It is possible to use common table salt to create a spread of complex texture within all or a select part of a watercolor painting. To acheive this effect, the salt is sprinkled over regions of the painting while the paint is still wet. The key to the success of this technique - and whether the result has a series of tightly spaced, small blooms of texture or fields of larger, billowing regions seen in the center, above left - is the amount of dampness in the paint layer when the salt is introduced. When salt hits areas that have only a bit of dampness, the result will be subtle and be marked by small blooms that are grouped together. If the salt hits areas that have a significant amount of water sitting on the surface, it will dissolve and spread out across larger regions, moving water that carries the pigment farther from its original position. Other factors that can influence the results involve the type of pigment used and whether it has a strong staining power. Natural pigments tend to be more granular and can lend interesting smaller details to this process, while dye based pigments move freely before finally adhereing to the paper upon drying. Pigments that have a high staining power will fuse with the surface quicker and will not do much at all. To discover which colors you might work with, it is important to experiment with the different pigments in your collection - most earth tones and ultramarine reacts very nicely to this treatment.