Easy Watercolor Resist Art – A girl and a glue gun
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission to help to support this site at no extra charge to you.
With just a few simple materials and techniques, you can create stunning artwork with this easy watercolor resist art! Perfect craft for all ages!
This craft is coming from way back when, in a watercolor class I took in high school! This technique was one I learned to help keep parts of your paper from getting watercolor accidently on it!
We did do a whole post about 3 different techniques to watercolor resist– so let’s say this technique is number 4: RUBBER CEMENT!
This project is part of my Kid’s Craft camp! Make sure to click on the image to see all 50 craft ideas!
Supplies to make Watercolor resist art
I did try this technique on regular smooth cardstock and it did work, but it was a little harder to rub off the rubber cement!
How to create Easy Watercolor Resist Art
Step 1: Rubber Cement
Take your watercolor paper and rubber cement and let’s make some art! There are a few methods on how to do this. The first one is definitely the easist!
Method 1:
Drizzle or drip the rubber cement all of the paper. Hold the brush above the paper and move it around the paper in all directions until you have an abstract image. You might need to wipe off a little don’t the side of the rubber cement jar to avoid large clumps of glue coming out- unless you want to have large clumps! Big or small- it’s your picture!
Method 2:
Write with the rubber cement.
The brush that comes with the rubber cement is nice and large. It makes a perfect paint brush to write your ABCs, I love you notes or your name. Or your kiddo can just paint with the brush.
Fair warning- it is easier to rub off the rubber cement when it’s thinner lines!
Method 3:
Create a picture. I just dripped the rubber cement over the paper to make some abstract flowers. You could transfer the rubber cement into a squeeze bottle to create intricate drawings. Just consider the age of your kids (or if it’s you) and what method might be the most fun! Or try all of them!
Step 2: Let Dry
The Rubber cement dries flat. It will also be a little tacky to the touch.
Step 3: Watercolor
Using your favorite watercolor palette, start covering the pictures with the paint. You literally can just paint right over the rubber cement. It won’t soak in the paint and will leave the lines very visible. It’s such a cool process!
I like to take the abstract ones and paint in each little section with a different color! Kind of like a stained glass window look!
Step 4:
Let dry (again!)
You need to wait for the watercolor to dry. Usually they dry pretty quickly depending on how much water you use. You can always use a fan or place them in the sun to help the drying process.
Step 5:
Peel off rubber cement.
This is such a fun part! Taking your finger, rub it over the lines of the rubber cement and rub it right off! It comes up pretty easy. I noticed that the thinner lines were a lot easier to rub off so keep that in mind!
The image below shows part of the rubber cement coming off- it’s very white underneath. The rubber cement has a yellow/ cream color to it.
Realistically, you can keep the rubber cement on it. It has resisted the watercolor paint and still makes a cool picture. But my kids do love to rub off all the little gunk of the glue!
What to do with the art pictures
While we love creating art- and I mean, look how cool these pictures turn out:
You might be bombarded with kids artwork, and are running our space to store it. So here are a few ideas of things you can do with these cool watercolor prints.
- Cut them up and turn them into greeting cards!
- Use them as scrapbook paper! Add a photo and you have the cutest memory page.
- Snag one of these rotating frames so you can just keep all the papers in one place!
- Check out my roundup of cool ways to display your kid’s artwork
- Have them paint one specifically for their bedroom door! Great for names or the word KNOCK.
Save this craft later
Too busy to get crafting today? No problem! Pin this post to remind yourself about this project later! Sharing my projects helps me reach more people, allowing me to continue sharing free content!
The BEST kid crafts and activities
and when I say kids, I mean kids of all ages!
If you are looking for more fun kids’ crafts- my craft camp has two weeks full of fun projects that you will love to do as well!
