Category Archives: Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique #147

February 20, 2025 – 7:34 pm

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

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #146:

I started by applying 3 different granulating watercolors to wet paper and partially mixed them wet-in-wet, letting some of the brushstrokes show. Next I used the end of a stiff plastic card to scrape a few irregular light lines into the damp paint. After the paper was completely dry, I dipped a goose feather into wet paint and added dark expressive lines, twisting the feather to vary the thickness and direction of the linear marks. I also continued using the plastic card to quickly scrape away some of the dark color before it dried.

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Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique #146

January 20, 2025 – 7:39 pm

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

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #145:

First I loaded one brush with French Ultramarine and another with Cerulean Blue, then wet the paper and quickly mixed the 2 blues wet-in-wet while carefully leaving white paper for the cloud shapes. Before the paint dried, I lifted out some wispy edges with a damp sponge. After this layer was completely dry, I gently rewet the paper and added a delicate wash of Permanent Rose to the cloud and the top of the sky, using a damp sponge to soften edges, make transitions and remove excess paint.

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Mystery Technique

Mystery Technique #145

December 20, 2024 – 7:21 pm

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

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #144:

After masking the main leaf, I painted the background with a wet-in-wet mixture of Daniel Smith’s Green Apatite Genuine, Blue Apatite Genuine, and Hematite Burnt Scarlet Genuine. While the paint was still wet, I dropped in kosher salt to add more texture. Next I let that layer dry completely before brushing off the salt, removing the masking, and painting the main leaf. The textures and patterns left behind by the salt became my inspiration for suggesting pebbles, sticks, and partially decayed leaves in the rest of the painting. I used a 0.5 mm Pentel Arts Hybrid Technica Pen to draw a combination of dots, scribbles, and lines for definition and detail. Next I added some light watercolor washes to create shadows and other finishing touches. Here’s a detail:

And here’s the whole painting:

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