Using the pigments in berries, leaves, flowers and other colourful things from nature you can make your own watercolour paint! I used some nature I found in my backyard. The idea behind this was an interest in using nature to create a relatively common material that can be used.

What You Will Need:

A strainer, any kitchen strainer will work

Multiple plastic bowls

An assortment of pieces of nature

A wooden handle or spoon for mashing the nature bits if you don't want to get your hands dirty :)

Water

That's all, so really anyone can do it. I hope you enjoy!

Step 1: Choose Your Pieces of Nature

I found some lettuce, chokecherries, flower petals and grass for my paint, but really anything works. Experiment! Try to find objects with vibrant colors to have the best effect. Some things will release their pigmentation better than others. Use lots of each material in order to get clear colors of paint.

Step 2: Make the Paint

Add some water to each of your materials (the more water you add the lighter the colour will be). Initially I used too much and ended up diluting the colors, but I found that if there is about equal material to water it should work well. Crush the material up with the water (don't just lightly press the material, YOU REALLY NEED TO MASH IT HARD!!!) for about 2 minutes.

Step 3: Strain Your Paints

To avoid having bits and pieces in your paint while you are painting strain your paints through a strainer and into another container... However if you do choose to leave some material in your colors it could add a nice texture to your painting.

Step 4: Test and Use Your Paints

Test your paints on paper until you have the color you want. Now they are ready for use! Have fun and make sure that you share your artwork in the comments section after clicking "I Made It"

Good Luck!