#DannyDoesArt | Planasthai

As soon as I saw a sample of this image on YouTube by the lovely Makoccino, I couldn't sit still. Springing out of my chair, I hurried to set up my makeshift workstation in the common room.

This artwork is particularly special because of a unique method called Salt + Watercolour technique. It is rather simple, but could generate some very unpredictable and interesting effects on your watercolour piece.

Here are the materials I used:

☑️ Holbein Artists' watercolors

☑️ Maruman Art Spiral sketchbook

☑️ Daiso paintbrushes (flat, wash, liner)

☑️ Tombow Mono HB
☑️ Uni-ball Signo gel pen (white)

☑️ Jar lid (to trace the circles)

☑️ Salt

As you may see in the image above, I have applied the salt trick to the planets Venus and Mercury, giving them some texture. The tiny white spots on Mercury were created using a white gel pen. Below I have included Pluto and the Moon because why not. They're fun to paint! 

Another thing about this solar system piece is that it could be time-consuming if you're a beginner—not very good for instant gratification people like me. You have to be very careful not to paint outside the penciled outlines, use tons of tissues, wait for a few minutes for the salt to absorb the water in the paint and a few more minutes before you can start some retouching.

That being said, I still enjoyed the entire process and seeing how salt reacted to the paints. I would definitely apply this technique again to my future paintings.

It's amazing what a pinch of salt could do, eh? Salt bae!