Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi guys and welcome to my class. My name is Diana and I
usually teach watercolor, but today I decided to
bring something different. We are going to
paint with gouache. Gouache easily
water-soluble medium, similar to traditional
transparent watercolor. Painting with it is more
similar to a big media like acrylics or oils because gouache is as well
an opaque medium. If you have never
tried graduate, I hope this class
will help you to decide whether this
medium is for you. We're going to talk about specifics of painting
with gouache, especially in comparison to
traditional watercolors. As an outcome, we
are going to paint a small illustration,
something like this. These are the snowdrop flowers, which are the first
flowers to appear in your garden once the winter
is coming to an end. This class is beginner's
friendly, so don't worry, as long as you have
a basic set of gouache paints and some brushes. Or maybe you just wanted
to see if gouache is something you will
be interested in before you purchase your
own set of gouache. This class is for you
and you are good to go. Let's start.
2. Materials: Let's talk about the
materials we need today. First, of course, I have
here some gouache paints. These are quite affordable
paints by a brand called real talents
or just talents. It says here that it is a designers gouache,
extra fine quality. I have purchased it as
a set of ten tubes. Each tube is 20 milliliters and it costs me like 40 urine. So it's not cheap,
but still more affordable than other
brands like Winsor, Newton or Schmidt NCAA, which is probably
the best you can get and also the most expensive. The quality of these
talents paint is decent. So if you are thinking
about buying a set of gouache paints just to see
if this medium is for you. I recommend this brand. Also the paints
mix well together. So having ten
colors is all unit. Regarding paper, you
can use any paper that is thick enough
to handle a wet media. I tried watercolor
paper and it was fine, especially if the
paper is hot press and does not have
very rough texture. I like smooth surface
better when painting with gouache or you can
try something like this. This is a nasa
mixed media paper, 300 GSM with very
smooth surface. I bought this paper pad, especially for gouache
and it works well. But there is a countless number of other brands out there you can buy mixed media paper
from, so it's your call. Next very important thing
is a mixing palette. If you don't have any, just
use a regular white plate. You can watch it later. Depends. Will easily get off the
surface using just water. But you definitely need
something to mix your paints on. Of course I have
here some brushes. You don't really need any
special brushes for gouache, you can use your
watercolor brushes. These brushes are
actually really low cost. I bought them in a
flying tiger a long time ago and they cost
me like four years. And I realized only recently that they are
perfect for gouache because they are firm enough to work even with some
thicker paint. Basically, I have three
different sizes of brushes here. They don't have numbers on them, but it could be like size 1284. One more thin brush for details. This is size to gouache
is opaque watercolor. We would obviously need water. I have two jobs here, one for cleaning my brush, so the water will
become dirty very soon. One to water down my paints. This one I want to keep cleaner not to accidentally
pollute my colors, especially when working
with light tones. Some paper towel
to clean my brush and to get rid of
excess water in it. I like to fix my
paper to a piece of cardboard with
a masking tape to hold it in place and create a nice neat white
frame for my artwork. This is of course up to you. You can definitely
paint directly into your sketchbook without
any masking tape. But they're like
doing it this way. That's all we need today. Let's talk about the gouache.
3. What Is Gouache: Gouache is basically
an opaque watercolor. It is sometimes called a tempera paint or poster paint because it is often used by designers to create posters and
similar artworks. The washes of gouache
compared to watercolor, I'm not consistent and flat, especially when mixed with
NF water and have a mad and sometimes a bit chalky
finish for someone who is used to watercolor and switching to gouache
can be a big step, or at least I'm speaking
from my own experience. So at first I started adding some gouache details
and the small areas into my otherwise
watercolor paintings and illustrations just to
get the feel of it. And then the more
gouache I was using, the more I liked it. The biggest difference
between gouache and watercolor is it's opacity. While watercolor is very
transparent, gouache, especially when mixed with a small amount of water,
is pretty opaque, then it gives you
more freedom and it is easier to correct
your mistakes because you can just
put another layer of color on top of
the previous one. You are not happy about. Also adding highlights on top of a dark object is just as easy. The white would
stand out perfectly, especially if you make
it a double layer. Whilst in watercolor, you
build up your painting from the lightest colors
to the darkest in gouache, you can go either way, but he usually just as with
any other opaque medium, the artists would go
from dark to light. Let's thrives together.
