winsor & newton cotman watercolour spider's web wall art

Cover your work surface with a disposable covering and fill a glass or cup with water.

Cut one sheet of 9"x12" [22.9 cm x 30.5 cm] of watercolour paper to create one 8"x10" [20.3 cm x 25.4 cm] sheet of paper.

Click here to download and print the template. Use a lightbox or well-lit window and a graphite pencil to transfer the provided outline.
TIP: You can also freehand draw the outline by using the provided outline as a guide.

Mix paint in watercolour palette and apply art masking fluid to webbing. Place a pea-sized amount of Lamp Black paint in one well on the artist’s palette. Use the #6 brush as if it were a spoon, and place six scoops of water into the well with the Lamp Black paint. Stir together the water and the paint with the brush.

Shake the bottle of art masking fluid and then open the bottle. The toothpick will be used as an applicator to lines over the webbing. To deposit the masking fluid, place the toothpick in the art masking fluid, and then run the toothpick over the graphite lines that were transferred in Step 3. Add more masking fluid to the toothpick as often as needed. Allow the masking fluid to fully dry before moving on to the next step. One hour of drying time is recommended.

Apply paint and kosher salt to web. Work one small section at a time on the webbing. Place the brush in the water glass, and then apply it over the dried art masking fluid using a hatching stroke. To perform a hatching stroke, apply an individual stroke of water on the paper using the brush and then lift the brush before applying the next stroke. Keep lifting the brush in-between each stroke. These strokes can be done in varying widths between 1/4” to 1” [0.6 cm to 2.5 cm]. Reapply water to the brush as often as necessary. Do not attempt to apply the water evenly or in a straight line over the webbing. Allow there to be some variance to add interest to the final project.

After applying water to a small section, load the brush with the Lamp Black paint, and then hold the brush upright over the paper and use the tip of the brush to place small dots randomly over where water was applied. This is called a wet into wet technique, and small paint “blooms” will be created when the black paint touches the wet surface of the watercolour paper and then bleeds into the water that was previously applied. Do not attempt to cover the entirety of the wetted section with these black dots, and do not attempt to apply them in a perfectly straight line. Apply them randomly so that some areas of the section will appear very black where the brush directly touched the paper, other areas more grey where the paint spreads and bleeds into the water, and other areas white where the paint does not bleed into.

After applying the small dots of black to the wetted section, immediately sprinkle a good dose of kosher salt over top. The kosher salt will react with the wet surface, absorb some of the paint and water, and create interesting texture once dried. Try to only sprinkle the kosher salt over the wetted section, but it will not hurt the other sections if water or paint will need to be applied over or around a rogue grain or grains of salt.

It is very import to allow this step to fully dry before moving on to the final step. Salt slows down the drying time, so allowing the painting to dry for several hours or even overnight is recommended.

Remove art masking fluid and kosher salt. Once the painting has fully dried, turn the painting upside down over a trash can so that loose grains of kosher salt can easily fall off. Some grains of salt will adhere to the paper. Use a paper towel to remove the rest of the salt as well as the art masking fluid. Rub the paper towel in a back and forth scrubbing motion over both the art masking fluid and kosher salt until all is removed.

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