I almost didn’t paint this. Meaning, painting with gouache, or painting with real paint period, often makes me feel like a fish out of water. Especially when I haven’t used a brush in awhile, as was the case here.
I was quite tempted to take the idea in my head to my iPad, instead, where I’m comfortable drawing. I’m glad I pushed through, though, because I learned a few things about this versatile medium.
If you’ve never heard of gouache (pronounced go-WASH), it’s a water-based medium that’s a cross between watercolor and acrylic. Add enough water and it behaves like watercolor: runny & transparent. Use less water and it behaves like acrylic: thick & (mostly) opaque. The latter allows you to paint with white. However with watercolor, you leave the page unpainted in places you want to use white (the paper IS the white). In both cases, it dries quickly.
A difference from acrylic is that dried gouache gets reactivated on the paper when it gets wet again. So, painting a new layer on top of an old one gets tricky! You also have to be careful not to splash water on your painting while, say, rinsing a brush. Ask me how I know.
I had the grand idea that I’d release a small series of original paintings, something I haven’t done in a long time. I quickly realized I need to slow my roll, though. 😉 Before doing that, it’s best to spend time getting reacquainted with real paint and brushes.
It’s exciting to give gouache a try, though, because it will only be up from here.
