Carol’s Humble Art Journaling 101: Gouache That’s Pretty

 

 

I have a new medium, new to me, I mean, that I am in love with.  It is gouache.  It is brighter color than watercolors.  It is lovely to work with.

I mix it up with watercolors too… one space might be watercolor, but for brilliance of color, I move into my gouache box of colors.  It works the same as watercolor and spreads easily.  Once it is dry, it is permanent. 

I start with a quick sketch in charcoal and then block in some colors.   The colors will be light to start with but letting it dry in between layers will begin making the colors stand out brighter and brighter as I use less water with them.

 

Note that the color will still be quite dull, in part, because I am using old book paper, which is porous and because I am purposefully doing a light wash just to set the colors.  You will begin to see me move into mixed media after a layer of two with gouache.  

 

Gouache is an opaque watercolor that has enhanced more deep pigment to it.  It will always dry to a matte finish.  It dries quickly. 

Hint:  If you make the paint to thick, it will crack as it dries as we saw on an earlier page.   So do not paint it directly on to a page.  Use a wet brush to dilute it a bit…unless you want crackling (another hint for beautiful texture).

Second layer begins the pop of more pigment.

I have decided to make this illustrative, which usually does use gouache or flat matter drying paint because it photographs well for use in books and magazines.  Now you know that, check out some magazines and you will see that the painting was flat. 

HINT:  https://mymodernmet.com/illustration-definition/

With gouache, a little goes a long ways, so do not load up too much paint.

 

Next, I move into paint markers and fine pointed black micropen to do some small details. 

 

Then, I noticed that more pop of color might help so I used a cotton swap (QTip) and made dots of blossoms in the tree.   

 

 

I never said I was a great artist, indeed.  I am still at the experimental stage.  But, along the way I learned things by error and frustration and I am sharing some of what I have learned with you. There are some dynamic artists online who are sharing their lessons for free.  Youtube is full of lessons.

 

 I am just offering my sisterfriends a chance to experiment with me.

Experiment on, sisterfriends. 

©Carol Desjarlais 4.16.21

 

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-9-artists-art-lessons-watch-online-free