Tuesday, May 1, 2012

My Goodness My Gouache!



Top - View from Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Oakland
Bottom - Bellevue-Staten, Lake Merritt, Oakland

After seeing some gouache landscape studies in Jason Merck's portfolio last semester, I realized that perhaps my initial evaluation of the medium - that it was the Devil's vividly colored excrement - deserved to be reconsidered.

So I bought an airtight watercolor palette, a new Moleskine and set off - and holy smoke, was I wrong! It's a bit fiddly, but not nearly as much as painting in oils (not to mention lugging around that bloody easel). Once the colors are squeezed out on the palette, the whole kit is about as heavy as my camera! I think I'm in love.

The paint does lose its buttery consistency once it dries (which it manages to do after a week or two in the palette), but gently reconstituting it with an eyedropper of water seems to make it sufficiently usable again - not the same, but usable. Anyway, here are my first two efforts - definitely more to come once the semester ends.

3 comments:

  1. Jaime these are fantastic! you have inspired my to try Guoache again as well

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  2. Good show bud! These look great. Are you using one of those sponge palettes?

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  3. Cheers fellas! Leo, it will blow your mind - like a sticky, messy version of Photoshop. Adam, I did a bit of searching to find the right palette, namely one that would seal the wet in and keep air out. This is the one I picked:

    http://www.dickblick.com/products/martin-universal-design-mijello-airtight-leak-proof-palettes/

    It doesn't have a sponge layer, but the sealing ring in the lid keeps the paints moist for about a week or two - I use an eyedropper to reconstitute when I need to. Thanks for stopping by!

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