Lines to Minimal Artwork Using Gouache

1. Welcome to the Class: At times, even adding a single stroke can help you create magic. In this class, we're going to create a minimal artwork using the medium of gouache. There are going to be two beautiful paintings that we are going to create using line art. Let's explore the medium of gouache together. Hey, everybody. You're most welcome to my new class, myself Rudick Patel. I'm a self taught independent artist and an interior designer by profession. I personally love to explore different art forms and styles and not stick to one particular thing. So if you are joining me, you'll find a variety of classes that I create. You're going to start by understanding the class projects in detail. There are going to be two different paintings that you can explore and experiment. I'll be giving you the details about all the art supplies that you will need for the entire class. No need to worry at all. In case you're missing out on any particular art supply, you'll find it very easily in any nearby local art store. The first step is to prepare the paper by adding the tape on all the sides so that we get a nice white border when we remove the tape. The first step is to create a solid black background using the medium of gouache. Then we are going to create some mountains and a golden sun. You're going to enhance the mountains by adding minute white lines and details which will enhance the painting even more. Allo, putting in a very little effort, we are going to complete the entire painting. The next painting is minimal florals. Again, combining these white lines and putting a very little effort, they're going to create a beautiful floral painting. No need to worry about the output, enjoy the process of creating. It's a short class that will not take a lot of your time, and it will help you to explore gouache as a medium. So without any delay, grab your art supplies and join me on this creative journey. 2. Class Projects: Hey, everybody. Now let us talk about the class projects in detail so that you can get an exact idea of what we are going to paint. So the first class project is abstract landscape, which is one of my favorite class project. You can observe it is having a beautiful solid black background that we have created using the medium of gouache. Then we have these little white birds, which creates a noise contrast with the black background and a beautiful golden sun. Then comes the most interesting part, which is having a lot of details in it. So you can observe the mountains that we have painted on the bottom part. It is having a solid white line which is thick, which gives a nice outline to the entire mountain, followed by these little thin lines, which will add minute details to the entire painting. So combining these minimal elements together, we are going to form this first painting. Then we have the second class project that is abstract florals. You can observe it is having these beautiful white lines which are combining together to form a nice abstract floral pattern. Then we have added a little bit of gold and some details in between. You can observe that it creates a beautiful contrast with the solid black background that we have created using the medium of gouache. All over, it is going to be a very interesting process, and you'll definitely enjoy adding these minute details together. You can observe that it is majorly line artwork that we have used to complete both the paintings. No need to worry about the output, enjoy the process of creating. You are free to explore and experiment with the entire class project as well. Now let us move towards the next part. 3. Art Supplies: Hey, everybody. Now let us talk about all the art supplies that you will need for the entire class. You can observe the way I have placed all my art supplies in a systematic manner. Let us talk about the first art supply and the most important one as well, the watercolor paper that we are going to use. So the watercolor papers that I'm using are from Canson, and it is A five size. In case you want to use a different size, it is absolutely fine. And the important thing is that it is 300 GSM. So the GSM is basically the thickness of the paper so that you can apply heavy washes and color on the paper. Let me show you the class projects. So these are done on the same watercolor paper that I have showed. Now, in case you want to use any other good alternative, it is absolutely fine. Just make sure that it is 300 GSM minimum. Then comes the next art supply, which is the brushes that we are going to use. So here I'm having a round brush of size zero. We are going to use this particular brush to add minute details to the entire painting, which will help us to create little thin lines to add details. Then comes another round brush of size one, which will help us to create a nice thick line. Then the next brush is of size three, or you can consider it as four as well, which is basically a flat brush which will help us to apply a solid black background to the entire watercolor paper. Now let us talk about the white pen that we are going to use to create a rough sketch before we apply paint. You can observe it is having a nice thin tip, which will help us to create a nice basic sketch. In case you do not have a white pen, you can use a white pencil as well. Then we have a metallic sketch pen that you can observe. It is having a golden tip. So it's basically a gold color metallic sketch pen, which will