Watercolour Plates and Bowls - Using pebeo Porcelain 150 paints.

The watercolour trend is everywhere and it's making its way off the papers and into our home decor, including our crockery. Today I'm going to show you a really simple way of getting a swirly watercolour design onto your plates and bowls. It's a very chimp proof way, even the hubby had a go with me!

Supplies are Simple :-
White Plate or Bowls
Bowl of Water
Pebeo Porcelain Paint in your choice of colours.
Paintbrush
and optional heat gun (to manipulate the paint)

First of all I mixed two colours together to get the wine coloured purple for our big square plate and small bowl,

As you can see I used the bright red and dark blue paints and mixed till I was happy with the shade of purple.
I then got the big square plate and dabbed a dollop of paint into the corner of the paint with a paint brush.

I then loaded up my brush with a heap of water and started dripping it into the corner of the paint to let it start running down into the blank surface.

then as it runs, you start to slightly tilt the plate to let the watered down paint move around, only tip slightly as you don't want it to just run everywhere that ruins the look (we may have done this a few times before I was happy)

We used a tea towel to prop to dish on its side so that the watered down paint could run back into itself, we then left it to dry a little, then re tilted it, to give depths in the shades of purple so that some swirls were lighter and some dark, then I decided to manipulate the paint with a heat gun to get a more marbled look in some parts.

By using the heat gun I was able to manipulate when and how the layers dried, moving them around to dry in fascinating patterns. I feel this game the best splat like effect overall and continued to do this method with each of the other bowls and platters I had.

 The Result, its beautiful bright and unpredictable watercolour platters and bowls, they are truly stunning in real life, and I can see these being favourited by me when it comes time to serve things. The dark blue bowl will be my daily cereal bowl I can see it already.

I hope you decide to have a go at this really easy tutorial, the results will vary depending on how adventurous you feel! but I can assure you each one will be stunning and each will be uniquely your own creation!

Next month I'm going to create some watercolour inspired napkins, I am a little watercolour obsessed!

Until next time, keep creating!
x Courtney

Lets Get Graphic! - Pebeo Porcelain 150 Black Marker Magic.

Let's be honest, I'm not a fan of white anything, especially when it comes to plates bowls all types of crockery, being an artist I like visual stimulation, and white plates and platters just don't do it for me!
So today I am going to funk them up a little using a single item.

1 Black Pebeo 150 Porcelain Marker (if you want thicker, just use the Pot of Black Pebeo Porcelain Paint and a paintbrush of your choice).

What I first did was head into my Sketchbook and started making patterns and sketching out ideas you could also do this on a piece of paper but I like to collect my thoughts inside my sketchbook.
Once I had a general idea I used a dark 8b pencil to get some form of straight line ( I can never get straight even with a ruler, its been this way all my life!)

I wanted to create visual interest with minimal effort! something that was simple enough that anyone could do this to their own plates and platters. Once you are happy with your design you simply get your Pebeo Porcelain marker and away you go!

 (Tip) I pump the pen off on a paint palette to get the paint flowing nicely.

I am a person who likes the look of imperfect handmade items. I like my stuff to look a little left of center, which is why these bold patterns really make me smile, I know they aren't straight, I know this, and I embrace it and love it!

It's amazing how simple lines, can make such an impact to the white surface. Some of the designs I just free formed, when I made a mistake I got a Q-Tip with some Methylated Spirits on it, and erased what I didn't like. 

Creating patterns on only half of your dish is also a great way to add interest, simple dot pattern made my little plate quite adorable!

I loved how my plates and bowls turned out, I'm going to be using them to put my jewellery on.

 The result of a few lines and a black porcelain pen is some unique and bold statement pieces for your collection! I added a wash of watered down turquoise porcelain paint on the little flower ring bowl to try something a little different, and I love that look as well!

Once you are happy with your designs, let them set for 24 hours then pop them in the oven for 35 minutes at 150 degrees and they are good to go!

In my next post, we are going to be attacking white items again, but creating beautiful watercolour effects on our plates and bowls. Stay tuned for that one!
Enjoy
Courtney Diaz