Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Gouache It!

Rooster
Gouache on Paper
Copyright
Jan Gibson

Photo reference compliments of Daisyree Bakker, used with permission.

My granddaughter returned to Maine this past Saturday and I'm back playing with the gouache I bought. It works a whole lot differently on paper than on canvas and I'm trying to decide whether I like the difference or not. Of course, I'm using a cheap acrylic paper instead of the good Arches watercolor paper, but I wouldn't think the paper would make all that much difference. I've used watercolors on this paper with good results.

This rooster went quickly and more easily than the previously posted tulip. It may be that I'm a tad more used to working with gouache now but I really think it's the paper along with the fact that there weren't that many subtle color transitions in this rooster. I did notice that layering went better on the paper than on the canvas but the same can be said of regular watercolor. Both will lift more easily from the canvas than from the paper.

Right now, I don't see a lot of difference between watercolor and gouache except for the transparency. Since I'm a bit heavy-handed with watercolor, and have such a hard time with it, the gouache may be more my style. I'll just keep playing with it and see how it goes!

8 comments:

Teresa said...

This is wonderful, Jan! Love your color choices!

What kind of gouache paints are you using?

Jan said...

Thanks, Teresa. I'm using Lukas gouache. It's supposedly pretty lightfast but the price was reasonable enough for me to experiment.

"JeanneG" said...

I really like your rooster. Nice to just have fun with experiments.

Jan said...

Thanks Jeanne, it is fun experimenting and I want to do a lot more!

Lisa said...

Such beauty!! I have never used the gouache paints, looks beautiful!

Jan said...

Thanks, Lisa! I'm having a good time with these paints. It's so nice of you to stop by - I hope to see more of you in the future!

Unknown said...

I love your rooster Jan! I've been kind of curious about gouche myself lately.

Jan said...

Hi, Brenda! You should try gouache. It's always fun to try new mediums & I'll bet you'd be amazing at it.