Selby Gardens

This is my first page from the Imaginary Trip to Selby Gardens. There is also a title page based on Laure Ferlita's design but mine is so close to her design I didn't feel comfortable posting that image.

Three Tomatoes

I have been painted just not blogging. Besides trying to paint in gouache, I am taking an Imaginary Trip to Selby Gardens with Laure Ferlita and a Craftsy class on mixing acrylic paint. I alway enjoy Laure's class but this time I chose the independent learning option. I do miss seeing everyone else work and getting critiques but life seem to be full of family crisis these last few months. Something we all face at different times. So taking self-paced classes on the internet allows for "me" time whenever I can fit it into my days and nights. I signed up for a regular class locally, (well kinda of locally, an hour drive from my studio). Of the 6 classes, I have only made the first 2 but hope to make the last one this Wednesday.

Pinecone

A gouache sketch of a small pinecone I picked up on a walk with our dog Jake. 

3 galic bulbs

I am continuing on my journey to learn to use gouache. Up until the last month we have subscribed to Blue Apron. That meant that in every delivery we received one fresh garlic bulb. We love garlic but a weekly garlic bulb was more than we could use up so I have a bowl full of partially used garlic bulbs in our refrigerator. I am not complaining because the fresh bulbs were so much better than the old dried up versions we can get at our grocery store. So here are 3 of them.

Goal setting and reviews

I usually set my yearly goal before or shortly after New Years Day of the beginning year. This year I didn't. But our aging dog and family issues took precedence over art. It happens. So now I am trying to get my painting drive back. Those issues still exist but I am trying to make time for some joy in my life which comes from creating. I don't have to create great art, masterpieces or even good stuff, it is just the process of creating that brings joy. Now, I don't mean I don't enjoy having a project turn out well but my true joy comes from the doing. I have been working at trying to fit art back into my life by taking a workshop in person, signed up for a class, and am taking an online workshop. Hoping to get back in a groove and daily sketching and painting but every time I start another issue seems to pop up I need to handle. So maybe starting small, the gouache sketchbook daily will get me moving and help me establish a direction and goals.

2 Pears

Pear 1

I couldn't sleep so I got up a painted a pear in my sketchbook. I labored really, really labored over this painting/sketch. It shows. There must be 4 to 5 layers of paint on this poor, sad, flat pear. Then I threw out my water, cleaned my brushes and start to go back to bed but I wasn't sleepy yet. So I got fresh water and tried the second of my two pears I bought at the grocery store.

Pear 2

I added more white and yellow to the green on my palette. Both pears were started with a Pentel Brush Pen. On this one I left a lot of the ink showing. Mostly there is only one layer of paint on this pear with a couple of areas having 2 layers. It looks fresher and much more interesting. I was about to give up on gouache after that first pear but think I will force myself to do one paint/sketch with gouache in this sketchbook each day until it is full.

Lemons

Another gouache sketch. This wasn't a problem with the lemons but looking back I think I tend to go too dark with the darks. Probably this is because I come from a watercolor background and the pigments usually dry much lighter than the color you first put down wet. This concept becomes a habit so I need to really work at going lighter in gouache as well as acrylics. My next goal is to figure out a way to show the texture of the lemon skin. I painted these just as smooth as the peppers, which they aren't.

Mangoes

After having so much fun with the peppers I went back into the refrigerator and pulled out 2 mangoes to paint. As stated in my sketchbook, "Mangoes are hard". I am not sure why but I found them much more challenging than the peppers. Go figure.

More Gouache peppers

This was my second try at painting peppers in gouache. I wasn't happy with the previous pepper or this one so I decided to just draw a pepper and put in a gouache background.

Once the first two were completely dry, I decided to work back into them. I was thinking I didn't have anything to lose they have turned out so sadly. Once a got a couple of additional layers on them I was happier with them. I often find I am tempted to stop painting too soon.

Gouache

This past week I got out my Schmincke gouache set, pulled a commercially made sketchbook off my shelf, and played around. I have done very little painting in gouache. When I start working with a new medium I have to remind myself not to expect too much but stick with it for a while. The sketchbook I am using has paper similar to the Moleskine sketchbooks. It reminds my of the manila file folders. It is not absorbent. I used a larger version of the sketchbook for my 50 small paintings in acrylics. In that book I did tape off a 6" square and paint a layer of gesso on each page. In one I just jumped right in with the gouache. I may experiment on some watercolor paper to see if that is actually a better surface. But for now I want to stick with the gouache until I fill this sketchbook. I call it a sketchbook but I think it is a craftbook used for creating mix media art books. 

I am learning to use more paint and less water, more like acrylics than watercolors. Plus I find it works best for me to put down a layer, let it dry then come back in with another layer. So far it seems to have all the drawbacks of watercolor and none of the advantages of acrylics. But maybe as I work with it longer I will get to know the medium better.