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ANSWER TO MYSTERY TECHNIQUE #166:

It’s fun to add texture and detail to your watercolor paintings with ink! I started with a graded wash for the sky and added a suggestion of distant trees. After this layer dried, I painted the first foliage layer of the 3 main trees. Next I masked out the tree trunks by cutting the shapes out of clear contact paper; then I painted the ground and sprinkled in a little kosher salt for texture.

Before adding more layers to the foliage, I lightened the one on the far right to make it seem farther away. I then applied different values of green with a piece of sea sponge to mimic the texture of leaves. I finished painting the grass with a stiff fan brush. After removing the contact paper, I used watercolor pencils to suggest bark on the tree trunks.

The final step was to scribble and stipple with a Micron 05 black pen.