Watercolor resist -3 methods!

Let kids play around with this fun art technique! Three fun methods to try out watercolor resist! Paint over to reveal fun messages!

This is one of those kids crafts where you have FUN experimenting with art! Try watercolor resist! Draw on pictures with a waxy crayon, glue, or oil pastel and paint over it to reveal your picture! Watching it appear will be like magic! You could even send super secret spy messages!

This project is part of my Kid’s Craft camp! Make sure to click on the image to see all 50 craft ideas!

What is watercolor resist?

Watercolor resist (short for resistance) painting is an art technique that uses a “resist” layer to create areas that resist watercolor paint. The resist layer can be made from various materials, including tape, wax, or a clear medium. When the artist paints over the covered areas with watercolor paint, the color sticks to the surrounding surface, allowing the resist layer to show through. This technique can create special effects, patterns, or designs. (or in this case…secret spy messages!)

Supplies you need to do Watercolor Resist

Glue
white crayon
white oil pastel
watercolor paper or cardstock
Watercolors (this is an old set! I’ve linked up one similar! but you can use the regular watercolor sets they sell with the back-to-school supplies!

How to do watercolor resist

We wanted to have some fun with this art process. But we didn’t know what way was the best way to achieve it! So we experimented!

Watercolor resist is a super easy process! Draw over the paper with your waxy item (ie, crayon or oil pastel). Then take your watercolor paints and paint over your paper to reveal where you drew. The wax will keep the paint from adhering. It’s the same for the glue. While it’s not waxy, it creates a smooth texture that the paint just slides off! So let’s go over each item and see what one works best.

Technique 1: Glue

I really like drawing with the glue! So this one is super fun. The downside of doing watercolor resist with glue is that you have to let it dry before you can watercolor over it. There is also a raised surface so you can easily see where you drew. This makes it nice so you can add paint in the exact spots you want! BUT if you wanted to try to send a secret note, it will be easily visible!

Result: Works! Downside: Dry time!

Technique 2: White Crayon

This is the cheapest of the options! This technique works great- BUT the downside is that it works too well! It was so hard to see where I drew! So if you are trying to draw a specific thing, it could be tricky! You could BARELY see it even when you angled it toward the light! This technique is PERFECT for any secrete messages because you are not going to reveal what the note says unless you paint over it!

Result: Cheapest. Great for spy notes. Downside: Hard to see!

Technique 3: Oil pastel in white

I had to buy a whole pack of oil pastels to get the one white out of it. (I’m not mad about it because oil pastels are fun to color with!) But I’m happy to report, these work great! They draw smoothly and unlike Crayons, when you tilt it to the light you can see where you have drawn. These would still work for secret messages, but the person can probably make it out if they really wanted too!

Result: Works great. Downside: Most expensive and you probably don’t have the supplies on hand!

Water Resist conclusion

No matter what technique you use- water resist is still so much fun to play around with! Drawing something and then watching it appear when you spread your brush over it with watercolor is like MAGIC!

Pinky promise that kids will love playing with it! You could have some fun with it and have each kid draw on a piece of paper with a white crayon and pass it to the person next to them, and then have them draw on it etc. Then when your original paper gets passed back, you could paint over it and reveal all the drawings!

Or write a cute note with your oil pastels and stick it in your kid’s lunch box for a surprise!

Make sure to check out this fun spiderweb Halloween craft using watercolor resist!

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