help us to paint a beautiful sun in the sky area. You can consider it as a moon as well. Now, in case you do not have a metallic golden sketch pen, you can use solid white color as well. It is absolutely fine. Then we have a simple mechanical pencil that will help us to create a basic sketch in case needed. Now comes the next art supply, which is a simple, transparent color palette that you can observe. It's a simple acrylic color palette. You can observe that I have taken out the colors. Just make sure that your color palette is having enough space to take out multiple colors in it and some mixing space as well. Then we have a simple glass container in which you can already observe some dirty water that I have already used. It helps to clean the brushes and use water wherever required. Then we have two basic gouache colors that you can observe. One is titanium white, another one is lamp black. So the best part is that for the entire painting, you will need only two basic gouache colors, which is black and white. So you can also consider it as achromatic. In case you want to experiment with the color palette, it is absolutely fine. You are free to explore and experiment. You can observe the way we can mix both the colors to create a nice gray shade. Then comes the next art supply, which is a simple tissue paper. It is always good to keep a tissue paper nearby whenever you're working with any medium. It will help you to clean the brushes or dab it to remove excess amount of water from it. Then I have a simple sellotape that you can observe that we are going to use to add on the borders of the entire watercolor paper. Once we are done painting and we will remove the sellotape, it will give us a nice, beautiful white water. Also, it is one of the most satisfying part as well. Then comes the last art supply, which is a simple rounder that you can observe. So rounder basically helps us to get a perfect circular shape. It will be required in one of our class projects to create a circular shape. You can observe that it is having a pencil on one side and a needle on another side. It is also known as a compass. You can find it very easily in any nearby local art store. So we are done with all the art supplies. I hope that you got an exact idea of all the art supplies that you will need for this particular class. In case you are missing out on any particular art supply, you'll find it very easily in any nearby local art store. Now let us move towards the next part. 4. Lets Place the Paper: Hey, everybody. Now let us place the paper, which is basically preparing the paper before we start painting. So as you can observe that I have placed my watercolor paper on the desk surface, it is a simple rectangular sheet, and the size is a five. Now I'm going to use a simple sellotape that you can observe over here to place it on all the four sides. Now take a little piece of the sellotape according to the length and width of the paper. Now, we are going to place it on the bottom part. Now, make sure that you keep some part of the tape onto the watercolor paper and some part on the desk surface. Now, once you attach the sellotape to the paper in a parallel manner, just apply your finger, add some pressure, and stick it. Now, similarly, we'll be adding another piece of the sellotape on the topmost part. Make sure that you align the sellotape in a parallel manner with the paper edge. Keep a little bit of part on the desk surface as well and apply some pressure using your fingers. So now you can observe that we have placed two pieces of the sellotapes on the top and bottom part. Similarly, we are going to add another piece of sellotape on the right and left part. You can observe that I have taken a long piece of sellotape. Keep a little bit of part on the watercolor paper, align it with the paper edge, and apply some pressure using your finger. Now comes the last edge. You have to make sure that you apply the sellotape in a nice manner so that once you are done painting and you remove the sellotape, you get a beautiful parallel white border. So we are done adding the sellotape on all the four sides. I hope that you got an exact idea about how to do it. No need to worry at all. In case you do not have a sellotape, you can use a paper masking tape as well. So we are done preparing the watercolor paper onto the disk surface. Now let us move towards the next part. 5. Painting 1 - Abstract Landscape: Hey, every buddy. You're most welcome to the first class project, which I have named as abstract landscape. So you can observe that we are going to use two basic gouache colors, which is going to be black and white. I'll be using my flat brush of size three to mix the colors well in the color palette area. We are using a bigger size flat brush so that we can paint the entire surface a little bit faster. So now let us take the first color, which is going to be solid black. And then similarly, I'll be taking some solid white color in the color palette as well. So you can observe that we have two basic colors. You can use a spare flat brush to mix the colors as well. So you can observe that I'm adding a little bit of water to loosen the color up, and I'll be adding a little bit of solid white color in black to create a nice dark gray shade. Since we do not want a complete solid black background, we are just making it a little less saturated. In case you want to use a solid black background, it is completely fine. You can put up the shades on watercolor