a day with gouache
The morning started with a ring of the doorbell. Outside, there was something waiting for me…I love when the word “Amazon” is emblazoned on the side of the box. I knew what was inside.
I opened the box, knowing how I would spend the rest of the day…
playing with my new set of Sennelier gouache paints.
I haven’t spent a lot of time with gouache, but I knew I wanted to try out a different brand, that was highly recommended. I really enjoyed visiting Ralph Parker’s blog. He’s been painting with gouache for many years.
Gouache is a type of opaque watercolor. Working with it, is challenging and fun. It dries very quickly, but it can also be reworked by adding a little water, even after it has dried. As you can see, I set up a little “gouache station” on a TV tray, with brushes, paint, water, and watercolor paper…and went to work. I used several portraits by Kees Van Dongen as my inspiration for my portraits, though I didn’t want exact replicas. I love his fashionable portraits of ladies, and wanted to see how I could make some little fashionable portraits with gouache. The two small portraits are 2 1/ x 3 1/2 inches (ATC, or Artist Trading Card size) and the larger is postcard size (4 x 6 inches).
I started with this little one first…using a graphite pencil to lightly sketch out the features of the face. I left details to a minimum, but at the last minute, decided to put a pink rose in her hair. I like that pop of color against the blue.
This was my second painting of the day. I loosened up a bit, and decided to try a bit of blending. She reminds me of an old fresco you would find on the peeling walls in Pompeii.