5 WATERCOLOR MOON Mixed Media Painting Techniques You Have to Try!

Today I'm trying 5 watercolor moon painting techniques out to see which ones create THE BEST lunar effects! Check out what happens when I test naturally granulating watercolor by Daniel Smith vs adding granulating medium. Plus- how does regular table salt compare with kosher salt watercolor painting? And- how does the texture of my favorite Fabriano watercolor paper change the effects when I paint on hot press vs cold press paper? Click over to today's video to find out!

​Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support. 

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I've drawn 5 moon circles on each page of Fabriano watercolor paper. On the left, I've got 140# hot press (smooth) watercolor paper, and on the right- I have a sheet of 140# cold press (textured) watercolor paper.

I love granulating watercolor (this means the color separates a bit and you can see tiny particles in it, like in the pic above). The first granulating shade I chose to work with is lunar violet by Daniel Smith.

I coated this entire circle with plain water first, then applied the color.​This technique is called wet on wet watercolor.

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For fun I decided to add a few droplets of rubbing alcohol using a pipette to see if this would give me the look of moon craters.  Above is how it looked on the textured, cold press watercolor paper.

As you can see, wherever the alcohol droplets were added, the watercolor dispersed.  Click over to the video to see how the wet on wet watercolor technique looks on the hot press watercolor paper. 

I tried the same alcohol watercolor technique to see how this looked on the hot press watercolor paper, and so far I'm loving how this looks.

For the next "moon," I used the same wet on wet technique with rose of ultramarine by daniel smith. While it was still wet, I sprinkled some table salt over this one because salt watercolor painting can give you some gorgeous effects! 

Isn't that beautiful?!

The next color I'm testing out is shadow violet. This time I used the wet on dry watercolor technique, and tried adding a few extra droplets of plain water to see what happened. At first I kinda hated how this looked- but after it dried, it started to look a bit more "planetary."  

For my fourth watercolor moon, I decided to use cascade green (also by Daniel Smith). I mixed this off to the side with about 50% granulating medium because I really want to see how this separates the colors of this gorgeous blue green.

I just love the way the colors immediately separate in my palette, but it doesn't transfer to the paper in the same way like I expected it to, so that's a little disappointing. 

The final color I wanted to test out today is imperial purple (another granulating watercolor by Daniel Smith). It separates into pinks and purples and reminds me a lot of the effects I love getting from activating my elegant writer! ​It's so pretty (bottom right corner, below)!

For this one, I tried adding one more medium - an irridescent medium, and just becuase I love salt watercolor painting effects, tried sprinkling kosher salt on top. 

Once dry, the irridescent medium doesn't do very much to create that shimmery look I was hoping for, so again - I'm feeling a little disappointed in this medium.

Today's test has definitely shown me that the mediums I tried aren't really worth it, and we're better off just getting a set of irridescent, metallic or granulating watercolors if these are effects we enjoy. 

Thanks for hanging out with me today! Make sure you click over to the video to see each technique in action and decide which one YOU like best! ​

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