Watercolor Ice Art

Frozen Color Mixing with Watercolors

I am so excited about the beautiful watercolor ice art JZ (6) created today I am bursting to share it!  Watercolor art is a favorite in our house, because no matter what you paint it almost always turns out gorgeous.  I knew when I froze liquid watercolors yesterday that this would be a fun art project, but I had no idea it would be this phenomenal.  Ice art is one of our favorite ways to beat the heat summer brings.  We love ice paint and ice art sculptures, and now we love frozen watercolors!

How to Make Watercolor Ice Art

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Supplies:

• liquid watercolor paint or food coloring
• ice cube tray
• watercolor paper
• old towel or drop cloth
• baby wipes or hand towels for wiping hands

Directions:  The set up for our watercolor ice art couldn't be easier!  I filled an ice cube tray with liquid watercolors and left it to freeze overnight.  I did not water down the watercolors, although I'm sure you could.  I pulled the frozen watercolors out of the freezer while I set up the work area, so they could defrost a tiny bit, making it easier to remove them from the ice cube tray.

I covered our outdoor table with an old towel then set out watercolor paper.  I brought the frozen watercolors out to the table and invited JZ to join me for some ice painting.  Please note:  Watercolor paper is not necessary, but I highly recommend using thick paper to avoid tearing.

I encouraged JZ to choose two colors per sheet of watercolor paper and to pick colors that would complement one another and blend for and experiment in frozen color mixing.

First he combined blue and red to make shades of purple, and next he chose yellow and blue.  For the third artwork he picked red and yellow.

I think the purple painting is the most breathtaking, but watching the yellow and blue colors mix was exhilarating.  The yellow instantly turned to green when it touched the paper.  There was only the smallest amount of blue mixing with it when it changed.

The more JZ rubbed the frozen watercolors on the paper, the more lovely shades appeared.

One of the many wonderful things about watercolor art is that it is very forgiving.  Tank (24 months) sat at the table and grabbed the yellow ice cube and rubbed it around on JZ's art.  It only added to the creation.  (And thankfully JZ is very forgiving and understanding of his little brothers...most of the time.)

My other favorite thing about watercolors is that the clean up is so simple.  Liquid watercolors wash easily with water.  The white towels I used to wipe up a few spills rinsed clean in warm water without needing any soap.  Our hands rinsed mostly clean with the first wash and then completely clean during our bedtime wash routine.

For more ways watercolor art follow me on Pinterest.

More ways to play and create with ice:

Frozen Water Beads ~ Ice Bowling ~ Snow Cone Pretend Play and Recipe