DIY: Ink Wash Typography

Having had “such fun” (as Miranda would say 😉 with ink washes on my DIY Wall Art project, I’ve been brainstorming other ways to incorporate some more into our new home. I like some of the typographic art that’s out there but not necessarily the printed kind. Graphic prints are not really my thing. So I decided to have a play at creating my own with a slightly more handmade/arty feel….

A super quick project. Took me about 20 mins. You’ll need cardmaking sticky letters a bit like these, (mine were from the £1 bin at Hobbycraft about a ahem…year ago!) writing ink, watercolour paper,(or paper of at least 300-400gsm. Don’t skimp on the paper. You can just about make out some wrinkles in my paper where it buckled a bit from the wetting because it wasn’t proper watercolour paper!) a paintbrush and water…

Create your desired quote using the alphabet stickers, then wet over and all around them using clean water. Dip your brush directly into the writing ink and paint over your letters and onto the wetted paper around allowing the ink to “bleed” and diffuse into the wetted surface around. Be sure to get the ink into the centre of letters with closed loops like “o” “a” “e” etc,,,,

Allow to dry a little. Carefully lift the alphabet stickers away from the paper. They’ll be a little soggy from the water and ink so won’t likely come off in one go, so is a wee bit fiddly at this stage. You’ll also find that the shiny top layer will peel off but leave a little of the underpaper still adhered.(You can see this on the letter “n” in the pic below) So you may have to peel the two layers separately to fully reveal the clean white paper behind. I left the underpaper in place on a couple of the letters because I quite liked the slightly imperfect, textured look it gave….

Allow to dry…pop in a frame…simple as!

I keep thinking these would make great handmade Christmas gifts, no? When I eventually get my sewing space back…(ie when we build a new summerhouse in the spring) this may well find a home there…to serve as a reminder whenever I’m tempted to rush to get a project finished! I do that. Alot!