Why not make some Valentine’s cards with this beautiful watercolour technique?
We got some liquid watercolours for Christmas and couldn’t wait to try one of our favourite painting techniques.
Adding salt to wet watercolours draws the pigment away and leaves beautiful mottled patterns on the paper.
What you’ll need:
Liquid watercolours
Paintbrushes
Paint pots
Jug of water
Cartridge paper (thicker the better due to the amount of water you’ll use)
Salt
How to do it:
Mix the watercolours in pots with a little water (you only need a few drops per colour).
Lay out some cartridge paper.
Get painting!
While the watercolours are still wet, sprinkle salt onto the painting where you’d like the resist effect.
Leave to dry completely.
Gently rub off the salt to reveal mottled patterns.
For the Valentine’s and Thank You cards:
Dry salt resist watercolour papers
Scissors
Paper punches
Blank card stock
Cut out shapes with scissors or a paper punch.
Glue to a blank card.
Liquid watercolours, paintbrushes, paint pots, jug of water, cartridge paper and salt.
The boy and girl got stuck in straight away and started painting circles.
Sprinkle the salt on to the still wet watercolours. Watch how the salt sucks up the paint.
I dried our paintings in a very low heat oven. Rub off the salt gently and a beautiful pattern will emerge.
Salt resist circle.
The girl cut out the circles and we decided to cut out hearts to make Valentine’s cards. You’ll need scissors, glue stick and blank card stock.
Cut out a circle, cut it into quarters and cut each quarter into a heart.
The girl’s salt resist gallery. She used a paper punch to make some colourful salt resist shapes.
The boy’s gallery. After painting one circle he got into painting dinosaurs. The salt made a lovely effect on the dino’s skin.
Our Valentine’s and thank you cards.
Close up of a salt resist watercolour heart.
Close up of paper punched salt resist watercolour paper.
The mottled effects along with the watercolours bleeding into one another.
