Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Ari Cat in Gouache

Ari Cat in Gouache

I love my fuzzy boy. He's a great model both for photography and painting. He's gorgeous and sweet and will hold still all of two minutes sometimes for sketching. 

As for gouache, I recently replaced my favorite gouache set but find I really miss my porcelain flower palette. That little round seven well porcelain palette was my favorite for mixing acrylics or gouache. Nothing ever stains it and what's left in the wells rewets as easily as the pans do.

This painting was done with a new Niji waterbrush. My old one is more worn than I thought. I got much finer details and better thick-thin strokes, flicking strokes, with the new one. Of course this makes sense. Nylon brushes wear out in two or three years and I've had that waterbrush for four. I've also used it so often that it gets more wear than any other brush.

So I was happily surprised that the new one handled easier. I do wish they made a size bigger than "Large" that went to about a size 10 or 12 round brush for a bolder stroke, a bigger broad stroke for filling large areas and laying in first layers. But until then my three new ones will keep me painting away.

I enjoy most water mediums. The one cool thing about gouache is the way I can work wet on dry, finish a painting in multiple sessions. I let the mixtures dry in the lid of my Pelikan Opaque Watercolor 24 color set and was able to go back into those mixes to continue without having to recreate them. 

I may have a go at some small landscapes with this medium next. The pans are very handy and the Niji does work well with them, as easily as with transparent watercolors!

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