Category: gouache

A Sunday Painter

These past two weeks have been rather a waste – bumps in the normal routines create havoc and everything just seems to fall apart. When that happens, it really does require a focused effort to get back up and into whatever interests me. I am just coming out of a cold – thankfully, not a sinus infection – that has made me not really tired, but just lethargic and lazy between bits of fever and congestion. Lounging around and doing very little and sleeping a lot has been my agenda, filled in with little fun things like dishes . . . .

Actually, yesterday was possibly the real turning point. I was feeling better, so I did some sewing in the morning. I am hand-sewing a top without a machine (including finishing the seams with a whip stitch), just to do it. Then blob time. Miss Marple entertained me for an hour or two between naps. And then it hit me – I was just unhappy because I wasn’t doing what I like to do best – paint or draw! I didn’t want challenges or messes (ie oils) to clean up, but …. what?

Gouache!

I haven’t used gouache for some time. I keep it in the fridge between uses. So, while it was coming to room temperature and soaking up the water I put on it, I taped up a piece of 9×12 CP 140# Arches into two somewhat equal sections. Hot press paper is my preferred paper for gouache as it is smoother and lets the paint move over the paper more easily than cold press.

If you have been following my blog, you know that of late I am rather focused on lavender fields. This first painting was no exception. I wanted to see what I could produce, sort of from a photo, sort of off the top of my head. I wanted a gloomy-looking sky to match the grey, rainy sky of my own world this Sunday, and so moved along. Landscapes are very forgiving (I think) and are a good way to warm up when re-acquainting myself with a medium. So, a lavender field, somewhere in the world.

Then, more of a challenge: Buildings, water, plants, and a boat on a river.

Somewhere in a mythical village along the Nile in Egypt. The traditional sailboats – the felucca – are just so beautiful to see because of their simplicity in shape and line. I sourced a number of photos to create this one. I drew in some basic lines, but that was it. I started with the buildings and then the sky, painting the palms and plants before beginning the river its banks. I left the entire area of the felucca as blank paper, waiting until the end to fill it in. The sail was fairly easy, but the shape of the boat and the suggestion of a person was the most challenging. In the end, I was really pleased with how I met this challenge I presented myself!

Paintings are about 4.5 x 10 each – maybe more or less, I am not going to measure! – using gouache on Arches CP 140# watercolor paper.

3 Pears: A Study in Simplification

Pretty fancy title for an attempt to 1) take a color photo of pears, 2) reduce the colors in the photo to 16 so that fields of color appear, thus allowing an easier visualization of values, and 3) painting observed fields.

First, let’s put this out there: I really do not like painting outside at this point. I used my gouache paints for this study and had to take the following out to the table on the patio in multiple trips – paints, brushes, water, paper towels, image on a tablet, palette. Of course I forgot this and then forgot that, and it really just riles me up! If I ever want to have a plein air experience, everything needs to be consolidated in one thing to take all the little things out at the same time. Inefficient usage of my art supplies really makes me crazy. It is soooooo much easier to have everything in one place on a shelf rather than having to traipse hither, thither, and yon.

Okay, gripe session over. Using gouache on hot press paper, I used green in different values to depict light and shadow, somewhat successfully. I referred to my simplified image (which kept turning itself off on the tablet – another reason why painting from a reference photo indoors is so much nicer), and worked from there. Some areas of the pears were more yellow, as pears can be, and other areas were a colder green. This did end up showing in the simplified photo, and you can see it in the above painting.

I like to desaturate color photos or paintings to see how they read in black and white. This way I can get a sense of values in the colors I used. In the above painting, you can see that, overall, it worked in the pears. The shadows beneath the pears were nothing special and honestly not something I paid much attention to. Using desaturation, I see faults and areas for improvement. For example, the neck of the middle pear would benefit from more dark shades – middle values – to create a sense of the cylindrical nature of that part of the pear.

This was actually fun once I got into it, despite my frustrations with the outdoor set up. I have to think more about how I go about painting outdoors. The fact is the day was beautiful and nearly 70F for a bit of the afternoon. No wind to fight with. Later this week the rains will return (hooray!), so getting outside was probably the main point! Painting was just something to do . . .

Sweet Lavender

More gouache! Such a lovely, forgiving medium. Mistake? Dry, re-wet, blend some more, paint over. Can you really ask for more? The only problem with artist’s gouache is that it stays water soluble when you are done with the painting, but there are ways to seal it and make it waterproof. I think I will try that out on some gouache painting failures – like my snow scene of yesterday.

After getting lost in a drift on that snowy road of yesterday, off in my Learjet for warmer climes and roads easier to navigate. May as well time travel a bit, too, and move from winter to late summer.

Back to lavender fields! The ones I have been doing in acrylic are a bit gaudy, but so is lavender. Some lavender is light, some is so dark it rivals the deep blues of lobelia. I tried to strike a bit of a more subdued approach to a large amount of lavender, and I think it works pretty well.

Artist’s gouache on bristol paper; about 8×10.

Snowy Pines Road – Rectangular or Square?

Another afternoon, another bit of time, another gouache. Today, since we are in December, it is time to visit mythological scenes of snow and cold as today we had 70+ F, and tomorrow more of the same with the possibility of fires because of the winds.

I am also in a bit of a dilemma – are the trees too heavy on the left hand side of the painting, or should they be reduced a bit in volume? The only way to do this is to crop the picture, so I did it in Lightroom.

Or is the square one a better painting?

I am rather torn. So, a slide show to compare them side by side. Drag the <> as far as you can left to right if you want to see them . . .

Your thoughts??

Poinsettias in a Blue Vase

I wanted to paint today, but I didn’t want to deal with acrylics and the bit of a mess they create. Gouache has been on my mind as I haven’t done it for a long time!

Starting this painting was a bit tough, just because I am out of practice. Still, I found all the painting I have been doing made it a bit more easy than I anticipated, but, once more I find myself stuck with problems of light and shadow. But here, it is play; the concept is there, and the plan, while not working out, did kind of get there. Certainly you can see where the light is coming from – but not sure how much it worked out.

Fun time, and that is what an easy afternoon is all about! I used bristol paper for this, and was rather pleased with the way the gouache went on. About 10×14 inches.