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A Starry Night Sky Painting with Watercolors and Salt

by Jean Van't Hul
July 13, 2018
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Get a starry night sky effect by painting with watercolors and salt. This easy watercolor technique produces a beautiful star-studded sky. (Includes video demonstrating this activity!)

Starry Night Sky Painting with Watercolors and Salt

We love painting with watercolors, and of all the different watercolor techniques, painting with watercolors and salt is the one we return to the most.

Why?

It’s simple. Sprinkling salt over your painting is a fun extra step for kids. And the results can be dramatic.

Plus, it’s just perfect for creating a starry night sky!

Here’s a quick video showing Daphne drawing an owl and painting a night sky with the watercolors and salt. (Plus check out the crayons she used in the video!)

And here are the materials and step-by-step instructions.

How to Paint a Starry Night Sky with Watercolors and Salt

MATERIALS

Art Materials Needed for Painting with Watercolors and Salt

*Any crayons will work, but we were trying out the Faber-Castell Grip Erasable Crayons for this project. As you can see in the video, they really erase!

**We like to use liquid watercolor paint when painting with watercolors and salt, as the technique requires extra water. However, you can use a palette of dried watercolors if you are mindful of using extra water.

Drawing the Owl Before Painting with Watercolors and Salt

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1. Draw your crayon picture

Use your crayons to draw a picture that would work well with your starry night sky.

Faber Castell Grip Erasable Crayons

Daphne drew an owl sitting on a tree branch with a moon in the background. Methinks she was inspired by the crayon packaging, although I didn’t realize it at the time. 🙂

Some other ideas include any animal or bird, a house, a city scene, a tree, a person, a garden, etc. Basically anything goes.

Painting the Starry Night Sky with Watercolors and Salt

STEP 2. Paint the sky

Now, paint your sky a medium to deep blue, using lots of your watercolor paint.

Sprinkling Salt Over the Starry Night Sky Painting

STEP 3. Add salt

Sprinkle salt over the wet watercolor paint.

Note: You can paint the sky and add the salt in sections if you’re painting slowly and the watercolor paint is absorbing into the paper too quickly.

STEP 4. Let dry

Let your artwork dry completely.

Starry Night Sky Painting with Watercolors and Salt - Closeup View of the Salt Effect

STEP 5. Rub off salt

Once your starry night sky artwork is dry, rub off the extra salt.

Admire and display or gift!

4 MORE Ideas for Painting a Starry Night Sky with Watercolors and Salt

Starry Night Sky Painting with Watercolors and Salt - 4 More Ideas
  1. Gorgeous Sticker Resist Starry Night Sky Cards (add star stickers for extra effect!)
  2. Make Sticker Resist Houses and Trees with Starry Night Skies
  3. How to Paint Snow – An Easy Technique for Kids
  4. Two Must-Try Watercolor Techniques Combined

Pin It for Later

Get a starry night sky effect by painting with watercolors and salt. This easy watercolor technique produces a beautiful star-studded sky! (Click to watch the video and read the tutorial.) #kidsart #watercolor #artsandcrafts #kidspainting #kidsactivities #paintingforkids #paintingideas #paintingtechniques #artforkids

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