Gouache Technique Play

I've been watching some YouTube videos from a man named Jeff Watts who has an atelier that I'd love to attend. However, it's in California and it's pretty darn pricey! But that's beside the point as I'm learning quite a bit from just what he posts online.

One thing is that he says that painting in gouache can help improve your oil paintings. One of the techniques he suggests is to "tile" your painting then blend later if you feel you need to. Tiling is simply painting blocks of colors and it looks like a pixelated photo or something before blending. Gouache is unique in that you can paint these color blocks and blend at any time even after the paint dries so it makes a perfect medium for studies for oil paintings.

I was sort of intrigued and I painted the following in that style for an exchange in another forum. I know it's not perfect but it was very helpful to look for all the various color changes then blend to make a cohesive painting.

OK, let me see if I can post the painting! See next post

Very interesting concept. It looks like it worked well for you. I love the gentleness of the woman's face. You captured just enough smile to portray inner peace.

I have purchased a Jeff Watts Video on portraits. It is a little pricey and the Video was OK.

You did a good job with the portrait. I am quite intrigued with this technique, maybe I may dabble in this too. I will have to invest in some Gouache then.

Thanks to both of you. Since this is a new technique to me (along with portraits in general!), I know there's lots of room for improvement so I thank you for your encouragement.

Faisal, you can do the same with oil paints but the decision to blend or not has to be made sooner than with gouache. The real perk with gouache is that they dry like acrylics but can be moistened and changed or even removed in some cases even after they've dried. That gives you the ability to work out what you want in your oil painting before you paint.

If you do go with gouache, it's way cheaper to go with a limited palette and I recommend either Schminke Horadam or M. Graham gouache as the others either re-wet too readily making it harder to blend or just aren't as pigment-rich as those two. Both are pretty expensive for such small tubes but I think more economical in the long run. Cheap synthetic brushes work best as the gouache destroys them fairly quickly.

Thanks for the info Jan.