Rainbow Printing

This idea is inspired by the amazing rainbows that I have seen put up in people’s windows to spread some cheer! This is a great activity to get creative for when the weather is not so nice! Instead of just painting a rainbow, I have aimed to make this activity a little different by using printing techniques. All you will need are some objects from around the house and some paint!  

What you will need:

-paint (you will need red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) 

(to make the colour orange, mix red and yellow, to make indigo mix blue with a dab of purple and a dab of black if you want it to be darker, and to make violet mix blue and red)

-6 different objects that you can use to print onto paper. Plastic toys that are textured like lego work well and also natural items like flowers and the parts of vegetables that get thrown away, like the stalks are also effective. 

(For my print I used a big lego brick, a dried flower, the end of a carrot, a bead, a smaller lego brick, my finger to create a print and a cotton bud)

1. First of all, you will need to collect together some objects from around the house that you can use to print with. 

2. Now start to mix your paint colours in a tray/pallet (old yoghurt pots or cut down milk cartons make good paint pots). Separate each of the 7 colours so the colours don't mix. To make sure that you create an even and clear pattern, spread out the paint using a paintbrush.

3. The next step is to lightly draw the outline of a rainbow onto your piece of paper. (I used an A1 sheet but you can use A4 or stick multiple sheets together to create one big piece of paper). 

4. Now you can start printing! Decide what object you will pair with  each colour. Dip the object into the paint and press onto the outlines on your paper. You can layer the patterns as many times as you want and eventually, once you have created all of the layers of the rainbow, you will see it come together.

5. Leave the picture to dry and then hang it up in the window for your street to see your masterpiece!

Extra suggestions:

- If you do not want to use objects you could also create this picture using just finger prints or handprints.

- If you have already created a rainbow and you want to use the same technique in a new piece of art, have a go at printing a sunshine to go next to your rainbow in the window!