Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Wax Resist on Yupo Paper

I want to share with you a really fun technique for watercolor painting on Yupo paper using a wax resist.  See those wonderful white lines in this painting of a ukulele?  That is from wax!  How did I get them?  It's really very easy!  Here is what you need:

  • Yupo paper
  • wax paper for baking
  • fine ball-point pen
  • a drawing or printed copy of a photograph that you want to paint, at the size you want your painting to be.
The process is simple:

  1. Lay down your drawing (or printed copy of a photograph) on top of your Yupo paper.
  2. Tape the drawing to the Yupo paper, hinge-style, on the top or one side.  You don't want the drawing to slip!
  3. Slip in a piece of the wax paper (wax side down, if one-sided) between the drawing and the Yupo paper.
  4. Use the fine point ballpoint pen to draw over the lines of your drawing, thereby transferring wax onto the Yupo paper.
  5. Remove the drawing and the wax paper and paint!
It might be difficult to see your drawing, except for the dents the pressure of your ballpoint pen put into the Yupo paper, but part of the fun of this method is to see the drawing revealed as you brush on your paint.  Try it, it's fun!

Oh, and how did I get that texture in the washes?  That is easy too!  Just fill a little spray bottle with rubbing alcohol and lightly spritz onto your wash while it is still wet.  It creates such cool textures!

[Edited 1.23.2015 to add:]

That red ukulele painting was so fun to do, I did a series of them!