Watercolor Painting Unfinished Wood

 

As I write this my hands are freezing (now that my computer is in the garage!).  It''s been unusually cold here in the Southwest and our pipes even froze yesterday!  So anyway, I hope this post makes sense as I'm going to try and very quickly type it up!  

 

I love buying unfinished wood decorations at our craft store and painting them with watercolors.  I bought this one just to decorate our house but this is also a fun, inexpensive way to involve kids in gift giving. All of what I bought was 50% off.  So this little "Joy" decoration was less than $1. (actually on second check it was $1.50, still a bargain.)

 

I bought Michael unfinished wooden ornaments and puppets that he can paint and give to his friends. I think both of his packets were 50 cents each.   He was fascinated with mixing the colors and ecstatic I gave him watercolors he had to mix himself.  Usually I give them to him diluted in jars, in just red, yellow and blue.  The mixing happens on the paper.  So this was new and exciting for him.  He's still working on his so I don't have any pics of his finished work.

I decided to make mine rainbow colored with watercolors.  I started with yellow on the tree and then working quickly added blue in areas over top to make the tree green.  Then I added red and yellow over the "J-O" section letting the two mix to make a subtle orange.  The same with the "Y", I added yellow and blue letting the two mix to make green. The key to this technique is just to work fast and mix as you go.  Watch the color as it changes and be flexible.  The watercolor often does what it wants.  You can mix the watercolor with vinegar to make it stain the wood a little better. 

I added another layer in bolder colors after it dried.  I also made sure to paint the back just in case I would ever hang it somewhere you might see both sides.  After it dried thoroughly I applied beeswax over top and then buffed it off with a rag 20 min later. 

And now it hangs on my entry way door. Not the outside door by the way, wood and watercolor would not be happy in the elements.  Anyway, this is a fun, quick & inexpensive project for adults and kiddos alike. 

Until next time...