paper to get an exact idea about which shade works for you the best. When you start increasing the amount of solid white color, you'll get a nice gray shade on the color palette. You can observe that I'm creating a few more shades on the color palette. You can observe in the color palette area that I'm increasing the amount of white color, and this will help you to get a nice gray shade. Now, once we are done, creating a beautiful dark gray shade, I'll be using my flat brush of size three, take some good amount of color from the color palette, add a little bit of water, not in an excess amount, and try to get a nice consistency of water and color together. Now start applying the color from the topmost part. No need to hurry at all. You can observe the way I'm moving my flat brush in a horizontal direction. You just have to make sure that you do not leave any space between the sellotape and the watercolor paper because it will not look nice once we remove the sellotape. You can observe that I have almost covered half of the area. I'll take some more paint from the color palette. And slowly, I'll be moving towards the bottom area. You can still observe the horizontal movement of my brush. Now, no need to hurry while you're applying a background color because we want a nice even background. So make sure that you apply the color in a slow and steady manner. You can observe that having a bigger flat brush helps us to apply the paint in a faster manner. So you can observe that we are almost done painting the entire solid black background. Or you can also consider it as dark gray. I'm slowly covering the entire bottom part and just make sure that there is no space left between the sellotape and the watercolor paper. Now let the entire surface dry for a while. Once the entire surface is dry, we are ready to create a basic sketch on the bottom part. So I'll be using a simple white pen that you can observe, which will help us to get a nice solid white line. So we are going to create the outline using this pen, and you can observe that I have created a random mountain on the bottom part. Similarly, I'll be adding another mountain on the left hand side. Add a single line in between as well. Then we are going to complete the mountains by adding a last mountain on the right hand side as well. So you're free to compose the mountains according to your convenience. Now let us draw the sun, or you can also consider it as a moon using this simple rounder. You can observe that it is having a needle on one side and a pencil on another side. Just simply place the needle and try to create a simple circular shape. You can set the radius according to your convenience. I hope that a simple pencil circular shape is visible. I'll be using a simple metallic golden sketch pen to paint the entire sun. Now, in case you do not have a golden metallic sketchpen, you can use solid white color as well. It is absolutely fine. I'm using a golden color because it creates a beautiful contrast with the entire painting and the solid black background as well. So once I'm done with the outline, I'll be filling in this solid golden color in the inner portion. No need to hurry at all. Take your time and try to paint the entire surface slowly. You can already observe a beautiful contrast of the golden color with the black background. So I have almost covered the entire sun area. You can be a little bit careful near the outline so that you get a perfect circular shape. So I hope that you got an exact idea of how you have to create a sun in the sky area. Now let us start painting the mountains in the bottom area. This is going to be a very interesting part, and you'll definitely enjoy the entire process. So you can observe that I'm using my round brush of size zero. It is having a very thin tip that you can observe. Now using this particular round brush, we are going to paint the solid white line, which is basically the outline of the entire mountain first. So this particular solid white line is going to be a little bit thicker that you can observe. Supply a little bit of pressure when you are using a round brush of size zero. You can also use a round brush of size one as well. It is absolutely fine. You can observe that I have added a nice thick, solid white line to the mountain on the left hand side. Similarly, we are going to add this beautiful thick, solid white line to all the mountains that we have created. So I'm just following the white line that we have drawn using a white pen. You can observe the way I'm painting carefully and no need to hurry at all. Try to paint in a very slow and steady manner. So I hope that you got an exact idea of how we are going to add a nice solid thick white line to create the outline. Now, we are going to add thin white lines to add details to the entire mountains. So it's an abstract way of adding minute details. You can observe the way I'm using the tip of my round brush of size zero, and you can observe the way I'm adding a very less pressure on the brush. This will help you to get these little thin lines. No need to hurry at all. Take your time and try to paint in a very slow and steady manner. In case you find that your color is getting finished from the brush, you can take some more color from the color palette. And in case you find that your brush is moving a little bit rough on the surface of the paper, you can add a little bit of water in solid white color. You can observe that I have added minute details on one