Do you want to create colourful abstract backgrounds in a simple way? Amylee offers her latest studio creation: watercolour powder inspired by Brusho®. A new way to create unexpected effects!
Watercolour Powder Inspired by Brusho®
I wanted to try using Brusho® pigment powder, but after several unsuccessful searches in Art Supply shops in France and even in Montreal, I decided to make my own recipe inspired by Brusho®.
Have you heard of watercolour powder, or “Fake Brusho®”? It is really easy and the effects are really amazing!
WHAT IS BRUSHO®?
Brusho® is a range of watercolour pigments sold by Colourcraft, they are an environmentally friendly British brand distributing artists’ material.
Usually packaged in small pots, the Brusho® powder is highly pigmented. It is easily diluted with water and creates beautiful watercolour effects, abstract blossoms that look like minerals or crystal drawings.
Brusho® is generally used in scrapbooking because it is useful for quick creations of unique backgrounds on pages or cards. Thanks to social media, Brusho® has very quickly met with a great success. Therefor it is now used by many professional artists, watercolour artists, illustrators, schoolchildren…
MATERIAL YOU NEED TO START
- Water-soluble wax pastels (aqua brique or Water-soluble wax pastels)
- Empty receptacles with perforated caps (like a salt shaker)
- painting knife to grind the colours
- watercolour paper + masking tape
- (to keep the paper wet and prevent it from drying out) atomiser spray bottle + water + pentel reservoir brushes
GOOD TO KNOW: In my demo, I use water-soluble wax pastels (Jaxon or Cretacolor “water-soluble colour blocks”). With ordinary watercolour, colours spread less well on paper.
Most of these products are currently available at GreatArt Online or in their art supply shop in London Shoreditch.
GOOD TO KNOW: for a better diffusion of the colours, you ideally need to use thick watercolour paper, with a fine grain, 250gsm minimum. (Ex: Arches paper or Sennelier Pad)
WATERCOLOUR POWDER RECIPE
Inspired by Brusho®, my watercolour powder has more or less the same properties and the colours bleed quite quickly on paper.
- Using 2 painting knives, crush small pieces of water-soluble wax pastel until you get a very fine powder.
- When it is crushed finely, pour the powder into a container with a perforated cap (salt shaker).
GOOD TO KNOW: If the container does not have a hole in its lid, you can use a needle and drill a small hole in the middle of the plastic cap for easy dusting. Remember to add a piece of tape to close the hole because this will preserve the powder for longer.
To achieve great effects, just spray water onto the powder you’ve scattered on the paper.
IMPORTANT: There is a difference between the wet effect and the dry result. The coloured effects will be definitive when the paper is completely dry.
SAMPLES PICTURES
GOOD TO KNOW: To create awesome effects, I add a pinch of yellow powder and red powder in my blue powder. The larger the colour crystals, the more colour they will produce.
If the atomiser is not precise enough, then you can use a reservoir brush.
GOOD TO KNOW: You can spray the paper with water several times to add new colours and effects. The pigments will continue to mix with each other with each spray.
GOOD TO KNOW: When using a brush with a built in tank of water, you can make pretty calligraphy and then sprinkle everything. Blow on the work afterwards to remove the excess of non-wet powder.
Information for this article was provided by professional fine artist, Amylee Paris. You can visit her colourful portfolio or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
GREAT TO KNOW – Find all Amylee’s posts published in GreatArt online Magazine by clicking here!
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