Rainy Day Watercoloring with Ken Oliver Color Burst

Ken Oliver Color Burst watercolor powders seem to be the "new thing" among the craft crowd, so of course I had to try them!  They come in a small "eye drop" container and the colors can be purchased separately or in sets, like the Bright Assortment set below.

So when my local scrapbook store got them about 3 months ago, I purchased a few, brought them home and they sat on my desk for a while.  Then I put them into my watercolor storage box because I had deadlines to meet and other creative endeavors to explore.  Until the other day when I got an idea.  

First, I need to explain that in South Carolina, where I live, it is sunny, warm and humid most of the time, with a thunderstorm here and there during the summer months.  We rarely have a whole day where it just rains and rains.  But for the last 4 days it has rained all day and night, with no sun in sight!  So here is where my idea comes in........what if I put some of those Ken Oliver Color Burst powders on watercolor paper and just set it out in the rain?  This is either the most brilliant idea I've ever had, or or the laziest one! Imagine, having the rain do the painting for me while I get other things done!!!  

Let me share with you the inspiration for this idea, other than laziness or creative desperation.  The most brilliant moment on my favorite television show, Project Runway, came during Season 13, Episode 8. The challenge was that the runway show would be a first ever "rainway" show, and they would spray water onto the runway as the models strutted wearing the contestants' creations.  Sean Kelly had the ingenious idea to create a white dress with different colors of Rit Dye (powdered color dye) sewn inside the dress, so that when the water hit it, the dye would react and color would burst out onto the white fabric.  It was a big risk because he had no idea if it would work.  But the payoff was big and he ended up winning the challenge. 

You can watch the video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7S03hBC0Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7S03hBC0I

So I set out two pieces of 12" x 12" Strathmore 400 Series watercolor paper and sprinkled Alizarin Crimson, Orange, Violet, and Blue on one, and Pthalo Green, Blue and Violet on the other, and let serendipity do it's thing!   

It wasn't pouring down rain, just a constant misty sprinkle so it took a bit of time for all the colors to appear.

Well, I had to run out for about 40 minutes and when I came back it was raining harder. The color had pretty much pooled up and I removed the paper and let it dry completely. This resulted is beautiful soft blended colors. 

I wondered what kind of designs I would get if I watched the process more closely and removed it from the rain before the colors were completely diluted.  So I put one more piece of watercolor paper out and added Green, Blue, Violet and Alizarin Crimson.  Then I set my iPhone timer for 15 minutes so wouldn't forget to check it.

After 15 minutes:

I kept checking it every 15 minutes and it took about 45 minutes to get to this point.  I carefully brought the paper in and let it dry completely.  

After completely dry:

I love the bold, bursts of color that was created with the raindrops splattering onto the paper. Now to figure out what to make with them.......

Thank you for visiting my blog and stay tuned for my next post featuring projects using these cool papers.  Now go make something creative!

Kathy :)