"To the Death Star and Back" DIY

It's February, and that means Valentines Day! If you are wondering what to get for your Star Wars lover, fear not. I have the perfect, artsy gift that will make your special someone explode with glee (no pun intended!). This adorable death star quote art is really simple to create, and if your boo doesn't like having their love compared to a death machine, then pick a different quote ;). In this DIY, feel free to get creative and think outside the box. Enough chatting, let's make this thing!

Let's talk materials:

- watercolor paper

- paint brushes (size matters not, but medium size works well)

- watercolor paints (I got mine from a special art supply store, but regular watercolor paints from your local craft store will work)

-typography pens or a thin sharpie (black)

-white acrylic paint

-cup of water

Let's start!

1. Pick any color to begin with! I started with orange. Activate your watercolors by dipping your paint brush in a cup of water and brushing it over the color on your pallet. You want the paint to produce a light, pastel color so make your paintbrush nice and wet before applying it to the watercolor paint.

2. Make an orange circle-ish shape on the center of your page. It will be a little watery, and you want that.

3. Repeat steps one and two using the red color. Be sure to place your red circle shape near to the orange. Blend these two colors together. This produces a nice ambra affect from orange to red.

4. For each color, you will be making a circle-like shape on the paper (i.e. repeating steps 1-2 for each color). Start from the center and add the different colored circles as you go. You can go in any order, but I went in the order of the rainbow to really make the colors blend together (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and blue connecting to red to make purple). You don't need to fill out the whole page! Black will be added on the edge.

WARNING: making too many layers of watercolor paint will wear the paper down, causing it to rip. DON'T ADD TOO MUCH WATERED DOWN PAINT TO THE PAGE IN THE SAME PLACE. I had to restart this DIY because I wet the paper through and the page started to rip.

5. LET ALL PAINT DRY

6. Time for some black paint! Take your black watercolor and paint a frame around your pretty rainbow art. I made my black frame in the shape of an oval to give it a softer look, but a square could work just as well. You do NOT need to water down your black as much as you did for the colored paints. This part is black for a reason: it's space! So keep it black.

7. LET ALL PAINT DRY

8. Quote time! I chose "I love you to the death star and back," but you can choose any Star Wars love quote (look up Anakin quotes for inspiration). It took me a few minutes to think out a good way to arrange the words. I chose to have words around a death star. Making particular words larger than others communicates their importance (choose sizes carefully!).

9. I started with pencil, lightly sketching out my designs. If you are a bold one, start right away with your typography or sharpie pen. For those who are like me and are too stressed to do that, just write over your pencil marks (you can erase anything after the pen has dried).

10. You are so close! Let's add some stars (or paint splatters). Because I sadly didn't have a white sharpie, I used white acrylic paint to emulate stars instead. Mix a couple drops of water with a big blob of paint in a bowl. Use, what I like to call, the thumb and brush technique to create splatters on the BLACK section of your painting (if some paint splatters get on the colored section, don't panic! As long as the splatters do not get on the words, you are all set!)

TIP: confused on how to make paint splatters? Check out my Recycled Rebel Logo DIY. I explain how to create them in detail. :)

11. LET ALL PAINT DRY

You did it! I'm sure your bae your beautiful artwork! Or if you are a single lady like me, hang this sucker on your own wall. :)

I hoped you enjoyed this Valentines Day inspired DIY. Make sure to subscribe to my blog to always be notified when I post another creative craft like this one. Share this post and don't forget to follow me on Instagram @the_diy_jedi !

Have a great day and fly casual :)