side of the mountain. Similarly, I'll be adding these little thin lines on the right hanside as well. You can observe how beautiful the entire mountain looks once we add these beautiful, solid white lines. Now, similarly, I'll be adding these little white lines on the remaining mountains as well. You can observe the details carefully and the movement of my brush. Again, let me tell you the same thing. No need to hurry at all. Take your time, try to paint in a very slow and steady manner. Enjoy the entire process. You'll definitely feel it like a therapy. And in case you find that your color is getting finished from the brush, feel free to take some more color from the color palette. And in order to loosen the color up, you can add a little bit of water in it. You can observe that we have completed the second mountain on the right hand side as well. Now comes the last mountain, and you can observe that I'm adding a little bit of variation in these little solid white lines. Now, in case you want to experiment with the entire scenery and create your own composition of the mountains, it is absolutely fine. You're free to explore and experiment. So we are almost done adding minute details to the entire mountain. We are left with the right hand side surface. So let us start with that as well. You can add these little lines which are not completed, and you can leave them in between as well. Now slowly, I'll be completing the right inside surface. You can observe it carefully. In case you find that your color is getting finished from the brush, feel free to take some more color from the color palette. No need to hurry at all. Try to paint in a very slow and steady manner. And the nice painting tip is that whenever you want to get a nice thin line, try to apply very less pressure on your brush and make sure that you keep your hand very much loose and free. Now, I'll be completing the upper surface as well. I'm following the main solid thick white line and moving slowly towards the bottom part. You can keep a little bit of distance in between two lines. You can also attach them in case you want to. So we are almost done adding these beautiful solid white lines, and you can observe how beautiful the entire composition looks. So it's a combination of three beautiful mountains, having a nice line artwork, a beautiful golden sun. And then we are going to add few birds in this eye area. Now, let us remove the sellotape. It is going to be a very satisfying process. Just make sure that you remove the tape in a very slow and steady manner and in an angle. So you can observe that we get a beautiful solid white border once we remove the sellotape and how beautiful the entire painting looks. Now comes the last element where we are going to add these little birds in the sky area, which enhances the entire painting. So I'll be using some solid white color, and I'm going to use my round brush of size zero only. It is going to be a very easy painting technique. You just have to create a little V shape in the sky area. So try to use the tip of your round brush, apply very less pressure on it, and simply leave the stroke. You can observe how beautiful it turns these little strokes into a nice bird element. So I'm painting it randomly. You're free to compose according to your convenience. You can observe the way I'm leaving these little strokes to form these little birds. In case you want to practice it on a rough scrape of paper initially and then come towards your final painting, it is absolutely fine. This will help you to develop confidence while painting, and the chances of making mistakes will be very less. So I have created a cluster of birds on the right hand side. Similarly, I'll be adding a nice cluster of birds on the left hand side as well. You can have a variation in the size. It is absolutely fine. Let us add one more on the left hand side. You can observe how beautifully we have created a composition of birds near the sun. We are done with the entire painting. Let me take you a little bit closer so that you can observe all the details carefully. You can observe the way we have combined these minimal elements together to form a beautiful line artwork painting using the medium of gouache. I hope that you enjoyed the entire process of creating this particular painting and got to learn something new. You're free to explore and experiment with the entire scenery and the color palette as well. Now let us move towards the next class project. I 6. Painting 2 - Abstract Florals: Hey, everybody. You're most welcome to the second class project, which I have named as abstract florals. So I'm ready with my watercolor paper with the elutape on the borders. We are going to use our same flat brush of size three, and I'll be taking some good amount of solid dark gray color from the color palette. As you can observe, you can also consider it as solid black. I'm starting from the topmost portion. You can observe the way I'm moving my flat brush. It's a simple horizontal movement. Make sure that you do not leave any space between the sellotape and the watercolor paper. You can observe that I'm trying to apply a nice even coat of this beautiful solid black color. No need to hurry at all, take your time and slowly apply the color on the entire surface. In case you find that your color is getting finished from the brush, feel free to take some more color. The best part about gouache is that it gives you a beautiful matte finish when it dries. So you