4. Painting With Gouache: Gouache usually comes in tubes. The paints are highly pigmented and provide
good coverage. I have a simple
plastic mixing palette I use exclusively for gouache. That gives me enough space to play around with color tones. When painting would any
media I try not to waste. When I'm using paints in tubes, I push out only as
much as I would need. Just like with watercolor, you need some water to spread
the paint across the paper. It's still happens that
some Payne's remain on the palette after
unfinished painting. You actually can revive your dry gouache and
paint with it again. But it depends on
what do you want to achieve gouache
that has already dried out on your
palette would not provide you the creamy texture. The fresh one would. Also, you need to mix it with additional
water to bring it back to life so the paints lose great deal
of their opacity. What I do is that I use
this drug remaining from previous painting sessions for the background or
foundation layers, which do not need to be
too thick or too mix them with fresh white gouache when I need some light pastel tones. But still I recommend you to add some more fresh gouache to
your palate when needed. Rather than just push
out a big amount at the beginning and
then let it dry out. Let's try to make some
interesting colors. As I mentioned, I do not have a very big set
of gouache paints. This is all I have and
it's pretty much enough. The color mixing here works
just with any other colors. You can use a color
wheel if you are not sure how to mix
a particular color. For example, for
today's paintings, I'm going to need several tones of blue, green, and turquoise. I chose ultramarine deep, and the viridian colors. These two colors
together with white, we'll provide everything I need to make as the scholars for all these bluish greenish tones you see in these paintings. It is also possible to mix
squash, we develop color. I tried it several times, usually when I need more of a pastel colors for my
watercolor painting, I tend to mix irregular
watercolor with white gouache. It is actually the most used
color in gouache paintings, at least in my style. I tend to mix a bit of white
to almost everything because I quite like the
soft pastel tones that are created that way. And also at least
to my experience, having Dwight in
your gouache car makes makes the mix
even more opaque. Another thing I noticed
is that the colors look different if you put them
directly on the white paper, especially if the paper is
brilliant white like this one. In comparison to how they look, if there is a layer
of foundation color, I use yellow ocher for days. You can see that the
colors appear deeper when there is not the bright
paper shining through. Or at least I hope
you can see it in the video the way I see now. But enough talking,
the best way to learn something is to try
it by yourself. So let's paint some gentle, lovely snow drops together.
5. Gouache Snowdrops - Part 1: For the class project, we are going to paint some snow drop flowers
using gouache. I have my mixed
media paper here. I cut it in a square shape. This is 15 by 15 centimeters. Now I want to first turn it to my heart board with
a masking tape, which will hold my paper in
place and it will give me an elegant the white frame
whilst the tape is removed. As I mentioned,
when working with a bright white paper
like this one, I like to apply a
foundation layer of a light color to mute down
the brightness a little bit. I'm using my dry
deal ocher gouache. I will revive it
using a lot of water, so the color will
be quite light. Now I need to wait until
the foundation dries. And in the meantime, let's talk about the snow drops. Here are some snow drops
to there right now blooming in the garden of
my boyfriend's parents. You can see that they are bent and the flower
is facing downwards. The easiest way to draw the snowdrop is when
it is still closed. Then the flower is just
a simple oval shape. When it's open, I drove three petals and the
stem and inside. The shape of leaves is
very simple as well. They are long and narrow. Regarding the painting itself. To give it a bit of a dynamic, I wanted to create
the illusion that we are looking at the
flowers from adapt. The leaves and
stems are appearing to be wider spread on the top, and then they are meeting
in one spot in the bottom. I will follow this idea and this helping lines also in
painting the background. Now I followed the helping lines also enjoying the flowers. This is to show you how we will proceed Once we will
paint with gouache. Now as my paper is dry, Let's redraw some snow drops
are also my helping lines. I draw some snowdrop
stems following the idea of flower
spreading to the sides. Now I add the blossom. Most of them will be closed, but two or three outro open. This is just a row. You can add more flowers
later if you want to. Now let's add some leaves
even though they will get completely covered once the background colors
will be applied. Our drawing is done. Let's paint the background. I'm adding a bit of yellow
ocher to my palette. I will need it later. Now as we look at the painting
that we want to recreate, you can see that the top of
