Glazing Over Salt and Opaques

  This entry was originally posted on Saturday, September 15, 2012

Glazing with clear water or with a color over the results of salt and/or opaque colors can be a tricky thing to do.

Because the opaques and the salt leave the pigment on the surface of the paper instead of staining it, 

they can be lifted easily.

To glaze a color over these means that they might lift and mix with the color you are glazing with.

Then you have either ruined the salt effect or you've made mud.

 

To avoid doing this, make the glaze color nice and juicy.

Then quickly pass over the surface of your paper with your brush in one go.

Your brush should barely touch the surface of the paper.

If you stay on the paper too long with your brush, it will lift the color.

 

If it not the right color yet, you need to be patient.

Let it dry.

Then try again.

Salt Residue

 This entry was originally posted on Friday, September 14, 2012

Once salt is scraped off your painting, there is some salt residue still left on the image.

This can be removed by doing a glaze of clean water or a pale wash of color.

Scraping Salt

  This entry was originally posted on Thursday, September 13, 2012

When your salt has dried, it needs to come off the painting.

To remove the dried salt, I like to use a palette knife or similar item.

My favorite thing to use though is a pan scraper, like the one above.

I think it is an old Pampered Chef pan scraper from many years ago.

Course Salt

 This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2012

 Course salt also creates some wonderful textures.

It is great for a rocky beach and toss some under the cling wrap when doing rocks.

Think of all the other wonderful things you can do with that texture.

 

For example, I used it for texture in my painting of spices and mushrooms in Chinatown Market below:

It can be seen better here:

More Salt Secrets

  This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Paradise Found At Point No Point

11x14"

 

In a couple of previous posts, I mention the use of salt for texture in your watercolor paintings.

 

There are so many uses for salt that I thought I would give some more ideas about where to use it.

Table salt is an easy way to create texture in rocks and sand, as seen in the above painting.

 

It is also a wonderful way to create the texture of carpet and material

(which can be seen in The Attic Room)

The Attic Room

25x35"

 

Too Wet For Salt

  This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 

Salt works best in a dry area.

The effect of salt does not work if you try to blow dry it. It is best to let it air dry. 

It also does not work as well if you leave it out in the sun.

(It will dry too quickly).

When it is humid, the salt doesn't ever want to dry.

I discovered this while painting Driftwood Gathering.

It was winter in Victoria, BC and had been raining for days on end.

I was in the middle of painting and discovered that the salt doesn't dry when it is humid.

I didn't know what to do.

So I experimented.

I heated my oven on to 200° F, turned it off, then inserted my painting into the oven and left the oven door open.

(okay, so I had to leave the door open because the painting was too big otherwise)

I am happy to report that it worked!

(The finished painting is the evidence)
Sometimes a little experimentation pays off.

Which Salt?

   This entry was originally posted on Monday, March 26, 2012 

Since we are on the subject of salt, I will continue to give a few more salt tips.

There are different sizes of salt.

There is table salt, kosher or coarse salt, and sea or rock salt.

All of which can be used with watercolor.

Depending on the size of the salt, you can create many different effects.

For instance, in the above painting, Driftwood Gathering, I used salt for the beach rocks and sand.

In the distance, I used table salt. 

For the middle ground, I used kosher salt.

And for the foreground, I used the big chunks of sea salt.

I did this create the effect of distance. 

Sunday Secrets #10

  This entry was originally posted on Sunday, March 25, 2012 

 

Today's Sunday Secrets is a continuation of last week's post on salt.

The questions are from Peter of New York City.

They are:

 Do you ever paint on top of the salt or do you paint first and then add the salt?

 And does salt damage the paper over time?

 

Great questions. Thanks, Peter.

When using salt, I paint first then add the salt while the paint is still wet. It is best to do it in one go. 

I do not paint on top of the salt because the effect of the salt will be removed. However, I do apply a quick wash of water or a pale colored glaze to the area after removing all the salt. I do this with either a large round brush or a hake brush and a light touch. 

This is done because of the possible corrosive qualities of salt. 

Once the salt is removed, some dust is left behind. I apply the wash to not only remove the dust, but to brighten the painted area. 

I learned how to use salt from the Queen of Salt, Judy Morris, many years ago.

I asked her if there was a problem with the salt affecting the paint or the paper.

She said at that time that she has been painting with salt for a couple of decades and had yet to see any detrimental effects. She is the one that suggested a glaze of water after thoroughly removing the salt with a palette knife.  She also recommends using un-iodized salt.

 

I must admit that I have used iodized salt. I tend to save my salt packets from restaurants and keep them in my tote bag for when I am traveling. I haven't seen any problems with the salt and it is much better for my paints than my heart. 

 

Sunday Secrets #9

 This entry was originally posted on Sunday, March 18, 2012 

Today's Sunday Secrets comes from Gillian of Vancouver, BC

Her question is:

Do you ever use salt, wax or alcohol in watercolour paintings? If so when and for what effects?

Salt.

Yes, I use salt. 

I love it!

There are a couple of ways I use salt. 

I have used it for texture in buildings to look like stucco or brick.

I will either use table or kosher salt.

I do this by adding the salt to the paint while it is very wet. 

Then when dry, I scrape it off with a palette knife.

It will look like this:

 

I used it for the stucco behind my lantern in my painting, Chinatown Lantern

 

I also use salt in painting landscapes. It is great for stars, trees, sand, whatever.

If you wait for the paint to dry just a bit, and then put on the salt, it will look like this.

It creates more of a star pattern.

I used it in the foliage in the upper left hand corner of the painting as well as the waterfall of my painting, Englishman River Falls.

Wax.

No I do not use wax but I have seen it used for texture.

It works well for rocks and rock walls.
Similar to the following:

 

I have also seen it used to create the effect of rocks or fish underwater.

White wax crayons can also be used instead of masking fluid to protect areas from paint.

  

Alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol is also great for making texture.
I haven't used it personally but have seen it used in the background of some great floral paintings.
The following is the effect of rubbing alcohol.

The rubbing alcohol acts like a bleach and will push pigment away (similar to water but with quicker and more effective results) 

I think it would make a great dandelion painting or work well for a field of flowers.

Snow Frost

Snow Frost

10x20"

   Recently I have been feeling like I have hit a reset button and am starting all over with my career and my life. It feels a little scary and frustrating at times but also liberating when I realize that I can now experiment all I want. One thing I have been experimenting with is size. I definitely want to go bigger, which is something I did discover a few years ago, but format and composition are something I continue to work with. It can be experimented with much easier on a smaller scale. Since my time in this area is limited, as is my space, I am sticking with the smaller studies. 

    Another thing I am experimenting with is technique and how to paint snow.  Since I lived for many years in an area that didn't get much snow as well as the fact that I use to hate snow, I don't have many photo references to work from. I now live in a cold and sometimes snowy area and need to come to terms with it and make friends with cold and snow. 

    For this painting I did a lot of experimentation to get the look of frost and snow. I didn't want to use masking fluid because it can leave behind hard lines. I wanted a softer look to the painting and had to be creative with what I used to keep that look.  I also worked in wet-in-wet almost the whole time, starting with wetting the whole paper and keeping it moist as I painted. I use salt quite often and continued to use it here.  A medicine dropper was used to add big water drops, a spray bottle to add little drops, and bleach. Yes, bleach. I had heard it can be used so I tried it. I was hoping it would create a big water drop look and also lighten some areas that got too dark for me. It didn't create quite the effect I had hoped it would but at least I gave it a shot.