GouacheBroke out the gouache set tonight to see what I could do with it. Oy. I have no idea what to do with it.
I don't know whether it's supposed to be used like acrylic or built up in layers like watercolor glazes. What I do know is I need a spritzer bottle to keep the paints wet. They dried out very quickly and I struggled to get the paint to stick to the paper. It wouldn't come off the brush. When I added water to get them moving again they turned transparent and that nullified the point of using gouache.
I wasn't thrilled with this when I finished it but it's growing on me.
Decided to try the fruit again using ink and watercolor. This is the last opportunity to paint this plate of fruit. The bananas are disappearing daily into Hubby's lunch. I started with a bunch of seven and now I'm down to four. The tomato is going mushy, and the avocados are part of tomorrow night's supper. Had to get 'er done.
Ink and WatercolorWell, this sucks. First of all I didn't use watercolor paper. I thought I could get by with the paper in my big sketchbook.
***Ernk!!!***. Wrong. Thank you for playing.
It sucks up the water so I couldn't get the background flowing around properly. Sigh.
Second, I don't have a large watercolor brush to do large washes. I used a 1" brush for acrylics and it was too firm. It brushed off the surface of the paper. Not good. That's why the background looks so wonky.
Third, I forgot to put the brown speckles on the bananas so they look rather flat and cartoonish.
If this wasn't permanently attached in my sketchbook, I'd chunk it.
Hey, but in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day." I still haven't broken the seal on the acrylics yet. Perhaps they will work in the way my brain thinks paint should perform. At least I have the right brushes and paper for them. Still need a spritzer bottle though.
Stay tuned, more to come.
2 comments:
I think you're too hard on yourself! This is just the FIRST time you've used gouache ... EVER? I think it looks wonderful! I like the that you can see the brush strokes through the background and foreground. I think the colors really pop! The form of the fruit is great ... the shadows make the fruit curve, they highlights pop them off the page. Let's see ... it's bananas, an apple, a tomato and two avocados, right?
Yep ... too hard on yourself. ;-)
AND the ink version is just as good, only different.
Thanks Karen, you're too kind. Yes, this is the first time ever using gouache. I didn't know such a think existed until two years ago, then I didn't understand the whats and whyfors of them for a while.
The brightly colored artwork I saw other folks creating (yourself included) gave me a hankering to try them. I love rich, intense, saturated color, and I just couldn't seem get that from my watercolors.
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