DIY: Nearly-Vintage Prints

For a long time, I've been smitten with the antique/vintage biology prints I've found in bins at my local antique stores. The little birds or cross-sectioned flowers make me feel pretty giggly inside, and as a collector of old books and magazine pages, I felt that I just had to have a few someday to go on my wall. Unfortunately, a nicer one can cost upwards of $30. Boo.

 So, it was decided that I would simply make some of my own today, while the rest of the house was napping or holed up somewhere. It wasn't too hard, though it took a while, and I am super happy with the results.

Supplies- For this project, I used ink pens, watercolor pencils, a paint brush, watercolor paper, and a cup of water.  A pencil might also come in handy, but isn't necessary.

After some brief initial research on my subjects a la Google, I used the watercolor pencils (which are a miracle if you aren't great at painting) to roughly mark out the general shape and tone of what I wanted to draw- in this case, some rather colorful eggs and a rose.

One of the neatest things about watercolor pencils is watching the colors blur when you paint over it with water. When I was finished fidgeting with the coloring and letting it dry for a minute, I worked on lining each piece with a black ink pen, just to give it a little extra flourish and a vintage feel. 

Before they dried completely, I bled the lines with water, muted the colors, added a few labels and.....

Voila!

A quirky little substitute for an old-timey biology print. They turned out so charmingly, and hopefully I'll be able to get them up on my gallery wall soon. :) Hope it works out just as well for anybody who wants to give it a try!

Happy Sunday,

Riley