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Magazine Color Painting

New Media - Technique - Paint

Magazine color painting is, obviously, a fairly new medium. I first found out of such technique while viewing a prison movie. The prisoner could not get oil or other paint from the outside, so instead he created his own by using magazines from the library. The paint came out as a watercolor with texture.

Since finding out of this new medium, I have been experimenting with what seems to work best and how it is done. In fact, it is a fairly simple process and since most of us have the tools on hand, it is very cheap to make.
  1. Find an old magazine, almost any magazine will work, however some are harder to work with. Sometimes the cheaper magazines which are sent as advertisements are not made with the type of ink we need, so if one doesn't work, just grab another.
  2. In a bowl, add an acid of your choice, preferably lemon juice, however lime juice or orange juice should work just as good. However orange juice will slightly change the hue of the paint, so be careful. Also, water seems to work just as fine, however it is a much longer process.
  3. Dip the paintbrush into the acid making sure just a small amount of acid on the brush.
  4. Gently rub the wetted brush onto the magazine where the color of your choice lies. The color should be at least an inch or two big so you can easily rub the brush across the section without disturbing the other colors.
  5. Paint and repeat!