Watercolor Explorations

The ways to experiment with watercolor are endless. Here are just a few ways to play with watercolor, creating unique textures and effects along the way. 

Water blooms

1. Lay down a wash of color.
2. Wait for the paint to be ALMOST dry. The paper won't be shiny anymore but should still be cool to the touch. 
3. Get your brush wet with clean water. If you are using the water brush from your kit. This step is EXTREMELY easy. Simply squeeze your brush to release clean water droplets onto your wash. 
4. Watch the water blooms! Note: results may dry differently but that's okay!!

Salt  

1. Lay down a wash of color.
2. Take some salt and sprinkle it onto the wet wash.
3. Wait for the paint to dry, then sweep away the salt. 
4. Experiment different results with different types of salt!

Rubbing Alcohol (vodka also works!) 

1. Lay down a wash of color.
2. Use either a pipette or a dropper to introduce alcohol to your wash.
3. Experiment with different types of alcohol.

Sponge 

1. Lay down a wash of color.
2. Take any dry sponge that is laying around your house, dab it onto your wash.
3. Alternatively, use the sponge to lay down color- both methods will create different textures!

About the Author

Berry Stein

Berry is the founder of Art Life Practice. She's an art educator and has spent the past 14+ years working to broaden access to arts education and daily creative practice.