Monthly GOUACHE Sketch Painting Challenge Thread ~ August 2009 ~ Boats and Marine

[Shirl Parker]

Those leak-proof palettes may keep the paint wet, but I don’t see anything that would keep them from slipping out of the wells if the palette is not kept level. That would be very hard to do if you are taking it out plein air painting.

Shirl
http://picasaweb.google.com/shirlrparker/myart
“Try to be as nice a person as your dog thinks you are.” - The Puppy Zone

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

You can get palettes with sealable pots incorporated which would be suitable for transporting wet gouache. I can’t remember the name, I’ll do a little searching.

OK here’s the thing I was referring to.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[LynnMac Ontario, Canada]

Really nice work, everyone! I have been lurking…..

Doug, I have something like that that I keep my gouache in, it works really well…have been experimenting a bit. This thread is encouraging me to try some again when I am on holiday the next two weeks. It gives me the feel of working in oils again, I use fairly stiff brushes. I too find it hard to use the dried paint, prefer it wet.

Does it have to be ‘marine’ as in sea, or would lake do as well? This is stretching it a bit, I think.

Early Fall, red maple on Lake George. WN, 10×12 in, on smooth matt board

Cheers, Lynn
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/lynn-macintyre
"Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in" Leonard Cohen

[LynnMac Ontario, Canada]

And since we have some other landscapes here, I’ll post my first gouache, hope to do more like this.

Late summer goldenrod, 9×11, WN and Reeves on smooth matt board

Cheers, Lynn
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/lynn-macintyre
"Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in" Leonard Cohen

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

I know what you mean Lynn, at times gouache looks like oils. I think incorporating watercolour skies makes them lighter.

I like your trees.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[Shirl Parker]

Doug, that is exactly the palette I use for my gouache. I got it at Michael’s and it had exactly the number of pots as the set of gouache I bought.

Shirl
http://picasaweb.google.com/shirlrparker/myart
“Try to be as nice a person as your dog thinks you are.” - The Puppy Zone

[LynnMac Ontario, Canada]

Thanks, Doug, I have tried to get that same feeling since then and not had much success, will try again next week. Part of it is that I was working with fresh paint then, and since have tried to use partially dried paint, doesn’t have the same effect.

I like your boat very much, good colours and contrast, lovely water!

Cheers, Lynn
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/lynn-macintyre
"Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in" Leonard Cohen

[maggie latham]

Hello everyone,

Boats and Marine is a very general loose theme…please interpret, as you wish with boats up close, boats on the horizon, sunsets, tropical…..anything with boats …….. paintings and paint sketches from plein air, your imagination, photo reference……….dockyards, cruise ships, secret coves, lakes with boats……rowing boats, barges, ships, or model boats!… it’s up to you……just try to keep your paintings/paint sketches completed in an hour or less using gouache, or gouache with watercolour in any style on any substrate. I’ve posted some photos from my travels in case any one is lost for inspiration.

Lynn, I love the fresh colours in your paintings. And the way you have used horizontal strokes to suggest water.

Doug, Nice interesting mix of watercolour and gouache.

Lenore, I bet you are excited about your new gouache paints.

Judy, anything with your interpretation of a boat or boats in any form…. from photos, real life, imagination, abstract, impressionist, realism…… sketched with the point of your brush……ANYHTING!! Sounds like a nice composition for a gouache painting.

Hello Shirl…that is my experience also about watery paints in flat palettes.

I tend to squeeze fresh paint out every time I paint, as I don’t like gouache when it has dried as hard as a pea. You don’t necessarily need a fancy palette…you could just use a china or plastic plate as a mixing area and squeeze out only the colours you need for your painting session. As with watercolour, I find fresh paint is always a lot nicer and juicier to work with. For any one new to gouache, be careful if you are using your watercolour palette to mix on, as it may lead to cross contamination of gouache in your watercolour wells. I always keep a large sheet of watercolour paper (tapped off with masking tape into smaller rectangles) to hand, to use up whatever gouache is left on my paint palette after each painting session.

Maggie

[Deborah Secor]

I always keep a large sheet of watercolour paper (tapped off with masking tape into smaller rectangles) to hand, to use up whatever gouache is left on my paint palette after each painting session.

Great idea, Maggie! I’ll be doing that from now on, too…

I’m searching for the little cup palette locally, as shipping pushes the price to over $10. If I don’t find it I’ll break down and order one. A little more research showed me that it’s made by Loew Cornell. http://www.loew-cornell.com/media/products/pdfs/pdf23_36c.pdf (lower left hand corner)

Deborah

Deborah

"All glory to Him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Landscape Painting in Pastels (free online book)
Gouache Blog

[maggie latham]

Hello everyone,

To keep gouache more pliable for a couple of days of working sessions, I find spritzing whatever paint is left on my palette or plate with water from a small misting bottle ………and covering the entire plate with cling film or putting it into a zip lock bag keeps gouache more pliable while working in the studio. Then spritz again the next day before use.

Maggie

[Shirl Parker]

Deborah, I got that palette at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon (available online).

Shirl
http://picasaweb.google.com/shirlrparker/myart
“Try to be as nice a person as your dog thinks you are.” - The Puppy Zone

[Sonia]

Both these small sketches started off as an exercise in using only ultramarine blue and raw umber watercolour. I decided I might brighten them up for this gouache challenge, although as you can see I’m still averse to using the gouache as thick and buttery as I should!!

Aldeburgh beached boats

Woodbridge boats

Sonia
http://paperpaintandprint.blogspot.co.uk

[LynnMac Ontario, Canada]

I agree, they do look more ‘watercolourish’ than straight gouache, but they are really nice!

Cheers, Lynn
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/lynn-macintyre
"Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in" Leonard Cohen

[Deborah Secor]

They’re very nice! The second one is very crisp and appeals to me.

I know my first few gouache paintings looked watercolorish, too…which is odd for someone who never painted in watercolor.

Shirl, where’d you find the Michael’s coupon? PM me, if you have advice. Thanks.

Deborah

Deborah

"All glory to Him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Landscape Painting in Pastels (free online book)
Gouache Blog

[maggie latham]

Hi Sonia!

How are things in your neck of the woods?

So glad that you have joined in and posted your boat paintings. I too like the second one, but also like the colours in the first one. One of the nicest things about gouache is that it really can look different depending if it is applied with lots of water, little water, on paper or board, just used as body colour with watercolour, layered or combined with ink etc.

How about an ink resist in gouache for us if you have the time or inspiration? Is it possible to do an ink resist painting in an hour or less? I need to design a series of new greeting cards for a client, and have been thinking about using your ink resist process for the initial paintings of local landmarks.

Maggie

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