Explore and Create - Wax Resist Painting

Be a creative, science detective with this easy, inexpensive craft. Create amazing art and investigate why wax resist painting works.

What you need:

• Wax crayons (not the washable kind) or oil pastels
• A piece paper
• A paintbrush or sponge
• Watercolour paint or water coloured with food colouring
• Newspaper or wipeable plastic cloth etc. to cover work surface

What to do:

1. Place the piece of paper on a surface covered with newspaper, or a wipeable plastic cloth.

2. Draw a picture, or pattern, on the piece of paper with crayons or oil pastels. Draw anything you want, be creative.

3. Paint lightly over your picture with watercolour paint, or water coloured with food colouring.

4. Watch what happens when the paint/coloured water touches the crayon/oil pastel. Why do you think this happens?

5. Let your art work dry.

6. Display your amazing art.

Be a science detective

Investigate different ways of making wax resist pictures. Make predictions about what you think might happen and test them out.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• What happens when you use different types of paper e.g. paper of different thicknesses, tracing paper, card, parchment paper?

• What happens when the paint touches the wax crayon/oil pastel? Why do you think the paint will not cover the wax/oil pastel?

• Think about why wax resist painting works and why wax is a waterproof material. Think about how we use wax to waterproof things e.g. canvas.

• What happens if you draw with only a white crayon/pastel and then paint over it with watercolour paint?

• What happens if you put too much water on your paper?

• What happens if you use another medium to draw your art with, e.g. coloured pencils, or felt-tip pens, and then paint over it with watercolored paint?

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