Tough History
For as long as I can remember, gouache and I never really mixed. I've used it on multiple occasions and never found the products satisfying. Watercolor and acrylic always seemed to be better at their jobs, while gouache tried to accomplish both and achieved neither. However, I see gouache paintings on social media more and more, and the urge to try again has come. This time, I will try to succeed in making a good painting.
The Right Tools
After doing research on good gouache brands, it turns out that the gouache I had been using was a notoriously cheap and low quality brand. The unanimously best gouache was the line from Windsor and Newton, but I decided to settle on a much cheaper (and more accessible) Himi gouache set.
I also did research on how to approach painting with gouache, as I used to use it as one would with watercolor or paint. Turns out gouache has different rules. With watercolor, you paint light to dark. With paint, backgrounds to foregrounds. With gouache, it's light opacity to thicker opacity.
Process
Like the watercolor piece, I did a rough sketch and traced a neater sketch onto a final paper. The idea for this piece was to have a vibrant and light (almost high key) painting, with Morgana's back turned looking into the beyond. I didn't know how I wanted this SI to end, but I know I wanted it vague. The story doesn't really have an ending; the whole point of the story was to have Morgana learn from mistakes, grow, and live on. This simple painting doesn't really put a cap on anything--it just shows more to come.
Comments