Cool Sharpie and Alcohol Painting on Canvas - Welcome To Nana's (2024)

School's out for summer

Summer brings a shift in schedule and a great opportunity to connect with those great kids of yours. Want to catch up on what they have been doing lately? No better way than having a visit over an art or craft project.The Cool Sharpie and Alcohol Painting on Canvas craft will be perfect to try!!

Crafts and conversation

Add some laughter, thoughtful questions and a snack at the end and you have a recipe for a great conversation. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Let’s make it happen.

Make a Cool Sharpie and Alcohol Painting on Canvas

Collect up a few materials, some you may have on hand, and invite the grands to join you to start the summer with the coolest project. Make a Cool Sharpie and Alcohol Painting on Canvas.

Any age grand will enjoy this unusual craft.

It's just magic...

What makes it unusual? Well, put away your desire for your picture to turn out just as you envisioned. Because the whole point of this technique is you just don’t know what will happen!

The alcohol swirls the color of the permanent markers on the canvas and…well, it’s just magic.

So are you ready to create a bit of magic? You bet!

Alcohol and permanent markers- a swirl project

It’s good to explain to the grands before they start drawing, that the point of this project is to let the colors swirl with the alcohol. Sometimes kids need permission to not get too detailed in the drawing part of a project like this if they are budding artists. I’d hate for them to create a masterpiece and then have it swirled with alcohol and not be expecting it!

Supplies for a Cool Sharpie and Alcohol Painting on Canvas

The supply list is short: a canvas, permanent markers and alcohol. You may have all of these things on hand already.

We used 8x10” canvases because that’s what I always keep on hand. If you are working with younger grands you may want to use a 5x7” size. It takes some time to fill a canvas with a picture when using permanent markers.

Permanent markers- alcohol based dye

Permanent markers contain a dye that is alcohol based (as opposed to the water based markers like Crayola Markers). The alcohol wets the permanent marker dye and lets it swirl- that’s where the magic begins.

Permanent markers can be purchased in sets (or individually) and are more expensive than the water based markers. Of course they need to be kept away from littles if there isn’t close supervision but work wonderfully for projects such as this.

It is wise to put down paper or an old tablecloth under this project to avoid marker on the counter or table top.

Imagination fueled pictures

The first canvas pictured had a tie-dye look to it, circular colors that radiated out from the center. The second is a sunset. These are great ideas if one is needed, but that is rarely an issue with kids. They seem to jump into drawing with their bottomless imaginations. That’s one of the beautiful things about crafts, they fuel the imagination. Don’t you love that?

The canvas doesn’t have to be perfectly covered. Some white space works fine. Also, the markers can be used one color on top of another for a two or three tone look. That’s a cool feature of permanent markers.

Alcohol dripping ahead, eyedropper recommended

When the canvas is colored it is time for the magic, dripping on the alcohol.

It is important that the alcohol is the 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. I didn’t know there was any difference in alcohols, but the first time I tried the project it wouldn’t lift the permanent marker colors and make them swirl. Talk about a disappointment! The grands were good sports about it but we will take one for the team and save you the trouble.

We used an eyedropper to drip the alcohol on the canvas which worked wonderfully. Another snafu we made was to use a spoon and pour the alcohol on the canvas. Um, it pooled up and just made a mush of the design. That’s why there is no finished product pictures of the first design. That’s a second time we took one for the team. You’re welcome. Ha!

Less is more, don't get in a hurry

Anyways, dropping the alcohol with the eyedropper and just watching what happened with a bit more patience worked so much better. Don’t get in a hurry, just watch the magic and drip on a bit more alcohol in various areas to let the swirl magic happen. Stop before the alcohol puddles up, less is more. The alcohol dries quickly. You could always drip on a bit more later if you want.

Like I said, it's magic

I love how the second one turned out. Like I said, it’s magic.

Next time we are going to try tilting the canvas so the alcohol drips down from the top to the bottom which would give a whole different effect.

So many ideas, never enough time!!

I’m eager to see pictures of your creations. Have fun creating and conversing. Those are precious moments together.

Enjoy!

If you try this craft, let me know! Go ahead and leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo with #WelcometoNanas wherever you post.

Come join the fun athttps://welcometonanas.com