Have you ever had an Instax photo that you took that didn't really work out? it either didn't look good or it didn't even show up. Well here's an idea for you! I'm going to show you how to paint some pretty clouds onto the messed up Instax photo you've taken. Why throw away an Instax photo you've now wasted and when you can make a piece of art you'll enjoy making and hanging up in your room?

Supplies

The materials needed are:

Instax photo
Paintbrush(s)
Paint (Acrylic)
Tape
Palet or piece of paper
tissue

Step 1: Gather All Your Materials

Before starting anything you want to gather all your materials. It's no use if halfway through you realize you don't have something which means you have to go and look around for it or have to go buy it.

Tips/reminders:

- It's better to have acrylic paint than something else as you can scratch of bits of paint if it's gone over the border of the Instax photo.

- make sure you have good lighting and a clean workspace so that you don't accidentally get paint somewhere or spill the water.

Step 2: Tape Down Your Instax Photo

Start by taping down your Instax photo. This will make it easier to paint is you won't have to hold the photo. Taping the photo will also mean that after you've completed the painting you can take off the tape and have a clean edge, making it look like you 'took a photo' of the painting.

Tips/reminders:

- Make sure the tape is on the edge of the photo, this will make the final product better.

Step 3: Paint Your Instax Photo White

After, you want to start painting the photo fully white. All this does is it can work as a background, or it makes sure that you can't see the photo after you've painted on top of it.

Tips/reminders:

- Make sure you add thin even layers. this will make the drying time faster and means you can add more than one layer if it's still very see-through and you can see the photo.

- After you've painted the whole thing I advise letting it air dry, but if you want the process to go faster I would use a hairdryer, but make sure you hold it a decent bit away from the photo to make sure the paint doesn't move around. Also, don't touch the paint until you are 100% sure it's completely dry.

Step 4: Paint the Background Light Blue

Now that you're done with the white, we are going to paint our sky. This will be 1 bit of blue to 2 bits of white unless you already have a tube of light blue paint. You can also do another color, as I did afterward, such as pink (for the evening/morning) or an ombre from yellow to red (a sunrise/sunset)

Tips/reminders:

- make sure that, just like the previous layer, you make an even and thin coat of the color. This will make it look better, dry faster and means you can do more than one layer.

- just like before, you can use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process, but keep it a fair distance away from the photo to reduce the chance of the paint moving around.

Step 5: Change to Portrait and Starting to Paint the Clouds

Now, carefully pull the Instax of the surface/table your working on and change it to portrait. this is if you started painting landscape, like me. To paint the clouds you need to have a brush and 2+ colors. You can use either a straight flat brush like me or a circular one, both work as well, just make sure it's in good condition. Start by lightly dabbing the lighter blue, starting from the outside and making your way in. on the edge you make it thicker and get thinner the more you go to the other side. you can also add small dabs in between the clouds (see the photo), this will be lighter and less visible than the other clouds but they add more depth into your painting.

Tips/reminders:

- make sure the clouds go from thicker to thinner, this will make the painting look better.

- use a lighter color for the clouds from the background, you can change the color but I personally prefer using the same color for the background and clouds.

- wait for this layer to dry before continuing.

Step 6: Add a Lighter Tone to Your Clouds

Using a different color or an extremely light version of the color you've been using, lightly dab your brush again at the very bottom of your clouds. This will make it look as if there's a light/sun beaming from underneath the clouds, making it look more 'realistic'. Try and use colors that complement each other and don't look unrealistic.

Tips/reminders:

- like you did with the clouds, start thicker to the edge and make it thinner the more you go in.

Step 7: Take the Tape Off

After the paint has fully dry, slowly take off the tape. If you put the tape on correctly the paint should be up to the end of the photo and have a nice clean line all the way around. If any of the paint has gone over, and you used acrylic, you can just scratch off the paint that's over the line.

Tips/reminders:

- make sure you don't start taking off the paint when you're peeling the tape off.

- have one hand taking the tape off the other hand holding the image down.

Step 8: Done!

Now, if you've done the steps right, your painting should look something like the photo above! This is something I really enjoy making in my free time, or whenever I have an Instax photo that didn't show up or looked bad.