Painted Circles Tutorial

Supplies:

• Paper ~ I prefer to use paper that has text on it to add texture behind the painted circles. Dictionary pages, book pages, sheet music all work well, especially vintage for the added aged look.
• A variety of colors of acrylic paints, plus black and white ~ any type will do from craft to tube.
• Wet Wipes ~ lots of them! You will use them often if you paint with your fingers as I do.
• Plastic lids or jar lids to use as circle stamps.
• Straw broom bristles or a toothbrush to spatter paint.
• Shipping box large enough for your papers to sit in. (Optional for paint spattering)

I have found over time that I get the best results when I use my fingers to paint my circles. As an added bonus it's quite relaxing and fun!

Step 1:

Load a small amount of paint on your finger and rub in a circular motion on your paper. I tend to rub until the paint has worked into the paper to the point where I can see text peeking through. *Note: I make bunches of pages whenever I am painting to use up the paint on my palette (styrofoam plate). I then have them ready to use and at hand for background pages, journaling spots or decoration.

Continue adding paint in circles all over your paper. Use any extra paint on your fingers by adding it to other circles. I do this very randomly, putting colors together I may not normally use together.

Step 2:

Once you have your base circles painted begin adding colors to them randomly, making half and quarter circles on the edges. You can also layer colors on top of each other. Do this step until you have added multiple colors to each circle. Again, I do this randomly and rather quickly, I don't give a lot of thought to color placement or even to the color wheel, I just put lots of paint and colors together.

The top two circles on the paper on the right (lower photo) give a comparison between a finger painted circle and one painted with a paint brush. In all honesty I'm not too fond of any of the circles at this phase of the process. But it does get better!

Top right is painted with a brush.

Step 3:
It's time now to add highlights with white paint. Again using your fingers add dabs and stripes of white paint to various parts of the painted circles. Let some blend in so that it just lightens the paint beneath it and let some sit on top of the paint and stand out. Don't overdo the white as it is meant to be highlights to add texture and depth.

Step 4:

Pour a good amount of black paint on your palette/plate in a circle large enough for your largest lid. Try to have a few lid sizes ranging from just a bit larger than your painted circles to a mid size and a smaller one. Dipping a lid in the black paint start adding rings on top of your painted circles. You can get a few rings out of each paint dip. They will vary in thickness of paint but that will add to the depth and variety of rings on your paper. Paint 2 or 3 rings on each painted circle allowing them to overlap and be varied in size.

Step 5:

This is your final step! Spray or drop just a small amount of water onto the black paint left on your palette/plate. Dip broom bristles tied together or a toothbrush into the black paint. You don't want a lot of paint or to have it too watered down as you do want some control over the amount of spatters and the size of your blobs. I use a shipping box with the flaps taped open to lay my papers in and keep paint from spattering all over my studio on things I don't want paint on ~ like my walls or window blinds! Tap the bristles or toothbrush over parts of your paper to leave random paint spatters and blobs, making sure you get some in the centers of your painted circles. Do this until you have an amount you are satisfied with. 

Your painted circles are now complete! You could also add white paint rings and spatters in addition to or in place of the black. From here it's endless what you can use these for. Use them as back ground pages or partial background pages. They can be cut out or punched out and used as page borders, accents or journaling spots. You could decorate the front of an envelope with one and place a mailing label on top of it to decorate snail mail. Have fun painting your circles!

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at marybrack@gmail.com.