Easy-Peasy (Fun) Project!

12:31 PM

Those darn weekends! Blink and they're gone!! This one flew by! I did a presentation at the Bloomingdale Library on Saturday on Artful Journaling and ways to add art to your journal. We did a really fun (and easy) project that I thought I'd share here....

Skim through your photographs and find one you like. If you have the capabilities on your computer, turn it into a grayscale, like the image below.


If you're going to be printing on your ink-jet or laser copy at home, make it lighter than you think it needs to be, sort of like a ghost image. (But not too light! LOL!!)

If you don't have the capabilities at home, take the photo to a copy shop (be sure you are the rightful owner of the image, if it has a copyright on it - front or back - they won't touch it) and have them copy it onto heavy paper. Make sure they lighten it first. You may want to have them do a test run on plain copy paper if you're going to have the images copied onto a special paper.* If you want to add watercolor, it's best to use either 90 lb. or 140 lb. watercolor paper.*

*You'll have to take and cup a piece of paper to 8.5 x 11 or thereabouts and take it with you to the copy shop. It's doubtful they will have any watercolor paper. Make sure to test your paper first to determine if it is appropriate for the medium you wish to use.
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• Now, here's the fun part, depending on the paper you print/copy the image out on, you can use various types of media to "colorize" the photo into "art!" Colored pencils, watercolor pencils, acrylics, inks, stamps, egg tempera, gouache, pastels, and anything else you can think of!!

• Put the original image out of sight and let your own color sensibilities take over! You have a photo, use your artistic license to let loose with the color and make the image your own!

• Do the same image more than once to see what kind of different looks you can get - vibrant, pastel, old fashioned, etc.

• If using watercolor, be sure to "prime" the area you are painting with water first, then add pigment. This helps to get past the barrier the toner or ink creates on the paper.

• If using an inkjet printer, test to make sure the inks are waterproof.

• Try turning the photos into a sepia color instead of grayscale for an old-fashioned look!

• Lay different media onto the image to see what other unique looks you can get!

This is the image that was done for Saturday's demonstration. It has both pink and lavender petals as we had two different paint options. Have fun and enjoy! If you decide to go for it, leave a link in the comments - I'd love to see what you come up with!
P.S. One last idea - have you drawn something in ink or pencil and want to add color but not to the original? Perhaps it's in a journal or you want to test out color ideas? Print or copy it out and add color just as you would to a photo!

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15 Creative Thought(s)

  1. I did this project in Laure's workshop, and it was very easy and fun. I think I'll try this on my own--just think of the possibilities! Thanks, Laure!

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  2. Beautiful result here, Laure--sounds fun! I'll bet folks loved this. YOu did a great job of explaining it, too.

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  3. Great idea! This is lovely. All ideas always welcome.

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  4. Oh Laure this is fantastic. I cannot wait to try it. Matter of fact I just bought some new watercolor paper today !! I love the idea. Hope you are doing well. I am awaiting spring !!

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  5. I would love to be able to do this, but I already know that my inkjet printer ink is not waterproof, so I can't use any wet media. I guess I could do this with colored pencils. Is the ink from a copier waterproof?

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  6. Thanks, everyone! I do hope you'll give a try!

    Cheryl, yes, toner is waterproof.

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  7. Well then, I guess I'll be taking some watercolor paper to the copy shop sometime soon. Thanks for the lesson Laure!

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  8. I hope you'll share your results. Even though everyone started out with the same kit, everyone's flower looked so different - it was pretty neat to see all the interpretations!

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  9. I saw this technique on TV one time and tried it with just colored pencils and it wasn't nearly as beautiful as when done with watercolors!!!

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  10. Very interesting idea. I'm glad you mentioned it. Now... if only I had more pockets of time to experiment !!! At least the new extra hour of daylight is giving me more energy to do some art this evening after work. More light ahead too!

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  11. I have found that when I print in B and W using my inkjet printer and use watercolor paper, that for some reason the ink doesn't run if I use watercolor afterwards. it does depend on the paper and the weight of the paper, but it's so much fun!

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  12. I love this idea. We'll see how waterproof my supposedly watherproof printer ink is!

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  13. Thanks for all the great info Laure. I think now I will try it.

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  14. For those of you who have a black ink only laser printer, I think you'll find that ink doesn't run. At least mine doesn't. You can print something that is in color ... it comes out black and white -- perfect for this excercise.

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  15. I got one little flower painted. Couldn't get watercolor paper to feed through my printer though so I used drawing paper. You can see it here.

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