Category Archives: Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique #132

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ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #131:

I started by wetting the paper and adding pale blue for the sky. While it was still wet, I wadded up a paper towel and lifted some irregular patches out of the blue before adding yellow. After this layer dried, I drew the split tree trunk, then painted several layers of foliage.

Next I added the trunk. To create the bark texture, I scratched the paper with the end of a metal paint tube to make dark lines in the wet paint and then quickly added kosher salt, which absorbed some of the color. After this layer dried, I brushed off the salt.

Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique #131

Curious about the techniques used here? You can learn more next month if you’ve signed up for email updates!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #130:

Fun with Yupo continues! I wet the paper first, then added diluted acrylic ink. Next I dropped in isopropyl alcohol, which repelled the wet paint to create all sorts of mysterious effects. As the water evaporated, concentric dark edges formed around some of the shapes.

Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique #130

Curious about the techniques used here? You can learn more next month if you’ve signed up for email updates!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #129:

Intriguing effects happen when you paint with diluted acrylic inks on Yupo! It’s a synthetic paper, so the paint sits on the surface instead of soaking in. I started by painting the sheet with water and then dropped in the paint, tilting the paper to make the colors flow. When the blue was almost dry, I sprayed it with water to create a mottled texture in places. Darker outlines sometimes formed at the boundaries between wet and dry shapes; I imitated this effect by applying paint to the tip of my Angle Chisel Colour Shaper tool before dragging it across the surface in a twisting motion and using a sponge to partially blend it in.