Painting with Gouache

I had two things I wanted to do as my New Years resolution this year. One was to watch all the horror movies ever made (I am doing my best, but because of moods and stuff, it is hard to follow it chronologically XD) The other was to learn new things and have fun with courses.

I looked around on the web for courses that would not cost me a fortune, and something that was a one time payment. It is fun with stuff like Skillshare where you have limited access and all, but just how much can you get done in one month? And if you have little time and don’t even get started on anything before the next payment, you sort of feel like it is wasted. So it is nice if you just have something waiting for when you have the time. In the end I found Domestika, and even if most of the courses are not in English. They are good, affordable and a one time payment.

I spent New Years eve making a list with the courses I wanted, and in the end, I decided that my first task in 2022, would be to actually learn a new painting style I have seen used so much in bullet journal and illustrations.

Gouache.

The love-child between acrylics and watercolors. The paintings I have most experience with from being a art student.

As a medium it starts off as a thick paint, that you water out with a few drops to get a perfect smooth paint that easily covers any surface. Want to paint on a dark background? Use gouache. Want to paint in layers with maximum coverage? Use gouache. Also if you add enough water, it will basically become watercolor.

It will also be true to color when you take pictures of it, so if you work with any sort of social media and want a paint that transfers perfectly when you want to take pictures of it, gouache is your savior.

I was also quite lucky, and the course I picked out was english. I highly recommend it by the way. I learnt a lot from it, and if I was to describe the teacher with one word, it would be Whimsical.

If you just want to check out her stuff and try on your own, she also has a youtube channel with some how to videos as well.

Well, now I have showed how good others are at gouache, so I guess it is time to try and show how I am at gouache.

Of course, I had some cheap gouache lying around from before, and it was okay, but as I realized after a few classes that I actually liked doing it, I decided that I needed to get some better paint for the last project. I did not have much to go on after christmas and all, but one has to sacrfice for the art.

Once the Winsor & Newton gouache paints arrived, and also the brushes to best fit the job, I started my final project.

Inspired by one of my stories, it is a witch cabin in the forest. 4 layers of work. Background, forest, cabin and foreground. Usually when I paint I do all at once. I draw up with pencil first, and then paint it in parts as I go. Never part by part.

I found it wasn’t as hard as I had thought to paint without being able to draw the lines first. It actually left me with more freedom as I worked. I also wanted to add some lights but ended up ruining about 3 layers of work. I then had to cover it up again, and since the gouache covers so well, the mistake was eventually gone.

I’ll share my process, and I hope I make a lot more stuff in the future! It is sort of nice to just be able to pull out a sketch book and paint and not have to fix a whole canvas, as I am used with for Acrylics.