by Shelly Stokes, Founder and Creative Mentor
I’ve been been playing with the new PlayColor solid paints for a couple of months now, and today I want to share a few tips about making rubbings.
As many of you know, one of the ways I love to use Artist’s Paintstiks is to put textures under my fabric and making rubbings. It is the fastest and easiest way I know to transfer textures to fabric.
My big, burning question was whether I could make the same type of images with PlayColor paints — and whether the plastic tubes that hold the PlayColor paints were going to present a problem. Here are the results of my quick experiments.
Option 1: Use the end of the stick
First up, I tested the end of the sticks. As with Paintstiks, it is very possible to make rubbings using the end of the sticks. I had better luck with the Thick size sticks than the Thin sized sticks because of the larger surface area.
But I was looking at the PlayColor sticks thinking, “I really want to use the SIDE of the stick — but it is in this crazy plastic tube!” Clearly, it was time for a closer look.
Option 2: Use the side of the stick
I didn’t want to cut a chunk of paint off the PlayColor stick because I knew it would dry out if I left it out of the plastic container. (Remember, PlayColor paints are water-based.) So I decided to see how the sticks are put together. I twisted the stick all the way out to the end and found my answer.
When I did this, I discovered that I could lift the stick out of the plastic housing. There is a plastic anchor at the bottom of the stick, so I made a mental note to avoid breaking that off.
Now this may seem silly, but I was pretty excited about being able to remove the paints from the tubes, and to be able to put them back when I was done!
This gives me the freedom to make rubbings using my favorite technique — using the side of my stick rather than the end.
The larger surface of the side of the stick makes it easy-peasy to float the stick over the textured surface without dipping down into places where you don’t want paint. And this is especially important if your rubbing plate or texture has large open areas.
After I finished, I set the PlayColor paint stick back in the plastic housing, twisted it all the way down, and replaced the cap. (Make sure those caps “click” when you put your paints away!)
More on PlayColor Paints
If you want to read more about PlayColor paints, check out the first 2 articles in this series:
Select the graphic below to link to a quick video demonstration from the PlayColor website:
Your Turn
Have you tried making rubbings with the new PlayColor paints? What worked best for you? If you haven’t given them a try just yet, you can order a set from the Online Store. Have fun — and make something beautiful today!
