The nuthatch is my favorite bird to paint! You can find out about the special techniques I used to paint this one next month if you’ve signed up for email updates; I’ll reveal the details in June!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #68:

This is the back of one of the sections of Tales from the Understory, Part 1 (formerly known as Backyard Food Chain IV). Now I’m using pieces of wooden dowels cut to different lengths and painted to match. It’s great to be able to get so much more depth!

Here’s the front:

It’s easy to see the dowels in this view:

And here’s my wonderful mini miter box that I used to cut them all:

Thanks to my friend Lesley Patterson-Marx for letting me experiment with her miter box first! Check out her work here:

http://lesleypattersonmarx.com/home.html

This is a closeup of Backyard Food Chain IV, and it’s an example of my new technique to create depth; I explain the old method below. You can find out about the new one next month if you’ve signed up for email updates; I’ll reveal the details in May!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #66:

Unseen Omens II is one of the wall-hung watercolor sculptures from my Reshaping the Shadows exhibition. Here’s a view of the back of 2 of the panels and the acid-free foam circles I used to create depth:

By sticking 2 circles together, I could increase the space between each layer.

Here’s a closeup of the back 2 panels:

Now I’ve added another layer:

And here’s the completed piece again with very different lighting:

This is a closeup of Unseen Omens II, one of the wall-hung watercolor sculptures from my Reshaping the Shadows exhibition. Wonder how I layered the space to create depth? You can find out next month if you’ve signed up for email updates; I’ll reveal the details in April!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #66:

I began by painting a layer of branching shapes with a diluted mixture of Winsor & Newton Permanent Masking Fluid, acrylic matte medium, and acrylic white ink on 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper. After it dried, I wet the entire surface and used pipettes to drop diluted Hydrus watercolors mixed with Winsor & Newton Granulation Medium. The branching shapes of the first layer acted as resist, creating varied textural effects. After the paper dried, I used a craft knife to cut out tree shapes, then added shadows and magenta edges:

Now it’s the first layer of Keeping Secrets, a new watercolor sculpture.