented in the marbled paper. It might be flowers or fairies or faces or...well...anything. I especially use the techniques of wet on wet (color added to color while it is still wet) and glazing (color applied to color after it dry). Once the big areas are finished I use the brush as a drawing tool and add wispy hair to the figures or eyes on the faces.
I used my own artwork as a reference point as I don't know of any historical artists that use this. What I mainly am focused on is 1. the aspect of creative thinking, 2. the techniques of marbling and watercolor, and 3. self-expression. I've used this in my high school watercolor classes.
Enjoy!

Teri Kay Willett