Open January Creek... gouache

[LarrySeiler]

6"x 4" gouache...a scene of an open creek I drove past tonight, foreground in shadow. Inspired me to crack out the paints..

[giancarlo80]

Beautifully done Larry

[YKA]

Wonderful! This is what Gouache is all about.

[LarrySeiler]

thank you....

[karenlee]

Really cool. I can't help wondering: What is the ground? Colored paper? Brand?

[LarrySeiler]

Hi Karen...

I like gouache for its imitation of how I most often paint oils, that is laying a colored or neutral tone down on the support. With gouache...its so easy simply buying a high quality acid free mat board...which this is.

When I go to my framers and get some work framed up...I'll buy a large sheet or two of their matboard, and cut it up.

My black surfaces are #400 series Strathmore presentation board...and the gouache to a creamy consistency. A lot of fun...

and I use negative space most often to start a work...and its a bit like the subject emerging out of the support/board like Michelangelo would say about a figure trapped in stone or marble....

[karenlee]

Thank you. This is really inspiring. I have a lot of mat board cut-outs lying around; I gesso them for preliminary oil studies. I never thought of toning them and using them for gouache. You're a genius.

[LarrySeiler]

IF the matboard's color is already suitable, and acid free..you need not prime or tone...just think of it as good to go...

Priming is most important for pigments that have an acidic component such as many oil pigments have...which would actually attack the support over time. Acrylics really require no gesso or prime...but its annoying to paint over something not prepared. The gesso gives that for sure.