Sketchcrawl April 22, 2017 - St Timothy Catholic Church, The Villages

We had yet another beautiful day meeting up in The Villages to sketch.

There were five of us this time......two gentlemen I had not met before.  One is a professional illustrator and talk about gorgeous work!!!  I'd like to be like him when I grow up.........lol.

There was Al, Mike, Gail, Sheridan, and myself.  Gail set up in front of the Church sitting on the grounds.  I was not too far but set up in the parking lot right beside my car.  Al was across the parking lot behind me while the other two gentlemen were over towards the front side of the Church set up next to their golf carts.

For those who are unaware.........The Villages is a very large retirement community where many get around in golf carts rather than regular vehicles.  They share the road ways with regular traffic but have their own designated lanes.  It's an experience for anyone who's not been there before.

Due to the fact I sketched the building my first trip there, I decided to capture the statue outside the front doors.

Hand sewn #2 journal with Fabriano Artistico 140lb watercolor paper, and Micron 005.  Watercolor but also used a little gouache (flowers).  Got the idea from the illustrator who works with both watercolor and gouache.

Mushrooms

This is using The Langton spiral 140lb cold press I absolutely love for painting cameos.

On the left is color play using gouache pigments and bottom right is using watercolors. 

In this situation it would be like comparing apples to oranges because my goals for each were different. 

The gouache cameo was strictly color play wet in wet with various colors filling in the mushrooms.  The watercolor cameo is where I was using transparent pigments trying to form my subject maintaining the whites. 

For a true comparison, I would think I'd have to use opaque watercolors with the goal of color play as I did with the gouache.

Walking the Beach in Gouache

Walking the Beach in Gouache, a photo by sbwatercolors on Flickr.

Additional play with gouache as I learn how the pigment behaves on paper and mixing together wet in wet. Definitely different than watercolor in the way it moves. I find I'm having to nudge the pigment as it wants to settle rather than spread.

Done in my Hand-book sketch book. Will have to test on regular watercolor paper to see the difference.

Hummingbird in Gouache

First off, I want to again mention Sandy at Sketching Everyday.com.  I've silently followed her for the last couple of years as I love her watercolor sketching technique........favorite subject being the hummingbird.  Sandy has painted several hummingbirds all of which I absolutely love.  Especially those she renders in flight.

One in particular really captured my heart and I've practiced painting this pose a couple of times.  Her painting is stunning with the lost and found areas that makes it magically blend in with its surrounding background area.  The placement of darks and lights is what makes this super appealing to my eyes.  

Take notice to how she rendered the wings in particular.

Here is the link to her painting, August 2009.  (I found it, Sandy)

Although I've tried to emulate her method, I have not been able to render that magic she achieves.  But I won't give up........I'll continue trying until I can at least come close.  She's such an inspiration.

Playing with gouache, I've followed (copied) Sandy's example as shown in the above link.  I'm not unhappy with the results but I feel I can do better in achieving what I hope to achieve.  I'm still learning this medium and not sure yet just what it can do (or not do).

Thank you, Sandy, for permission to share this.

As for those viewing this post..........please DO check out http://www.sketchingeveryday.com/  Not only will you find wonderful examples of her work, Sandy sets challenges encouraging people to follow along and submit to her for sharing on her blog.  Another link to this wonderful artist is:  Sandy Sandy Spiritartist

Holbein Gouache Color Chart

It's going to be a little while before I can really share my thoughts or feelings using these pigments versus watercolor. 

Right off the one thing I really notice with these is you can "feel" the heaviness when applying to paper.  No surprise considering their opaqueness. 

One other note.........it would take a real heavy application for these to cover, fix a passage or hide an error if using white or other light colors.  At least not with the Holbein.  The white barely hid the light pencil mark of the flower shape.  And if one painted over the covered area this gouache covered, the pigment would "reactivate" and mix with what ever you applied on top.

This chart was done in my Hand-book journal sketch book.  I'm sure the pigment will behave a bit differently on true watercolor paper....especially paper that is heavily sized.  This journal book paper is truly for sketching and absorbs water/pigment quickly.

My note (in case you can't read it) deals with vehicle separation when squeezing color from the tubes.  An * was placed next to those pigments this showed up in.  Been a long time since I've dealt with that.  I had problems with vehicle separation in some of the Winsor & Newton watercolor pigments as well as other brands but I don't recall experiencing that with the Daniel Smith line.

Landscape in Gouache

Today has been quite a relaxing day to where I could do whatever I wanted without feeling I had to be somewhere or work on chores.

I'm part of a small group and each month we set up challenges to try and encourage one another to sketch and paint.  There are actually several challenges each month to include a monthly photo, sky photos (day and evening examples), cameo challenge (doodles or illustrations), and a graphite sketch challenge.  It's been awhile since I've felt up to participating and especially painting.

This is from the June's photo challenge and as you can see the notes, I decided to first do this using gouache since I'm playing with the pigments right now becoming familiar with how they behave (at least in my journal book).

Wing Practice - Gouache

Using Sandy's method of sketching but using gouache instead, I played a bit with wings (and tail feathers).  The idea was to use quick brush strokes so not to over-do or over-work.  I still have a ways to go with what I'm trying to accomplish.  Part might be due to paper I'm using because the paper soaks up the water quickly giving very little time to put pigment to paper and it "move" or disburse as maybe on sized watercolor paper.  Then again it could be the one applying pigment to paper and not the paper at all :)

This is from memory using no reference so anatomy or structure may be off a bit.

Trying out Gouache

I received my set of Holbein Artist's Gouache and thought I'd try a quick sketch playing to see how they do in my Hand-book journal book.

The little building is done wet in wet or more like damp on damp and then a few swishes here and there with color after the initial wash dried.

Also trying out my new Noodlers Flex Pen.  Can't get it to work like I know it's capable of working.  I'm not getting the flex giving variations of marks from thin to thick.  I'm learning you can adjust the nib but haven't found the right adjustment yet.  Or maybe it's not the pen but instead the person trying to use it.  ;-)

As for the gouache.......talk about rich pigment.  I'm used to using transparent watercolor so this will be a new venture / experience for me.  This sample doesn't even begin to portray what these pigments are capable of producing.   Time will tell, I'm sure.