Glad you like it! He’s from a related system (advaita/tantra) so if you know anything of Buddhism, he would sound familiar. He just has stripped away pretty much all of the cultural trappings and focuses purely on the core nondual philosophy and practice.
Also he’s what’s called a “householder”, tantra being primarily a “householder” tradition. Meaning, no sitting alone on mountaintops, it’s realization while engaged with the world.
I’m barely a beginner myself but A: I wanted to say that’s a really cool idea and B: being a beginner your hand will affect the shape. I’d try tactically moistening and letting the work dry into the intended shape. Actually with cotton you’d probably want to make sure it gets all stretched out so it won’t get droopy over time. You could also stagger the increase and decrease spots that they are more evenly all around the work, rather than all in the same vertical line.
Also just as a note, be sure to use non-heating lamps.
It’s not news. And arguably this is the type of thing where you benefit from seeing the actual person talking because they have personal experience of what they are talking about. It’s more than just conveying words.