Salt & Watercolor Paint (+Rainbow Salt!)
As an art teacher, it’s always fun to show people what happens when you sprinkle salt on wet watercolor paint. Whether I'm teaching kindergarten or adults there are always exclamations of oohs and ahhs.
When you sprinkle salt on wet watercolor paint you’ll see a magical transformation. The salt absorbs the watercolor paint from beneath the salt granules which leaves behind a crystalline texture. If you use a large grains of salt like Epsom salts, it will create a different texture than if you use table salt.
Experiment with the kinds of salt you have at home. In the video below I demonstrate what happens when you sprinkle sea salt, kosher salt, Epsom salt and rainbow salt (more on this below) onto wet watercolor paint.
Create texture with watercolor paint & salt
Use the crystalline pattern left behind by the salt to create texture in watercolor paintings. You can use the texture to create a snow or star-filled sky.
It's important to let the paint dry completely before you remove the salt. To remove it, brush your fingers over the surface of the paper. It will feel like sandpaper. Gently remove all the grains of salt and put them to the side.
I always warn kids not to eat the salt after it has soaked up the paint. Even with non-toxic paint it’s never a good idea to eat your art supplies :) However, after you brush the salt off your painting don't throw it away! Save it for more watercolor experiments.
Rainbow Salt
I recently discovered what I call rainbow salt. For a few months, I had been saving watercolor salt granules that I normally would have discarded. One day I decided to sprinkle them on a wet piece of paper and voilà rainbow dots!
To use rainbow salt, paint a piece of paper with clean water then sprinkle the rainbow salt on the wet paper. The water releases the watercolor paint contained in the salt, and leaves behind dots of color.
It's fun and relaxing to spend an hour experimenting with watercolor paint. Besides salt, you can try: drops of rubbing alcohol, uncooked rice and uncooked oatmeal.
Have you experimented with salt and watercolor paint before? In what ways have you used the texture that salt creates? We’d love to see and hear about your discoveries! Leave a comment below or email us at info@popupartschool.
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