Watercolor Tricks: How To Make Your Own Watercolor Block And Keep Your Paper Flat

#watercolor #watercolortutorial #mixedmedia
No more warped watercolor paper!
Save money and keep your watercolor paper flat. No taping, it's easy and budget friendly. Make your own watercolor paper block to keep your paper from buckling or warping.
I encourage you to create your own amazing piece of artwork or just gather your art supplies and just have fun (which is the most important part)!
Thank you for hanging out with me! Please like and subscribe if you liked the content or the creator. That really helps me grow my channel and help more people find me! Comment below with any questions!
Materials used:
Lineco glue: amzn.to/46St0zi
or try Aleene's Tacky Glue: amzn.to/3uVUqa8
Clamps: amzn.to/41iN38M
Some of my favorite supplies:
Tim Holtz / Ranger Distress Inks and Oxides Sprays amzn.to/48TVr1S
Tim Holtz / Ranger Distress Ink / Oxide pads: amzn.to/3rSVN8k
Archival Ink Pads (waterproof): amzn.to/3QhMxUD
Watercolor paint from the Kuratake Gansai Tambi Art Nouveau palette: amzn.to/3tyDOo6
Kuratake Gansai Tambi watercolor 48 set: amzn.to/3PZB62q
Daniel Smith watercolors: amzn.to/3QhzGSd
Liquitex Acrylic Paints: amzn.to/3QhPfcL
Brushes - Princeton Neptune size 4,6,8,10,& 12- amzn.to/46qJzTo
Watercolor paper block 4x6" - amzn.to/46n3nXP
Baohong Watercolor paper block: amzn.to/400qxRA
Canson XL Watercolor paper: amzn.to/3rRftt8
Fabriano Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper: amzn.to/3FiEG2R
Strathmore Mixed Media Paper: amzn.to/46MN8TK
Ceramic watercolor palette: amzn.to/3ZTuPKt
Artist tape (for taping edges of paper down): amzn.to/3Fpf9F3
KINGART Gel Stick Artist Water Soluble Pigment Crayons: amzn.to/3Q0qr7A (OR)
Faber Castell gelatos: amzn.to/3PXwSbR
Caran Dache Neocolor 2 crayons: amzn.to/3QfTBRJ
Mungyo Gallery Oil Pastels: amzn.to/3StsjJh
Tim Holtz Distress crayons: amzn.to/3Q0spVN
Uniball Signo white gel pen: amzn.to/3ZUYO4G
Posca acrylic paint pens: amzn.to/46NLxNx
Pigma Micron 01 in black: amzn.to/46NqUAY
Stabilo All water soluble pencil: amzn.to/3PVcDeF
Stabilo Woody water soluble pencil crayons: amzn.to/3rIeBas
Faber Castell Pitt Pens: amzn.to/3Fgt5RS
Bombay India Ink / Liquitex Acrylic Ink: amzn.to/3Fjwi3e
Kuretake Gold Ink: amzn.to/3M3MOIq
Gold Metallic Acrylic Paint: amzn.to/3ZTufwd
White Gesso: amzn.to/46vNYEI
Matte GEL Medium: amzn.to/48TYLdm
LIQUID Matte Medium: amzn.to/3rLeCKK
Color catalog for palettes:
sarahrenaeclar...
(This is an affiliate link {copy and paste in your browser if it is not clickable}, in which I do earn a small commission from your purchase, without any extra cost to you.) Thank you for using my link!!!
Instagram: / ginger_mcelfresh_art
gingermcelfres...

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

I am loving these blocks! No wrinkled or buckling paper 🤩! But the best part is that it is easy to do, and will save you money on pre-made blocks! You can make them any size that you want. Thank you for liking and subscribing. Please let me know if you have any questions below!

[@susanH1986]

Love this idea especially for a sketchbook!

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

I'm glad it was helpful!

