This is a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar — it’s my favorite kind! You can find out the different steps in my caterpillar-painting process next month; I’ll share the details in August, so be sure to sign up for email updates!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #82:

Part 1:

I began by using a brush loaded with lots of water to draw a loose network of looping shapes on hot press watercolor paper; then I dropped granulation medium, diluted yellow acrylic ink, and yellow and green liquid watercolor into the wet areas, leaving small patches of white paper.

Part 2:

After Part 1 dried, I taped a tracing paper drawing on top to act as a template, then cut out the basic leaf shapes with a craft knife. Next I painted the veins with Winsor & Newton’s Permanent Masking Fluid to preserve the underpainting — it’s so much easier to apply than other masking fluids, and you don’t have to remove it!  I added additional layers of yellow, green, and blue to create more dimension. After the paint dried, I stippled with a black Micron .005 pen to increase the sense of depth; you have to look closely to see the little dots!

This Mystery Technique has 2 parts. Wonder how I transform Part 1 into Part 2? You can find out the different steps in my leaf-painting process next month; I’ll share the details in July, so be sure to sign up for email updates!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #81:

This painting represents an exciting new direction for me! I’ve started doing “energy paintings” as a warmup exercise. It’s a great way to loosen up and explore the emotional energy of different color combinations. These are all quickly done with liquid acrylic on large sheets of recycled paper left over from the Lantern Festival:

Most are inspired by the energies from recent dreams:

This painting represents an exciting  new direction for me! Curious about the  techniques I used? You can find out the details next month if you’ve signed up for email updates; I’ll explain more about it in June!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #80:

White acrylic ink to the rescue! This is part of a sky demo that got too dark and flat in places, so I decided to experiment with some white acrylic ink glazes to lighten the area and add some visual interest. I created a mixture that was equal parts water, white acrylic ink, and Winsor & Newton Granulation Medium.  Next I got the paper wet and floated the diluted ink over parts of the painting, tilting the paper to allow the paint to flow and add specks of white on top of the dark. I used a wet brush in places to manipulate the granulated white.