Homemade paint
Because most of the homemade paint we will be using will work similarly to watercolors, I want to talk a little bit about the ratio between the water and the pigment. In watercolor, in order to get the type of colors and fluidity that you want, you need something called water control. This just means, being able to mix paint and water effectively. Some common mistakes:
Using too much water: your colors are too pale, the water goes everywhere and your paper gets soaked
Too little water: forcing the watercolor to work more like an acrylic, some watercolors will get sticky on your paper
A paper towel will be your best friend. If you added too much water to your paper you can always lift it with your paper towel. You can also clean your brushes and try to correct “mistakes.” When you create your washes:
adding more water will make them lighter
adding more pigment will make it darker
You can practice your control by drawing some squares on your paper and adding more water or pigment to get familiar with your supplies. Do not take it too seriously, the goal is to have fun. You can also do this with your homemade paints so that you can see how the colors will change before doing a painting.
How to work with your homemade paint
Let’s look at what materials you can use from your refrigerator and pantry to create your homemade paint.
Food Color: add water to create gradients and use like liquid watercolors
Gel food color: will work the same as regular food color but the colors might be brighter
Turmeric: will give you an earthy yellow ocre color
Paprika: will give you a burnt sienna color
Soy sauce: will give you a subtle brown color
Mustard: will give you a soft yellow color
Coffee: will give you an umber color. Depending on how strong or watery the coffee is, the color will be darker or lighter
Tea: will give you a soft ink wash. Depending on how long you seep the tea, the color will be lighter or darker
Icing: can be used like watercolor cakes and intense colors. Note: the icing I bought ended up being very translucent and mostly just showed up like glitter so make sure you pick solid colors
Kool-aid: gives you colors similar to a liquid watercolor. The grape flavor looks like India ink
Matcha: will give you a green wash
Saffron: will give you a soft yellow
Balsamic vinegar: will give you a reddish brown color
Mixed the food coloring and spices with water to create washes. I then tested the colors and did a quick painting sketch to try them out.
