Artwork-Holbein and Winsor & Newton Gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper. Reference photo courtesy of Efraimstochter on Pixabay.
Did you know that the juvenile Emperor Angelfish looks so different from the adult that they were believed to be a different species up until 1993?
Tools:
Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper.
Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache:
Holbein Designers Gouache:
Artwork-Holbein and Winsor & Newton Gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper. Brushes: Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4 and Princeton Heritage Synthetic Sable 4050 Round 8
There was a reference photo from Auciferz that I had thought about using for either the Doodlewash sunflower or orchid prompt, but it didn’t seem quite right. Still I wanted to paint it.
The sunflower that I did paint for the prompt was an experiment using gouache on gouache. I learned what I wanted, but wasn’t totally satisfied with the finished piece.
So when I painted this I tried to think what was missing from the other flower and decided it was purples and blues. So I purpled and blued it!
What do you think?
Tools:
Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper
Wet Paint Custom Holbein Artist Gouache Set
Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache Brilliant Violet
Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4
Artwork-Holbein and Winsor & Newton Gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper. Brushes: Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4 and Princeton Heritage Synthetic Sable 4050 Round 8. Reference Photo courtesy of Pexels on Pixabay.
Bright lights dancing to the music of the rain. To splashing feet, syncopated beat, raindrops twirling, puddles swirling, serenity in energy.
Doodlewash prompt: Rain & Reflections
Tools:
Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper
Wet Paint Custom Holbein Artist Gouache Set
Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache
Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4
Artwork-Holbein Artist’s Gouache and Acryla gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper.
There are two kinds of gouache – watercolor and acrylic. One of the nice things about acrylic gouache is that it has a matte surface and you can use watercolor over it. Of course, transparent colors won’t show up very well, so you need to use either gouache of the watercolor kind or very opaque watercolors.
I was experimenting with switching that around – using the acrylic kind over the watercolor kind. I’ve found when painting on black paper that I often forget to leave enough black showing. It’s the same principle as remembering to leave the white of the paper.
I decided to try adding acrylic black to bring more of the black back, jack (sorry! I couldn’t resist the rhyme).
Anyway, I used a really cheap brush when applying my acrylic lines and couldn’t make them thin enough. So I applied some of the watercolor gouache and then some of the acrylic and … well – it was gouache on gouache.
Turns out that it works pretty well.
The difference between Gouache and Acryl or Acryla Gouache was discussed in my post Gouache VS Acrylic Gouache.
Tools:
Artwork-Holbein and Winsor & Newton Gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper. Brushes: Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4 and Princeton Heritage Synthetic Sable 4050 Round 8
Did you know that the world’s smallest known orchid is only about 1/8 inch across while the largest species can be over 10 feet tall?
I have to admit Orchids are not my favorite flower, either in real life or for painting. Not sure why, but they just don’t stir my creative side. But, truthfully, that’s a good reason to paint one, once in a while. It pulls more from my analytic side and it’s a good idea to get both sides communicating!
Doodlewash prompt ‘Orchid’.
Tools:
Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper.
Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache:
Holbein Designers Gouache:
Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4
Artwork-Holbein Gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper. Brushes: Jack Richeson Richeson Grey Matters Synthetic Watercolor Flat 1/4
Today, my hubby took a Leafy Sea Dragon in his lunchbag. Did you know that the Sea Dragon is not a sea horse, though they are related to them? Their leafy protrusions are such a good camouflage that they have no known predators.
Doodlewash prompt ‘Seahorse’.
Even when I’m not feeling artsy, I try to do something artsy every day. I usually go abstract on those days – can you tell this was one of them?
Artwork-Holbein Gouache on a Stonehenge Aqua ColdPress Black watercolor paper. Brushes: Princeton Neptune Travel Brush, Series 4750, Round, Size 8
Today, my hubby took an opal dinosaur in his lunchbag.
Doodlewash prompt ‘Rainbow’. An opal has a rainbow of colors so I’m claiming this for the prompt!
With Australia in the news, all sorts of odd trivia is popping up. I discovered that fossilization and opalization occur under similar circumstances, and that in some areas (such as Lightning Ridge, Australia) fossils are found that are partially opalized. Including dinosaur fossils!
The opalization tends to occur in gaps where the fossilization misses, so you won’t find whole dinosaurs (or shells or wood, etc) that are totally opalized, especially not to the extent that I’ve painted mine. But once I discovered that this happens, I had to paint a fully opalized dinosaur skull – that’s where imagination exceeds reality!
Sad to think that many of these fossils may be destroyed in the fires – another tragedy among tragedies.
