DIY Watercolor and Gold Leaf Art

by Lynn @ Nourish and Nestle

My daughter and i have been redecorating her room and still on the 'to do' list was to gather some art for the ubiquitous gallery wall that she requested. We re-purposed many pictures and frames that we already had, but we needed some pops of pink and, as is my wont, I opted to make art instead of buy it.
This was a nice, quick project and it filled the space perfectly.
it

diy watercolor and gold leaf art, crafts, how to, wall decor

What You Need To DIY Watercolor and Gold Leaf Abstract Painting:

If you're at all like me, you may have most of these items already on hand. The only thing I needed to purchase for this project was the tube of pink watercolor.

Watercolor Pad, like thisStrathmore 300 Series Watercolor Paper 9 in. x 12 in. pad of 12 wire bound 2 Pack

Gold Leaf

Gold Leaf Adhesive

Watercolor. For this project I used Cotman Permanent Rose and Cotman Cadmium Red Pale Hue

Wide brushes

DIY Watercolor and Gold Leaf Abstract Painting:

Lay on the colors that you want in the watercolor.

By using your brush to 'draw' a line in the paint, you create a barrier that the paint really doesn't want to cross, but will if really forced to. I made my line a little wonky, as opposed to a straight line. You can force the paint to 'cross the barrier' by holding the paper up and lightly tapping it on the counter. I like the way this made a few streaks of color to go out on their own.

Once that is dry, lay down the gold leaf adhesive where you want the gold leaf to be. You don't need much of the adhesive, a thin coat will do.

Wait about 45 minutes before you lay your gold leaf in pieces over your adhesive.

Take a sheet of gold leaf. If you haven't worked with gold leaf before, it is some fragile stuff. Don't panic if it tears, wrinkles or folds. That's part of the characteristic of it. You'll notice it really wants to cling right to the adhesive.

Use a soft brush to gently brush the gold leaf away from the areas with adhesive.

went back and added a bit of pink with a wee bit of orange on one side of the gold. I did the same procedure where I held it up and shook it to get some of the paint to move.

Once again such a quick and easy project to add some color to your walls.

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Frequently asked questions

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1 question

Tina Francis on Jan 04, 2017
Love the gold leaf touch. Where do I purchase it?

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Tawny Leste-Carlson on Jan 17, 2024

This is absolutely beautiful. It looks like very expensive, high-end art. Thank you for sharing your creative talent with us!

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Lynn @ Nourish and Nestle on Jan 17, 2024

Aw, thanks Tawny!♥️

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