Try painting with your watercolors without using a paintbrush in this easy Watercolor Splash Tutorial! The colors bleed slowly with the water spray and it is super cool to see the process happen.
Let’s explore watercoloring a bit more today. Continuing with more rainbow art today I’ll show you how to create a Watercolor Splash. If you enjoyed my previous Watercolor Salt Technique, I am sure you will enjoy today’s tutorial too!
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Supplies You will Need:
- Watercolor paper: I’m using a Canson Watercolor sketchbook paper here.
- Watercolor markers : I’m using my Tombow Dual Brush Pens here because they react with water beautifully
- Masking tape: To protect my sketchbook pages, I’ve used this paper tape that is slightly tacky and doesn’t rip the paper.
- Water spray or mister
Step by step Watercolor Splash Tutorial:
This is a super fun way to have your watercolor bleed into each other to create a flowy splash like look! A very quick technique can be completed in under 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Tape down your watercolor paper
It is very imperative that you use a good quality thick watercolor paper that can withstand all the water we add. And even more importantly, you need to tape down your paper to your table or a cutting board or any flat surface. This allows the color to pool and prevents the paper from warping. You’ll see this in the video above. 
Apply your color to the paper
I’m using brush pens but you can use watercolor tubes or cakes here as well. Apply the color in a rainbow order. I used triangles to create pointy edges of color, but this technique would work with even scribbles of color really
Lightly spray with water
Quickly, before the pigment dries on the paper, apply an light even spray of water onto the paper. I used a small water mister and held it about 6 to 8 inches above the paper. 
Spray more and more water
Now go ahead and spray more and more water onto the paper, and watch the colors spread and start to blend softly! The more water you add, the more flowy your watercolor splash will be. If you add lesser water with the spray, you will have a more controlled and harsh watercolor splash. 
Let the colors blend naturally
Stop spraying once you see the colors starting to meet and create newer in between hues. Let this stay flat till the water dries off and the paper is dry to the touch. 
Watercolor splash tutorial video on IGTV: Watch now!
Watercolor Splash Video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEIzLqMnvw4/
Tips and Tricks:
- This Watercolor Splash Technique works well in rainbow order of colors of course, but if you choose a different color palette- make sure that the adjacent colors wont mix to make a muddy brown.
- Try this technique with a gold or shimmery silver color, white and a grey or black to create a unique marble like effect.
- To help speed up the drying process, I used a heat gun. The air from the heat gun also helps you direct and push the color around a bit as you wish.
- Try not to move your piece till it dries completely. This means that if you are planning to use a heat tool, make sure it is plugged and can reach your paper beforehand.
- Make sure to tape your paper down!! In the video I tried this technique without taping the paper in place. The watery colors had no where to pool and just ran off the paper! Learn from my mistake and save some frustration 🙂
Hi I’m Smitha! I live in Minnesota with my husband and two daughters. You’ll always find me painting florals in my sketchbook. And I love the sheer joy of making something with just my hands! But my bigger love is capturing it all on camera Read more.
Thanks for stopping by today! If you learnt something from this tutorial, do share this post with a friend or on social media! Tag me @smithakatti #smithakatti I’d love to see what you create!
