Today I'm demonstrating a unique paint marbling technique. This tutorial is perfect for the beginner artist but can still be enjoyed by seasoned professionals too! Using this paint marbling technique works well with fabric paints. This means it's easy to create your own special tote bag. In this video, I give a sneak peak of my newest Marbled Floral Tote Bag Painting Kit as an example of what you can do with this technique.
Guide to Paint Marbling
In order to achieve this unique affect you need a few things:
Freezer paper (Reynolds Kitchen brand)
Iron preheated to 320 degrees F
Fabric paints
Used plastic card or pallet knife
Shaving cream
For this technique you will need to use Freezer paper which will stick to your fabric when ironed down. I use Reynolds Kitchen brand but you are free to experiment with whatever you have available! A word of caution, wax paper does not work the same. I found this out the hard way so you don't have to.
Start by drawing out the basic shapes of your design on the matte side of the freezer paper, then cut them out. If you draw on the shiny side, your design will end up being backwards. As you draw imagine the silhouette of your object instead of focusing on the details. Keep in mind as you draw, that anything inside the silhouette will get cut out. If you have ever carved a pumpkin, you know what I mean by this. In the video, you can see an example of this. The inner parts of the letters have to be ironed on separately. Don't let this stop you from creating detailed pieces though! You can make multiple stencils to layer different details on top of one another. The Marbled Floral Tote Bag Painting Kit comes with two stencils. One for basic shapes, then another for inner floral and leaf details.
After you have cut out your stencil, place it shiny side down on the fabric. Preheat an iron to 320 degrees Fahrenheit. If your iron doesn't tell you what temperature it is, you can start preheating at a low temperature. Try sticking a corner down and slowly increase the temperature until it sticks. Iron over the entire piece of freezer paper being careful not to fold the paper underneath itself. Inspect it to make sure none of the edges are lifted which the paint could go underneath.
How to achieve the marbling texture
The best way to marble paints is actually with shaving cream. It is possible to marble them without it but I find it harder to achieve the same results. It may sound weird but it really does work!
To do this, put some dollops of each of your colors on the shaving cream. You can use a chopstick, pencil, or a butter knife to do that. Gently mix your colors until they marble together. The goal is only to partially mix them and not to create a new color.
After you have marbled the paints, use an old plastic card or anything with a flat edge to pick up some of the paint. Spread it over the top of your stencil. You will instantly see, the marbled paint texture! Continue this process until all areas of the stencil have been covered.
A few things to consider while painting:
You can use masking tape around the edges of your stencil to prevent accidentally painting outside.
Avoid peeling up the stencil with you paint applicator.
Lighter colors will be overpowered by darker so be careful going over the same area multiple times.
Scrape off the excess paint on your plastic card occasionally to prevent the colors from mixing too much.
Look carefully for unpainted areas before you remove the stencil.
Now the best part of course, is peeling the stencil off to reveal your final result. However, before you do that make sure the paint has fully dried, to prevent it from smudging and ruining your project. You can use a hairdryer to speed up that process!
If you have multiple stencils for different layers of detail, you can follow the same process to apply it on top of your existing paint. Iron it down like usual and fill it in. Like previously mentioned, lighter colors won't show on top of darker so keep that in mind.
Protecting Your Results
This technique is perfect for creating a unique and personable tote bag you can enjoy every day. However, you will want to make sure to heat set you paints before you do that. You can follow the instructions according to your fabric paint manufacturer. If you purchase one of our Tote Bag Painting Kits, a guide will be included to help you with that process.
Finally, enjoy!
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