Using the Aqua Painter

For coloring, I use my Aqua Painter all the time. For me, it gives me the best control over light and dark shading. Here is a tip sheet compiled by fellow demonstrator, Roxanne Mussell. I thought you'd enjoy the tips, too! Thanks for letting us share this, Roxanne!

For this card, I used two different watercolor techniques using the Aqua Painter. The first, I scribbled the Watercolor Crayons directly onto Shimmer cardstock, then used my Aqua Painter back and forth across the scribbles to blend and soften the background colors. In the second, I used the Aqua Painter to color the pumpkins/gourds by picking up the color directly from my Watercolor Crayons and coloring in the Basic Brown images (on Shimmer paper again.)

Aqua Painter™ Tips

Basic Care & Use:

1. Choose paper that is of heavier quality, such as the Watercolor, Shimmer, Confetti or Naturals cardstocks (Ultrasmooth cardstock is ok if you don’t plan to do a lot of blending).

2. Stamp with an ink that won’t bleed such as Basic Black, Basic Gray or Basic Brown or emboss your image.

3. Fill the barrel with the liquid of your choice.

4. Squeeze the barrel so the liquid fills the reservoir and begins to drip from the brush, though not so much that liquid runs from the brush tip. If you get too much water, dab off on a paper towel. Keep one next to you during the entire coloring process.

5. Use the painter as you would a blender pen or standard paintbrush – practice first on scrap paper to get the feel for this handy tool. Unlike a blender pen you control the amount of liquid that mixes with your color choice. If your paper gets too wet; dry with a heat tool to stop colors from unintentionally bleeding together.

6. Between colors, clean your painter by running the brush across a paper towel or scrap paper while gently squeezing the barrel until the brush runs clear.

7. Clean your Aqua Painter™ after each use and let the 2 pieces air dry before storing (this will prevent mold and bacteria from forming and possible damage to the tool).

If you forget to clean up for a few days…fill the barrel with warm, slightly soapy water; shake a bit to clean the barrel then squeeze quite a bit of soapy water though the reservoir and out till the brush is clean. Rinse with clean water to remove soap and air dry.

Try these liquids in your Aqua Painter™:

1. Water is great for blending and creating a soft watercolored look.

a. Pick-up ink pad color, reinkers, or even markers colored on a palette to watercolor a stamped or embossed image.

b. Use to blend watercolor crayons and pencils within a stamped image.

c. Use the Aqua Painter filled with water to color wash a background or create beautiful sunsets.

d. Don’t use directly with chalks – use a sponge to pick up some chalk and rub on scrap paper – use the painter to pick-up this “scrap” chalk.

2. Liquid Bleach is great for bleaching out areas of your embossed image. When the image is bleached out as desired use a heat tool to dry the cardstock and stop the bleach processing. Then use markers to color your image. Try this with darker cardstocks. Make sure to rinse out your Aqua Painter thoroughly after you are done.

Other uses:

1. Use a water filled Aqua Painter™ to dampen cardstock prior to distressing.

2. Reach for your water filled Aqua Painter™ to seal envelopes.

Hope you enjoyed these tips for using your Aqua Painter. Now go out and create!

Connie Babbert
Stamping 411 Operator