20/04/22

As I have been reading about Alexandra David-Neel, I have been creating paintings of her using gouache. This was my first time using gouache and I found it really easy to use as gouache is workable and reworkable, unlike any other paint I’ve used. Because it is water-soluble, I was able to use a wet brush to go back and soften edges or lift colour even after the paint dries. Although I think that creating a seamless surface texture is something I need to work on, as I was applying the paint too thickly in some areas. I also really like the opacity of gouache, as it made it very easy to cover up any pencil marks as well as work on top of mistakes. I found it very easy to create vibrant paintings with fluorescent and natural tones which have a saturated, bold look. I think this makes my pieces look more professional because it looks inherently confident due to its lack of transparency. I think gouache would work really well on coloured backgrounds and other media, which is something I’d like to experiment with further on in the project.

In some of the paintings I layered the gouache with posca pens, I think this worked really well as gouache dries to a matte surface which provides a wonderful ground for dry media, I would like to experiment with this layering more in the project. Gouache is a media which I will definitely incorporate into my final product.