How to Paint With Sharpies and Alcohol

I have a new favorite crafting project! I painted some tiles with Sharpies and Rubbing Alcohol and the outcome is crazy good!

This project is super easy, especially with the tips I can give you based off of the mistakes I made.
First, after cleaning your tile with soap and water and drying it, color in the tile with coordinating colors (or try for colors that don't coordinate! My daughter did and hers came out gorgeous!).

Next, using a small paint brush, dropper or small straw, drop small amounts of the rubbing alcohol. You'll start to see the rubbing alcohol blurring the colors together. Be patient and don't drop too much alcohol. You can always go back and do a little more if you think you need to.

Your wet tile should look like the one above. If it looks like the one below, don't fret! It's an easy fix.

Just add some more color with your Sharpie and then drip the alcohol to get the blurring going again.
And if you are totally dissatisfied with how your tile came out, the paint comes "paint" comes off easily with water!
Which brings me to my next point. These will need to be sealed really well. I'm in the process of experimenting with how to seal them, so I will update with the best way of doing that!

Be sure to head over to the blog for all of the details including the mistakes I made that you won't have to!

Suggested materials:

Sharpies (Michaels)
91% Rubbing Alcohol (Grocery Store)
4.25 x 4.25 in Tiles (Home Depot)

3 of 5 questions

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Roni
on Feb 24, 2018
Can you also use canvas boards to do this?
1
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- Ann Haddock Blenstroub
  on Apr 17, 2018
  I know you can do this on canvas sneakers so I don’t know why not.
  4
Linda
on May 17, 2018
I dropped the alcohol on the colored tile and nothing happened. I didn't prewash the tile. Does that make a difference? Is there a certain kind of alcohol I need to use? I am so disappointed!
3
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- Lana
  on Sep 14, 2018
  Denise Dragonetti, I know it's a little off-topic, but I want to know more about your "SALT on wet art" comment, please! What do you mean by "explode"?? Details!!
  1
Kar34073381
on Sep 11, 2018
I tried it twice. The first time the alcohol didn't seem to blur the image at all. The second one I added more alcohol and it all ran together and wiped out the entire effect. How long do you wait after adding the alcohol before it gets optimal results?
Karan
1
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- Cathy
  An hour ago
  I use only fat sharpies and 99%alcohol.

3 of 17 comments

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19531745866
on May 1, 2018
This project is beautiful and I would like to try it out At Michaels there were all sorts of Sharpies and I got confused so didnt buy them today There were OIL Sharpies and WATER COLOR Sharpies Wide nib and fine nib Which would be the best choice ? Please
2
- Marybeth Santos
  on May 1, 2018
  Hi 1954 Laurie! You just want plain old Sharpie Permanent Markers, not the Sharpie paint pens. I think I got mine at the convenience store, actually! I used a combination of fine tip and wide tip, so whatever you prefer on that!
  Good luck!
  Marybeth
  4
Lana
on Sep 14, 2018
I'm excited to try this on some small canvases I have at home, & just bought a couple sets multicolor Sharpies during Back to School sales! Just need to make sure the alcohol is 91%! Thanks for sharing!
1