Credit Card Technique

This can be downloaded in pdf format (requires Acrobat Reader) HERE

You will need:

• Sheets of blank paper – I prefer the stronger cartridge paper like you get in sketch books, but have also used plain copy paper successfully.
• Selection of acrylic paints such as Folk Art or Jo Sonja including some metallic’s such as gold, silver, copper etc
• And old plastic swipe card (e.g. credit card, ATM card, store card).  Must be plastic though, strong cardboard won’t work.
• Water spray bottle
• Newspaper for your work area (it does get messy)

1. Place your paper on top of the newspaper
2. Take two colours of paint that work well together e.g. brown and gold, red and gold, pink and purple, light and dark green etc.,
3. Run a line of paint across the top end of the paper  with your first paint– doesn’t matter if you start with light or dark, both will work and give you different effects
4. Using the credit card, drag the paint very firmly down in a vertical motion till the page is covered with a layer of paint
5. Wipe off the excess on the card onto a spare bit of paper – we can use this later
6. Now lay your second paint across the top again (and no you don’t have to wait for the first layer to dry).  This time however, don’t do a full line... leave a couple of gaps you only want about 60% of the paint you used the first time
7. Drag the paint down again – but this time you aren’t covering all the paper but leaving gaps – a stripey blended sort of look.  Wipe the excess off on the same bit of paper.
8. Take your water bottle and spray lightly across the paper.  Don’t use a fine mister, you want a proper spray bottle that gives a heavier spray.  Count to 15 and wipe the water off – where the water landed will give you great splotchy effects.
9. You don’t have to always spray water you may like it without the splotches... either way is great.

OPTIONAL
You can use two colours e.g. the light and dark brown, then add gold over the top before you use the spray bottle.  You don’t have to stick to two layers of paint – three also work terrific when the third colour is a metallic such as gold, silver or copper

(c) SoulArts 2008