[@gaylecewpie5012]

Great Idea!!!😊

[@MissIdolize]

Well done! You have just saved us artists a small fortune! I much prefer the blocks which I buy when I can but, as we all know, they are a bit more expensive. Heck, the difference in price could get me a paint pan or tube, some pens, pencils, pastels or something. So I usually to opt for a pad. But your genius diy trick is def a game changer. I'm gonna try it asap. Thank you very much for sharing. x

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Yayyy! I'm so glad it was helpful! Have fun painting!!! 😉

[@colleenmcchesney1482]

Oh gosh that’s great 😃 thanks for sharing how to make your own watercolor blocks. I would definitely be interested in seeing your results at making the watercolor sketchbook pages into a block as well. 💕

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

You are so welcome! If I wind up doing the sketchbook, I will definitely share 😉! TFW!

[@kaileilani22]

Brilliant! You r genius!..i LOVE the art loft paper from michaels too! Seriously cheap and works.and looks awesome%.u r the only other person i have seen w this awesome paper...thanks so much 4 thinking of making a block.🧡💚💜💛🤗⚪💚

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

I'm so glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching 😊.

[@PattisArtInnaVan]

Wow what a great idea! Thank you!

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

You are so welcome!

[@angelllite]

I don't know why I didn't think to do this! TY! I will now!!

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Yayyy! Save some money 😉! TFW!

[@Zumpi61]

Wow, what a great idea. I have to try it by myself. Thank you very much for this brillant video. Have a nice christmas time.

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

I'm so glad it helped! You have a wonderful Christmas season as well ❤️!

[@DeborahMcDonald-id2kc]

This is the best idea ever! 🎉 How exciting! Thanks for sharing.

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

I'm so glad it was helpful! Thanks so much for watching 😊

[@SandraBalboa-h2l]

GREAT IDEA TY

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Diane_McDon]

Let us know how your sketchbook glueing comes out! Thank you

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

I'll have to do that! Thanks for watching! 😊

[@siennaonthenet2127]

Great ideas! I love blocks but usually cheap out and just by the pads. Now that problem is solved. Thank you!

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Yay! So glad that helped! TFW!

[@katpaints]

Yes! I started doing this a year or two ago with a Big pad that has 50 sheets in it. I already had a bottle of padding glue for making paper pads and it is wonderful! I have also discovered those pads from Michael's! I bought the first to use in sketchbooks. The lighter weight works well. I have since bought the large size in the 140 pound paper and I like that even better! I haven't taped one up yet because it is a heavy pad but I am seriously thinking about splitting a pad and gluing just part of ît. I have always bought full sheets of watercolor paper because blocks are so expensive. Making blocks from these pads is fun!

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Great idea! TFW!!!

[@MissIdolize]

I finally got around to trying this. Got everything ready, pages clasped together and opened my pva - and found it unusable! It had been stored with the lid loose and had dried out so much that it was not suitable for this purpose! So I picked out another adhesive that I had lying around called Copydex. It's a multi-purpose, multi-material glue which sets like rubber. It does smell a bit but it's solvent-free ( so not toxic, just smelly 😛) but I can deal with that. Oh, and it dries really fast. Was drying on my spatuala as I went but was very easy to peel off and re-apply a fresh layer (peeling it is most satisfying actually 😉). Logic tells me Copydex should work but will have to wait and see. I will leave it overnight. Success or fail, I will let you know the result. Fingers crossed. (I have ordered some PVA regardless, lol!) Note: since gluing my book then typing this comment, it has dried! Will still wait until tomorrow tho. (Dammit.. I am so impatient!)

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Lol....peeling glue??? That's the best part! Hopefully, you like the results...thanks so much for the comment! TFW 😊

[@MissIdolize]

@@Ginger_McElfresh_Art Result: I did manage to create a paper block using Copydex. It is rubbery which makes it hard to work with and rather ugly to look at when dry (a blotchy coffee shade) but apart from that, it did the job. Whether it will stand up to wet media or not, who knows. And to be honest, I don't really care coz I won't use it again for this project. I just had to try it. Anyway, my PVA adhesive arrived so I tested it straight away, and what a difference! So nice & easy to work with and results are really neat, almost professional! As you can imagine, I went nuts and now have a small collection of ready to use painting blocks.. and looking for more to make! Will keep the Copydex for 'self-peeling' therapy! 🤪

[@kraznia]

Parchment paper or palette paper might work. It really doesn't stick to much of anything so should peel off easily. Not sure if glue would seep under it though.

[@Ginger_McElfresh_Art]

Oooh! Good idea! I will try that on my next one. Thanks! 😊