The last couple of years I have been on a course of exploration as a means of giving less information and more impact in my paintings. I look at abstract art and I think, “how do they do that?”. I don’t necessarily want to be an abstract painter by definition, but I wonder, “How do they make up all that cool stuff?” How do I/we do this? Well, the first step is getting out of the comfort zone and trying new things.
If you know my work or have taken a workshop from me, you know I always try to use bigger brushes than I’m comfortable with, try new mediums such as Gouache and Acrylics, and just try to think outside the box and not stick to a formula. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly think having a specific method to practice and sticking to it for a time is extremely beneficial (which I’ve done), but once you do that, what’s next? One of the best ways I found to get even looser in my oil paintings is to play with Gouache. I emphasize the word “play”.
In the painting above, I started by just staining kept adding wet stains in shape form…no lines, no drawing. Not a lot of planning (which I am big on but sometimes ya gotta just go for it). It was a little scary because I might have gotten the placement wrong, but the great thing about Gouache is that you can just go right over it because it dries so fast! I love Gouache for that reason and also its staining ability, but also because I feel like I’m in kindergarten when I’m painting with it! I have a separate desk in my studio, away from my big, intimidating easel. When I sit down to paint, I try to explore without worrying about the outcome. Stains, blooms, dry brush, wet-in-wet…so many possibilities. I make these sessions quick, without trying to perfect the painting. I just get color notes as if I were outside painting plein air. This helps keep me loose and I come up with strokes and colors that I probably wouldn’t have come up with if I was just painting with oils. Then, that free-painted fun li’l color study becomes sole reference for a larger acrylic or oil painting. I’ve been working this way for a while, and it’s really paying off.
Each and every time I do a Gouache painting, I learn something new about the medium. I also always feel something different. Liberating!
I’ll be showing this painting in demo form this March in an upcoming 4-part demo series with water media specialist, Trey Finney (he’s also my fiancee as of this writing. :-)). I’ll also use the Gouache as sole reference for a larger painting in a second demo. In the 4-total demos, Trey and I share our passion for Gouache, Acrylics, and Water Soluble Oils. Solvent free painting is quite liberating, especially if you travel or paint outside. We’ll show you the flexibility and versatility of using any or all of these three mediums in your painting practice, how they can enhance your creativity and “playtime” in and out of the studio, and how they can inform all genres of painting.
Click here for more info! https://anneblairbrown.com/workshops-and-mentoring/category/color-amp-light-gpg3m-hj7r5