Oil Paint+Thinner+Water=Shaving Cream+Acrylic Paint?

water bath for oil paint marbling

Strange equation, right?  Well, it's an accurate one, if you're creating marbled paper.  In my workshop at Jerry's Artarama last week, we worked with all of the above.  First, using oil paints, Turpenoid and water, we were able to produce some gorgeous sheets, and everyone was amazed at the variety of colors and patterns which resulted. 

Then, using shaving cream and liquid acrylic paint, we created even more marvelous marbled sheets...when I pulled out the shaving cream, there were some doubtful looks and surprised laughs, but when I showed how easy it is to do, and the lovely results, everyone wanted to try it.  This technique is a great one to do with kids (the shaving cream is BIG fun).  The last image below is one of our shaving cream papers.

It was a great two-hour session, I think all of the artists in the workshop enjoyed it, and came away with another technique to use in their own mixed media, painting and calligraphic work.  Thanks to Sharon DiGiulio for giving me the opportunity to present these workshops.

shaving cream marbled paper