Oh My Gouache : Part 1

 

When I was conjuring up this blog post I imagined sharing pictures of my hand made newly bound sketch book , but alas I am still impatiently awaiting for an essential supply to arrive so the adventures in Bookbinding  Mary Ann Moss style are temporarily on hold. I’ve been bursting to share with you a little about my exploration into the world of painting with Gouache, so hence this “part One ” .

I signed up for Oh My Gouache at the last minute, in a hasty but well informed way. I’d been sitting on the fence about it for a while, but fortunately the little voice which throws caution to the wind and dives right in said ” Do it, you know you want to “. “Yes” I replied,” I really do want to !”, but “How will I fit it in?”and ” Should I be spending more money on art courses?” and “What about supplies ? !”. Well, anyway you get the drift.

 

I had some cheap gouache paint which I had no idea how to use and I had a sketchbook, so once the class started I was playing catch up to create my palette and begin painting. Gouache is water based like Watercolour, but unlike Watercolour it’s opaque. This essentially means that the whole way of painting is also reversed. I adore watercolour and have got into a nice little groove with drawing in fineliner and then adding colour with watercolour. Gouache is just so different, the texture of it, the way it reacts with paper, the way it can be layered and the boldness of it. It requires a really different approach and Mary Ann has this great way of teaching where she shows you how she paints, and chats you through her process.She encourages play and exploration and really, watching her videos is the next best thing to being in an actual class.Gosh that would be Amazing ! My brain is in overload (in a good way) as I watch, trying to take it all in,  and it’s FUN because she laughs and shares her joy of painting, joy of sketching and keeping a sketchbook.

I’ve found myself looking at everyday objects and wondering how I could paint them. I’m choosing vegetables based on their paint worthiness and taking pictures because I want to paint that “scene” . Some how, painting this way is accessing a different side of my brain and it’s actually pretty exciting to be honest.

So I’m sharing some photos of what I’ve been painting and then I’ll get back to waiting for the postman to bring my supplies so that I can make my sketchbook, paint some more and write part two.

 

So here’s to the voice that says “Yes –  Do It”,  and to Mary Ann Moss’s fabulous classes. Here’s to creative play and finding what brings you joy and to the world wide web which gives us such great opportunities to learn new things, share our discoveries and meet like minded people !!!

Happy playing.

Emily 🙂