Friday, February 12, 2010

trying not to waste paint


The big question... acrylic or gouache

One of my favorite parts of reading to my kids at night is looking at the beginning to see how the artist created the pictures. The ones I am drawn to and I feel are similar to my style are usually acrylic and sometimes gouache. I think the end result of my gouache painting can look like acrylic. At my studio the other night I was painting with acrylic and wanted to use up the leftover paint and did this quick pic of a little figurine from my shelf.

2 comments:

  1. "Acrylic or gouache?" was my question, too. I chose gouache (for illustration) because it's less cumbersome (e.g. no need to prep the support, no mediums needed, no worries about paint drying on the brush)and because it reproduces so well with beautiful, brilliant colors. However acrylic has it's own advantages, too. For one, the finished painting is impervious where a gouache painting can be destroyed if liquid drops on it. You can do a lot of interesting things with acrylic that you can't do (I don't think) with gouache such as create surface textures, translucent washes, transfers, etc. The medium is versatile for sure. It's likely that you already know all of this and can add some of your own, Jen, but maybe thinking about the advantages and disadvantages helped me come to a decision. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didn't mean to say "maybe" in that second to last sentence. I was going to type a different sentence ("maybe it will help you decide") Thinking about the advantages for each medium and the idea of deadlines DID help me decide.

    ReplyDelete