Here’s a closeup that shows part of my Web of Interbeing project. Curious about what techniques I used? You can find out next month if you’ve signed up for email updates!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #99:

I’m pleasantly surprised by how much drawing is required as part of my ANFT Guide Training, and it’s deepening my connections to where I live in ways I didn’t anticipate. Some long-term projects, like keeping a nature journal, are due at the end of the course. Other assignments, like mapping our own watershed, are part of specific learning modules. It was intriguing to trace the path that water from my hill travels before it finally reaches the ocean and to learn the names of the connecting branches, creeks, and rivers that play a part in the story. Having to sketch various hazards that might be encountered here, like poison ivy, chiggers, and ticks, has helped me see them in new ways. Our Trainers have shared some wonderful resources, like this video with Ralph Ammer about how drawing helps you think:

https://youtu.be/ZqlTSCvP-Z0

They also recommended this excellent book by John Muir Laws:

You might enjoy the step-by-step videos on his website:

https://johnmuirlaws.com/

Curious about why I’ve been drawing such surprising subject matter lately? You can find out why next month if you’ve signed up for email updates!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #98:

Here’s the initial sketch for the Web of Interbeing project:

My watercolor sculptures start with drawings on tracing paper to make a template for the cuts. The first step was to mark the outer edge of the circle; then I began defining the main shapes with a gold PITT brush pen and added some adjustments in green before switching to erasable Prismacolor Art Stix in green, blue, and magenta. I emphasized the final boundaries with black. To experiment with the placement of the 2 main figures, I drew them on separate pieces of tracing paper with a MICRON .005 black pen.

In this closeup of the final drawing with cutting in progress, you can see some additional figures and a few more changes made by painting over the original lines with white acrylic, letting it dry, and then adding the new lines on top:

Here’s a closeup of the back; the Twinrocker watercolor paper is so thick, I often have to cut out delicate areas on both sides:

And here’s the paper right after I finished cutting out the design:

This is a closeup of the top layer of my Web of Interbeing project with a possible background underneath it. It’s the “rough draft” stage, so I haven’t added any shadows or details yet or cleaned up the edges. It took a lot of steps to get to this stage, and I’ll share them next month!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #97:

Here’s another one of my Energy paintings. This one started with diluted Golden Gloss Medium as a resist. After it dried, I added multiple layers of diluted acrylic with the brushes pictured above. You might recognize the small white rectangle as a piece of a Kroger Extra Strength Erasing Pad. I like to cut them into small pieces and use them to partially remove thin acrylic glazes from the watercolor paper. It’s especially easy to lift the acrylic on top of the gloss medium. To increase the sense of depth, I used a painting knife to apply thicker strokes of acrylic in a few spots.