Painting folders with acrylic

Good morning everyone! Today I want to show you how you can take some ordinary, dull folders and create something fantastic with them. If you love color and enjoy fun office supplies, but can't really find anything that fits your style, this is the tutorial for you.

All it takes is:

• Gesso
• Acrylic paint
• Folders
• Paintbrushes
• Stencils
• Black pens
• Water bucket
• Old newspapers
• Tape

The first thing you are going to need is some type of protective sheet for your work-surface. Old newspapers are great for this. Just tape the pieces together so you do not get gaps when you move your folders around.

The next step is to prepare the painting surface. The acrylic paint might slide off the folder, especially if you have those with a plastic coating on them. I used folders with a paper backing and I would recommend using the same. Paint the outside with gesso. I used a homemade recipe which worked surprisingly well, and I will post that recipe on the blog at a later date. I let my folders dry laying flat and prop up the sides with plastic cups.

Once the gesso is dry, you can apply layers of paint. I made different folders with all kinds of colors on them. The top one in the picture was painted using a drip technique. You water down the acrylic paint with a mix of half and half water and glycerin. Then you paint the mixture onto the top of the folder, all the while spraying it with the water and glycerin mixture. This will cause the paint to drip down. Once you are satisfied with the result, you lay the folder flat to dry. If you use glycerin with your paint, it will take longer for it to dry, since glycerin acts like an extender for the acrylic paint.

And this is my end result. Remember to let the paint dry properly between the layers. I added some details with stencils and black acrylic paint once the colored layers had dried. I drew the flower on with a black felt-tip pen. If you want to keep the paint from chipping you can add a protective coating. Either use a glue, gel medium or clear plastic which you tape around books. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.