I volunteered today at Warner Parks and saw plenty of leaves that looked like this one. Curious about how I painted it? You’ll get the answer in your inbox next month if you sign up for email updates! Here’s a hint – if you stopped by my table at Hands-On Creativity in October, you can probably guess the answer.

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #54:

This is a dramatic example of what can happen when you add rubbing alcohol to wet watercolor paint. Since alcohol and water don’t mix, it’s easy to get interesting effects, although few colors can match the results possible with Daniel Smith’s Lunar Blue. This color is a mixture of Mars Black, which granulates, and Phthalo Blue, which doesn’t. Adding multiple drops of rubbing alcohol made the paint separate in spectacular ways; using a pipette to drop in the alcohol increased the drama.

Curious about how this was done? I’ll explain next month, so be sure to sign up for email updates to find out!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #53:

This one is a combination of watercolor and waterproof black ink. I started with a wash of diluted blue watercolor on partially wet paper; after it dried, I used a goose feather to create the black lines and spatters. After wetting the paper again, I added the red, which was mixed with Winsor & Newton’s Granulation Medium.

Are you curious about how this was done? I’ll explain next month, so be sure to sign up for email updates to find out!

ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #52:

This striking insect is an eyed elater, a kind of click beetle. After I cut the shape out of black Tyvek, I added the details with white acrylic paint. The loose pieces of bark and lichen are also Tyvek; this time I started with the white side of black-and-white Tyvek before using acrylic and a fine-tipped black pen for the details. The log is hot pressed watercolor paper. The pale horizontal streaks are loose strokes of white acrylic showing through thin washes of  grayish brown; I also added a little green in a few spots. I glued on all the Tyvek pieces after finishing the log.