gouache – Page 31 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

WWM #11: Simple Pleasures

This one had me pondering . . . a good book, flowers, painting. In the end, I thought of what seems to give me the most pleasure. The natural world, flowers, plants – the world outside that is simply there. Sometimes we manipulate it, such as by planting flowers, and other times it is just being itself, chaotic nature.

Here, sunflowers. A family member was in Las Vegas when the earthquakes of July 4 and 5 hit the Los Angeles area. Her pool sloshed over, inundating her garden with salty, chlorinated water. She lost a lot of plants. I had sent her a picture of some sunflowers she had given me, soon to bloom, and that is when I found out she had lost her plants. My idea was to (maybe) paint some sunflowers for her, but unfortunately these did not turn out too well. Still, there was the idea and the pleasure of painting sunflowers . . .

Here, Joshua Trees. I really get a bang out of these crazy-looking plants, which are very limited in their topographical area for survival, and as the world warms (it really isn’t, per the government), these plants are becoming endangered. When the US government shut down, Joshua Tree National Monument (or Park?) was heavily vandalized. Many of these trees take centuries to get big – and then some fool decides they are fair game to destroy.

The natural world is one filled with simple pleasures for our delight. Some delight in destroying things of beauty, wrecking the work of time. To me, this is a really sad, pathetic statement about human beings, but then there are those who also work to save our natural world before it disappears. I am very grateful for these heroes who work to save the simple pleasures of the natural world.

WWM #9: Shadow Play

Today is another gouache, and I will say it is beginning to feel a bit “natural” to be painting in gouache.

Doing all the waves the other day got me in touch with that sensuous quality the paint has when it has a specific texture, as well as the dry brush effect when a bit of scrubbing is needed, and when the paint is very thin. Each requires different ways in which the paint is controlled, by how much water is added, what is below the layer of paint you are adding, and what you anticipate adding later.

One thing I did learn in today’s painting is the value of the hair dryer – I used it so much in this painting, nearly after each layer of paint. This got the paint as dry as it should be and it kept me from working more quickly than is appropriate for gouache. The result was much more pleasing in my opinion and a lot less frustrating.

In painting this window scene, I wanted to accomplish a couple of things. One was a more “painterly” style – a bit looser than say the butterfly of yesterday. The other was to see if I could express the varying light of the shadows as the flowers were buffeted in the breeze. If you think about how shadows move, they flutter, getting lighter at times, getting darker, as the breeze moves the flowers on the sill.

Lilies of the Valley

With the plumbers here tearing out the wall in the studio, I took off for a bit of the morning to do some shopping for gym shoes and clothes, pick up an item I ordered awhile ago, and visit a local quilting store. On the way home I picked up some groceries. Usually I like to spend the morning painting, but this afternoon I decided to do some as the plumbers were gone.

Again, I am working with gouache, and finding now that I have a basic understanding of it, I want to use it more and more. What I like about gouache is the fact I can build up layers, and this gives me a lot more control than watercolor – over which you have NO control (you just think you do!). Both are beautiful in their control and lack of control.

Gouache lends itself to a more impressionistic approach to color usage and painting style. That is what I find myself especially drawn to at the present. Precise, accurate paintings, or ones which have a very graphic nature to them, while attractive, just don’t fit into my personality. Here is where being messy is okay! Even better when you can cover up your mess. I like the spontaneity of watercolor and its unpredictable qualities, and I like the painterly quality of gouache.

Today the idea was to just paint. No theme, just play. As I enjoy flowers, I picked a photo from Pixabay of Lilies of the Valley. Color scheme was simple – the usual white and some black or dark blue, but essentially blue, green, yellow, and white, along with complementaries to make greys. I had a lot of fun, and while I can see areas for improvement, there really is no need to as it is practice. And practice is fun if you let it be – so, I am letting it be and enjoying the result.

This was painted using Holbein Artists Gouache (watersoluble, non-acrylic) on Fabriano Hot Press 25% cotton paper.

I even signed it with my real “painters” signature!

WWM #7: Shiny Things

Shiny things . . . like a magpie, we are all drawn to things that glitter and glisten. But what to paint, and in gouache? In watercolor, perhaps a metal spoon or bowl, complete with sunshine glinting. In gouache, though, the possible deepness of color as well as having a few metallic paints, I thought of water. Water is always shiny, at night with reflected lights, during the day as the sun and clouds pass overhead. Even when the weather is foul, water reflects and shines. Painting this was a rather sensuous experience, which is perhaps why I am enjoying gouache more and more . . . and water is certainly so on a warm summer day.

World Watercolor Month 2019 – Days 1-6

It seems that as the global world contracts, our ability to reach out expands. The internet is both demon and angel in this regard. I get tired of the constant barrage of news and texts and sales from varying companies, all on my phone and on my computer, but then one finds wonderful communities that meet one’s needs or interests. Such a community is Doodlewash, and Charlie O’Shields Facebook group. Annually he posts World Watercolor Month, which has prompts to follow. While he does this every month, World Watercolor Month is especially delightful as people from all over the world paint the subject matter and post it somewhere online, such as Instagram (using the hashtag #worldwatercolormonth2019), and elsewhere. It’s a lot of fun to see what other people produce and how they interpret the prompts.

So, here we are on Day 6 – World Watercolor Month is July. Last year I did Inktober and had so much fun, learned a lot, and thus I decided to do World Watercolor Month 2019. Being retired, there is finally time! The prompts I have done so far are:

Primary Palette
Sunny Sky
Picnic Food
Family Fun
Loose & Free
Window View

Here are my interpretations.

1. Primary Palette – Blue, Red, Yellow – With Some Secondaries Created from the Primaries

4. Family Fun – Let’s Dance on the Beach!

5. (Foot) Loose & (Fancy) Free – Sale the World!

6. Window View – Looking In? Looking Out?

One of the goals I have for this project is to alternate between transparent watercolor and water-based gouache, which is often known as opaque watercolor. Both require different techniques. In watercolor, you work light to dark, and leave paper unpainted to depict white. You can cheat by using liquid frisket to mask out areas, but there are challenges in using it, and sometimes frustrations. You can also cheat by using the water-based white gouache to touch things up, but purists frown on this. Gouache, being opaque, allows you to build up layers, and you work, in general, from dark to light. Dark gouache colors dry lighter than they appear wet, and lighter colors dry darker. What a head spin! Gouache also requires a lot more time to paint a picture that seems simple compared to watercolor – but that is my experience so far. I am pretty new to gouache, so I am really in the baby steps of learning how to use the medium.

I hope that I will be able to continue to do my paintings every day for July. I am alternating days of watercolor and gouache, with odd-numbered days being in gouache, and even-numbered days in watercolor. We have another water leak in our house, but hopefully the planned repair will be quick and cheaper than the last, without any jack-hammering the foundation. This might keep me out of the studio a bit, but I plan to continue painting so will be moving things to other parts of the house a bit and create a studio space somewhere . . .

Enjoy the wonders of summer!