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Rubber Road
Scenic Byway:

Altered Mouse Pad

By Stephanie Loomis
Trail Blazers
Mixed Media Team Designer

Supplies:
Foam mouse pad (IKEA)      
Rubber Stamp (Artful Impressions)
StazOn Noir ink (Tsukineko)
Twinkling H2Os (LuminArte)—colors of your choice
Spray bottle of water
Paintbrushes (Loew-Cornell)
Workable fixative (Krylon)

 
Instructions:

1.      Stamp the image onto the mouse pad with StazOn ink. 

2.      Spray lightly with fixative. 

3.      Paint image with watercolors…be experimental and have fun! 

     4.     Add color generously and then add water to the central point of color. As it spreads and dries it will create unique  patterns.

5.      There is no right or wrong way to do this---it’s all play. If you don’t like the way a color combination is looking, add water until it dissipates to nothingness.  Add color to the edges of the mouse pad as well. Those colors will spread toward the center. (photo2a) 

6.      Let each color layer dry before moving to the next.

   

     7.      Use the spray bottle to moisten the paint already on the mouse pad and to really move the color around on the artwork. More water means more spread. Think of it as continental drift for the watercolor. The mouse pad is the ocean and the watercolors are islands floating around and crashing into one another until the continents of satisfaction are formed.  

8.      Add additional layers of colors (letting dry between layers) until the results satisfy your muse.  This could be five layers or 25. Just add water and add paint until you like what you see. 

9.      When completely dry, spray with fixative. (Color will still react to water, but over time it adds character. 

10.  Sign your art!

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