Crystal Geode Arches Water Marble I
Posted by DecoArt on Nov 1st 2022
Use the Crystal Geode Water Marbling Set to create your own arches patterns.
SUPPLIES
- paper towels
- iron
- paper
- plastic tub or tray
- water marbling paper
- water marbling cleaning paper
- water marbling sizing
- water marbling pan
- water marbling stick
INSTRUCTIONS
NOTES:
Before you begin be sure to set up your water marbling station. You should have your supplies set up and easily accessible. Following directions on bottle, mix the Magic Medium Water Prep with the appropriate amount of water in the water marbling tray or separate container.
You should also have a tray of clean water to rinse your prints after they are dipped. (TIP: Lay out paper towels to place your fresh prints on to speed drying time.) Plan to create several unique prints at one time. Some of the drops of paint will sink and you may begin to see drops of paint gather
For this project use the Crystal Geode Water Marbling Set, which includes the following colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Tropical Blue, Blue and Violet.
- Prepare your size. Follow the easy instructions on the Magic Medium bottle to prepare the size (water) mixture. (TIP: Prepare mixture in a plastic tub with a lid and fill/refill the water marbling tray as needed. Cover unused size and store at room temperature to keep it fresh for up to five days) Now you are ready to add paint.
- Now you are ready to add paint. Start by filling the surface of the water with an even coat of Aquamarine. Do this my dropping the paint down the middle of the tray horizontally. The paint will slowly fill the surface of the tray until it is completely covered.
- Slowly add some evenly spaced drops of Violet. This will create a stone pattern.
- Add a drop of Pink to each stone. Once each drop dissolves, add another drop of Blue to each stone. This is building the layers of paint within the design to have a very vibrant and rich print. (TIP: to create a print with a softer palette, just decrease the amount of paint used!) Add a few drops of Blue to add more stones (refer to photo)
- Add a drop of Lavender to each stone. Once each drop dissolves, add another drop of Aquamarine to each stone.
- Use a Premium Water Marbling Stick to create horizontal lines by dragging the tip across the surface. Do not overwork the surface. (TIP: Only the tip of the marbling stick needs to be submerged in the bath to gently draw a line to make a pattern.)
- Continue this process until you have achieved the desired look.
- When your tray is ready to transfer the design onto the paper, use a piece of DecoArt's Premium Water Marbling Paper to get maximum absorbency of the paint. (TIP: Keep paper very dry! If the surface is wet prior to dipping into the size, it won't absorb the paint, which will result in a white spot.) A good technique to minimize bubbles in your print is to hold your paper on opposing corners to allow the center of the paper to touch the surface first. Then, slowly lay your corners down onto the surface. Make sure the paper is in full contact with the surface.
- Allow the paper to float on the surface of the size for a moment. This allows the design to transfer onto the paper. The corners of the paper will begin to pull away from the surface. Lift the paper off the surface by lifting opposing corners of the paper. Although you may notice some slight finger smudges in the corners of the paper, do not be concerned. They simply add to the overall effect.
- Place print face down in a clean tray of water to rinse off extra sizing. This step is optional, but rinsing off extra sizing allows for cleaner, more vibrant colors to shine through! Also, the paper will be less stiff and dry flatter.
- Allow prints to completely dry. You can do this by laying the wet paper on top of paper towels. Flip them over and iron on cotton (high) setting to flatten. (TIP: I used a piece of watercolor paper to place between the paint and the table surface to protect the print. If you you have steam, add a paper towel between the water color paper and the table's surface.)
