Painting on Yupo
Painting on yupo presents its own distinct opportunities.....and challenges. Yupo has a smooth plastic surface and mistakes can easily be removed, but glazing and layering are difficult, as the paint previously applied will lift. A VERY light touch is needed to avoid this. I often find a fan brush works well for layering.
I like to think of yupo as giving me an opportunity to create effects I would not necessarily be striving for with regular watercolor paper and to that end I use a variety of tools as well as brushes. I use both synthetic and natural sponges, small foam rollers, QTips, corks, different sized plastic tubes (you’ll find them protecting the brush when you buy a new one), basically any tool that will make a mark in the paint. An old credit card is good for small straight lines when you paint animal whiskers or power lines.
Rubbing alcohol splashed with the fingers on to a deep blue or green base while the paint is wet can produce wonderful bubbles for underwater paintings. Cling wrap can be applied scrunched up on wet paint and left to dry to give textured effects for flower paintings, and bubble wrap works in a similar way. QTips lift beautifully on small areas for water fountains or streams, you can dip them in the alcohol to enhance the amount of paint you can lift.
Possibly my favorite tools are the little foam rollers and round brushes. The round pouncers on a little stick are wonderful for painting skin as they give a little texture. I often use the rollers for background in landscapes, they give texture but can smooth the paint to lose intensity when you need a quiet area.
Kleenex can be applied on wet paint and a clean roller can smooth over the tissue for a softer color, you can also get great edges this way.
I also use stamps to make marks on yupo, leaf shapes, butterflies, trees, abstract textures for tree bark, etc. the possibilities are endless.
You may have noticed that many of the tools I have mentioned are used when painting with children, this is not a coincidence, kids LOVE to paint on yupo. When you try it you might just get back that joy you had when you were messing about with paint at age 5!
Yupo is a three letter word.......FUN!