can observe that we are left with the bottom part. So slowly, I'll be applying the color in that particular area as well. Just make sure that there is no part left on the entire watercolor paper. Now, let it dry for a while. Once the watercolor paper is dry with the base coat, you're going to use a simple white pen to create a basic sketch. The reason behind using a white pen is that the pencil line won't be that much visible, but in case you're not having a white pen, you can use a white pencil, or it is also good if you use a pencil, but you have to be a little bit careful because it won't be that much visible. So you can observe that I have created these beautiful random florals. It is not at all compulsory for you to draw it in the exact same way. You are free to compose according to your convenience, and in case you want to follow the way I am drawing, that is also absolutely fine. So I'm just trying to create these beautiful petals around, and it's a completely abstract form of painting, so no need to worry about perfection. So as you can observe that we have created these beautiful petals on the right hand side. Similarly, I'll be adding a huge petal on the left hand side as well. You can observe the way I have randomly added these strokes. So now we are almost done creating a basic sketch. These white lines will help us to paint carefully. So I'll be adding a little petal on the left hand side as well. You can observe, it's a very random way of drawing, so you can do it according to your convenience, absolutely fine. So now we are done drawing using a white pen. We'll be using solid white color and have variation in the thickness of the lines. But let us add some nice golden color in certain areas. So I'll be using my golden sketch pen, and I'll just add the nice solid golden color in this particular area to enhance the entire painting. In case you do not have a solid golden sketch pen, what you can do is you can use a solid white color as well. So you can observe how beautiful this golden color is looking. It creates a nice contrast with the white lines and the solid black background as well. Now it's time to add beautiful lines to the entire painting. For that, we are going to use solid white color. And since there is a variation in the thickness of the line, that's why we are going to use different size brushes. But before that, in case you want to add few more lines using your white pen, you can do that. This always happens with me. I always find that there can be few more elements that we can add to the entire painting. So we are done with the basic sketch and the golden color. I'll be using my round brush of size one. And let us start by creating thick white lines that are needed in the entire painting. No need to worry at all. You just have to use your round brush of size one. Take some good amount of solid white gouache color from the color palette, try to create a nice combination of water and color together. Make sure that you have a nice thick consistency. Try to have less amount of water and more color, and use the tip of your round brush to paint this line that I'm painting right now. So there are only going to be few thick lines. We are not going to give the outline to the entire painting with solid line, basically. You can observe the way I'm using the tip of my round brush. Whenever you are trying to paint in a detailed manner where there are thin lines required, always make sure that you use the tip of your brush. Try to hold it in a very loose and free manner. No need to make your hand very much stiff. Also, it is always great in case you're not that much confident enough to paint directly on your final painting. What you can do is that you can practice on a rough scrape of paper initially, and then you can come towards your final painting. This will help you a lot to develop confidence while painting, and the chances of making mistakes will be very less. Now, I'll be adding the solid thick line in the petals as well. You can observe the way I'm adding a nice solid thick, white line using my brush. And in case you find that your color is getting finished from the brush, you can take some more color from the color palette. Also in case you find that your brush is moving a little bit rough on the paper surface, you can add a little bit of water in the color and loosen it up. You can observe how beautiful the solid white color creates a nice contrast with the entire background. I'll be using my round brush of size zero to get some nice thin lines, and we are going to enhance the entire painting. You can observe the way I'm moving my round brush of size zero. It gives us a beautiful thin white line. Whenever you're applying a nice, solid, thin white line, again, you have to be careful that you have to keep your brush very much loose and free in order to get a nice, seamless line. We are just following the white pen line, and we are just making it a little bit more attractive and in contrast with the background. So once we apply these beautiful outline, we are going to give some internal lines as well, which will enhance the entire petal even more. You can observe the way I have added two little strokes in between. Similarly, we'll be adding few more strokes. Now, while you are adding these strokes, you have to be very precise and paint in a very slow and steady manner. Similarly, let us add these details in the above part as well. And trust me, you are going to find this very therapeutic. You'll