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

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #120:

Every fall, I use the pages of an ancient phone book to flatten the fallen leaves that I collect on my walks. Since most of the colors quickly fade, I also look for interesting shapes:

Some of these leaves have inspired parts of paintings or sculptures; I’ve shared others with my students.

It’s a satisfying experience to get to know the contours of a particular leaf by tracing around it. For this demo, I wanted the outline to fade into the paint, so I drew it with watercolor pencils. Next I painted the leaf shape with water, then added some yellow and red. While the colors were still wet, I added a little green before scratching in dark veins with the end of a metal paint tube. I also sprinkled some kosher salt into the wet paint and added one small drop of rubbing alcohol for the bug hole. I waited until the paint was completely dry before brushing off the salt. To create the lighter and slightly thicker veins, I used a watercolor pencil to echo the angle and direction of some of the existing dark lines, leaving a slight gap.