Diffused Color Background Tutorial

Today I tried the technique challenge over on SCS, which called "Batik, the colorwash way". The instructions were to make your own 'colorwash' by placing several drops of re-inkers into a mini mister (or similar small spray bottle) and then adding water to the mister. Shake to mix. Mist your watercolor paper, one color at a time, dabbing with a paper towel if you get too much color, or to help blend blobs you may get. Well, believe it or not, I dont have any mini misters or spare spray bottles and I always thought of a 'colorwash' in terms of a water coloring technique. Specifically the wet-on-wet colorwash technique. So, I decided to give my way a try and see how it turned out. The results were fun and vibrant so I made up a tutorial on how I accomplished this card in case you want to give it a try.

You will need:

Watercolor paper ~ Versa mark ink ~ Clear Embossing Powder ~ 2 or three dye-based re-inkers ~ 2 paint brushes (one small one large/broad) ~ an embossing heat gun ~ 2 sheets of copy paper ~ Iron set on high - no steam ~ and of course some rubber stamps (I used Artful INKables Autumn's Flowers)

Step 1: Stamp your images using versa mark onto your watercolor paper. Apply your clear embossing powder and heat until embossing powder is melted.

Step 2: Fill a cup full of clean water and let your large broad brush soak some up. Liberally brush water all over the embossed piece of watercolor paper...a bit of pooling is fine.

Step 3: Add some drops of your re-inkers to a small paint palette or tray and using your smaller brush, fill it with plenty of pigment and touch it to the water on your watercolor paper. It is kind of fun to watch it diffuse through the water around the embossed images. As the color lightens, add more drops of pigment until you get your desired intensity and coverage. (Color used in sample is soft sky.)

Step 4: Move on to your next color. (I used more mustard.) As you move on to other colors and different areas of the piece of watercolor paper, you may need to add a bit more water so that the pigment still flows freely from your small brush.

Step 5: If you are using a third color, move on to it in the next step. (Ruby red was used here.) Be sure to fill in all white areas of the paper that aren't covered in embossing. Set it aside to dry for a bit.

Step 6: Now place your watercolor paper onto a sheet of your text weight paper (embossed side facing up) and place another on top of your watercolor paper (to protect your iron). Using your iron press the watercolor paper until the embossing is melted and absorbed into the copy paper. You can check to see if it's all done by lifting the copy paper and if you still see shiny embossed areas, keep ironing.

Step 7: Use your watercolor wash batik in your project as desired.

I finished up my card using some yummy ribbon my husband found at a yard sale...of all places! I also layered the quote on More Mustard and Tangerine Tango cs and added a small tag stamped with the acorn and colored with copics.

If you liked this tutorial, please kindly leave me a comment so I can know what you think! Who knows, I may even start doing tutorials more often! :D