definitely enjoy the entire process. Now, one thing that I can tell you is that while you'll be giving these beautiful little thin lines to the entire painting, you might feel that it is difficult, but trust me, it is going to be very easy in case you're not that much confident enough to apply these strokes directly towards your final painting. What you can do is you can take a rough scrape of paper, create a nice black background, practice some strokes on that first, and then you can come towards your final painting. This will help you to develop confidence while painting, and the chances of making mistakes will be very less. In fact, you can also practice thick and thin lines by just having a difference in the pressure. Whenever you want to have a nice thin line, try to apply very less pressure on your brush and use the tip of your round brush. And in case you want to make your line a little bit thicker, you can apply a little bit of pressure. So you can observe how beautiful the entire combination of these beautiful thick and thin lines together looks. It is not at all compulsory for you to create the entire painting in the exact same way. You're free to explore and experiment with the entire painting. It is absolutely fine. In fact, you can compose it according to your convenience. In case you want to experiment with the color palette, that is also absolutely fine. Now, in case you find that your color is getting finished from the brush, you can take some more color from the color palette, and in case you find that your brush is moving a little bit rough on the entire surface, you can add a little bit of water in it. So similarly, we are going to add these little thin lines in certain areas of the petal. You can observe them carefully and try to follow these steps slowly and in a steady manner. You can observe that we are done adding these beautiful thin lines. You can create some variation if you want to. Now, once we are done adding these beautiful little thin white lines in the entire petals, what we are going to do is that we are going to add few more random strokes around that you can add according to your convenience, as well. It is absolutely fine. Now what you can do is that you can observe the entire painting carefully. In case you find that there are any strokes that are a little bit rough and not that much smooth, you can use your round brush of size zero again. Take some more solid white color in your brush and you can finish that particular stroke carefully. I'll be adding a golden patch in this particular petal as well to make the composition look a little bit more aesthetic. In case you find that your golden color is a little bit on the white outline, you can take some more white color and finish that particular area. Now, I'll be adding a little bit of detail in the petals. But before that, let us remove the sellotape. We are almost done with the entire painting. Be a little bit careful while you remove the sellotape. Try to remove it in an angle so that you do not end up tearing your watercolor paper. You can observe a beautiful solid white border that we have got once we remove the sellotape. And it is also very satisfying as well. You can observe the entire painting carefully. There is a little bit of element that we can add in the petals. So what I'm going to do is that I'm going to take a little bit of solid white color in my round brush. But before that, let us observe the painting carefully. It's a nice combination of all the petals together. And that's why I named it as abstract florals. So now what I'm going to do is that I'm going to add a little element in the petals where we have added this beautiful golden patch. So I'll be taking my round brush of size zero again. I'll take some solid white color in it, and we are going to add this little stroke in all the three petals. You can observe how beautiful the entire contrast becomes between the solid golden color and the white color. No need to hurry at all. Take your time, try to make the tip a little bit thicker and then followed by a little thin stroke. So we are done with the entire painting. I hope that you enjoyed creating this particular painting as well. You can observe the way we have combined these little solid thick and thin lines together to form a nice abstract floral painting. You're free to compose and experiment with the entire painting. It is absolutely fine. You can experiment with the color palette, as well. No need to worry about the output, enjoy the process of creating. Now let us move towards the class conclusion. 7. Class Conclusion: Hey, everybody. You're most welcome to the class conclusion. I hope that you enjoyed the entire class and got to learn something new and creative. Wash is a really nice medium to explore and you'll definitely enjoy the entire process. While I was creating this particular class, I made a lot of mistakes, and that is something that I always tell my students never to be afraid of making mistakes. It's part of the learning process. It would be really great if you add your projects into the project gallery. I would be really excited to see all of your class projects. It would be really great if you leave a review for the entire class, as it encourages me a lot and my class can reach many more students like you. At the end, I would like to say, keep learning, keep practicing. Thank you so much for joining the class and no need to worry about the output. Just enjoy the process of creating.