Elizabeth Sanford

This is a detail of my painting, Erythros. Wonder what techniques I used? You can find out next month if you’ve signed up for email updates; I’ll reveal the details in November!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #73:

Acrylic inks can create luminous colors and surprising textures when you apply them to claybord! I began each layer with a wash of water, which beaded up in places on the surface of the claybord. When I dropped in diluted acrylic ink, it flowed to the edges of the irregular wet shapes. I let each layer dry before repeating the process. Even though it took many thin glazes to build up the colors and textures, the inks kept their transparency, giving the colors a glow that’s hard to achieve on paper or canvas. You can see one of my smaller claybord pieces in person at the Green Hills Library Branch; it’ll be on the bottom shelf of one of the cases until October 30.