Yes! You can do it with cheap paint and reasonably priced paper. This was our first time trying this technique. I always thought that we had to have the expensive hemp paper and high quality paints, but it’s not so. We used Strathmore watercolor paper that can be found at your local craft store and some really cheap water paints that I paid about 99 cents for. I do plan to get him some nicer paints soon, but not until he stops scratching the paper with his brush.
After soaking the paper in water for five or ten minutes, I set it on a painting board and gave Aidan his supplies. (If you don’t have a painting board, be sure to do it on a surface that you don’t mind getting quite wet.) At the first stroke, we were both enamored with the way the color stretched out (bled) onto the paper. It was a very soothing way to cover the page, if you ask me. He was able to cover a large area with less work and seemed to feel more relaxed to watch the colors work, rather than trying to cover the page using the dry technique. Let me rephrase: it was more like playing than working. We will definitely be sticking with this technique for a while. I may have to borrow his board while he naps to give it a try.