Technique - Salted Watercolor

Add salt to your watercolor painting to create new textures.



Supplies and Equipment:
- everything in the Watercolor Fabric Tutorial OR watercolors, thin acrylics, etc. on paper or fabric
- salt - table, sea, fine or any other salt you can find


Brush your watercolor or thin acrylics onto your surface as usual. As soon as you're done brushing, while the paint is very wet, sprinkle salt onto the surface wherever you want the effect. Different types and sizes of salt crystals will create different variations. Leave it still until it is completely dry, and don't add any more water. It might not look like much is happening.


When your paint is dry brush away the salt. That's it, super simple. Salt pulls the water in the paint around, and the pigment is carried with it. As the water evaporates it leaves pigment trails behind.