So, here’s what I’m working on right now. Some studies of different fruit in gouache.

I’m furthering my skills in gouache, building off the idea I wrote about in my other post. I’m still painting in thin watercolor-like layers, exploring how to integrate the color white (and other light colors) into this method. I’m not leaving the light areas blank like you would in watercolors.

The best way to do this is to begin with thin layers just like watercolor. You place the darks and the lights where they need to go, and nary the two shall meet.

It is possible to paint over things in gouache, but you have to go thicker and thicker to do so. And you tend to reactivate the paint once you go too thick.

I prefer to keep my paints as thin as possible for as long as possible in gouache, saving the thickest applications for last. This allows me to keep the most control over the paint as I build it up.