the background is mostly blue and it's not just
pure flat wash of color, but more like many
smaller color areas creating the sky, Let's say. I'm doing is that I'm
mixed myself some nice light blue using
ultramarine and white. I make this short
simple brushstrokes, again following the direction
of the helping lines. I switch between colors. I add more white than more blue. Then mix a bit of viridian to the Bluemix to create a lovely pastel
through Cornerstone. Just don't go to dad
but generous with the white in your color mixes. See how I build the background. I use small amount of water. I want my colors to
be really opaque. Now let's add a bit
of yellow ocher. It may seem a bit unexpected, but it will give some nice contrast and
additional texture. Don't worry in case
you are not satisfied, you can always cover it with
another layer of paint. That's the beauty
of opaque media. The ground, I want
some burnt sienna. It's going to be just an accent. I'm not going to
use a fresh paint. I have some dry
burnt sienna here, so I'm just going to bring it back to life with some water. And again, I'm
painting small areas pointing from the center
of the paper to the sides. Now I can move back
to the background. I am still switching between
blue and green tones, mix them together, adding
more white or less. Why? There is no rule to this. Now, I'm coming to
the snowdrop flowers. I want to avoid
them when applying the background colors just because I wanted to know
where they should be. And if I paint over them, I would lose the sketch. I paint around the flowers. Then I cover all
the small places where there is still
the foundation color shining through
until all the paper except the flowers is covered. Actually, I do not want my
ground to be this brown, so I apply some yellow ocher, blue and very DN here and there. When the background is done, we can move to the flowers.
6. Gouache Snowdrops - Part 2: Moving to the flowers, the first thing I do is
painting the leaves, then I painted the blossom, and finally the stamps. I need to add some more
white to my mixing palette. I will need it because I want my leaves to be
basale to a course. I am mixing
ultramarine, viridian, and whites together to
get this nice color. The leaves will swell full of the sketch we created
at the beginning. I take my turquoise color and
paint a long narrow leaves. The leaves will actually
bring some order and peace to the painting because right
now it seems a bit busy. Try to mix the color
for your leaves the way that they are distinct
from the background. Use more wide two or more blue depending on the
background you create it. I am still avoiding the
flowers as I paint the leaves. You can paint some
more leaves, overdose. You already have to make her
a bunch of snow drops rich. Once you are happy
with your leaves, get yourself a fresh, clean white paint and using smaller brush veins,
the small ovals, which will be our snow drops, do not do so much, Walter, you want your paints
to be really opaque. If you still feel the
coverage is not sufficient. White paint is a
bit see-through. Don't worry, you can always apply one more layer of paint. And that will
improve the opacity. I flip my paper upside down so that I would not
accidentally smudge the paint that is still wet as I moved to the other
side of the paper. Now all my flowers
are painted white, but I feel like something is
missing here in the middle. Let's add one more small drop. I am adding one more layer of white to make the
flowers really pop. Now it's time to
draw some stems. I have my tiny brush here, it will be perfect for them. I am mixing some turquoise color and I'm starting with painting this tiny cap that is at the top of the flower
connecting it to the stem. Similar like when we were
painting the leaves, mixed yourself such color that will not get
invisible ones applied. Maybe somewhere you
need to add more white somewhere you
need to go darker. Now let's add some stems. Some of them are hidden behind the leaves, are overlapping. You can add some more
leaves, more details. And we are close to finish. Now you can see that the open flowers green stem and show in
between the petals. Using my tiny brush, I copied the shape of the
petals and paint the stem. The original painting
there is a lot of white and light details. Some highlights on
the leaves and stems. I, us to do the same here, make our flowers stand out more. There are also some small
white areas in the background. Like there is maybe ado
shining in the sun. The last thing I'm
going to do is to add a bit of shading
to the open flowers. The petal that we receive from the inside basically
gets the least light. With my small brush. I add a bit of a light green
mix and create a shade. That's it. Let's
remove the tape. I think the painting
turned out perfectly. Let me see how it
went for you guys. Upload your projects and
share your thoughts.
7. Thanks For Joining!: Thank you guys for being
here with me today. I had a lot of fun painting
these little snow drops. Please share your thoughts. Share feedback. Took out all my
other classes here on Skillshare and
see you next time.
Jana Raninis, watercolorist
