5 Helpful Gouache Painting Techniques for Beginners
Not a lot of people know this medium, even though it has been around for a long time. However, gouache a medium that’s definitely worth discovering.
It’s a type of paint similar to watercolor and tempera paints, and is sometimes called “opaque watercolor” because of its vibrant, luminous hues similar to both watercolors and acrylics. There are three components of gouache paints: a high amount of color pigment, gum Arabic, and a solid white pigment (i.e. chalk).
You can think of gouache paints as a type of watercolor that you can layer in gradients and paint in whites without masking off, and because quite affordable, there’s no need for a complicated set-up to start.
If you’re getting started using this medium, here are a few painting techniques you need to keep in mind when painting with gouache:
1. Staining
Staining is covering up an area with watered-down paint. This gives you the base layer, or underpainting, that you can work on and add details as you go.
When starting with your base layer, be sure to use even strokes and wet your brush regularly as needed. This way, your underpainting stays as even as possible and you will have no problems adding following layers.
2. Softening
Gouache works similar to watercolor in that you can re-work it long after it has dried on the surface, sometimes even after several days have passed.
This also lets you create any additional gradients that you missed when building layers. To do this, add more water to your brush and apply to the dry strokes or areas of gouache that you want to create a gradient for.
However, use this method carefully, especially if your surface is prone to warping when exposed to water.
3. Bloom
You can water down gouache to make it move just like watercolor, and using blooms lets you add in different color bases that you can layer on top of. Simply add more water and only a small amount of pigment, and watch the color spread or “bloom” to your desired effect.
4. Dry Brush
Dry-brushing is when you layer colors on top of one another to preserve their texture. You can do this when you want to preserve the original underlying colors while adding something else on top.
Use this method for adding finer details to your work that could change the color of your underpainting when water is applied.
5. Blurring
Blurring offers a loose, organic look in painting where you can use the brush and pigment to mix colors as you want. Do this only with limited colors to keep the resulting blend from looking too muddy.
How to Make Paper Flowers for a Wedding Bouquet
While nothing truly beats a wedding bouquet made of live flowers, there are some problems that can come with trying to make the flowers last as long as possible throughout the wedding without drying out and withering.
Paper flowers may not be the best substitute for the real thing, but when done right, they can come close – and they can even be used instead of real flowers for floral decor. Fortunately, you can also easily make them. All you need to make them are colored paper, pipe cleaner, scissors and glue, as well as a base, and you’re all set to go.
Here’s how to make amazing paper flowers in a few simple steps:
1. Lay three to four sheets of colored paper (it can also be in different types of paper) down on a flat surface and stack them on top of each other. Once that’s done, fold the paper by taking the bottom edge and folding it over by one inch.
Then, flip the sheets of paper over and fold them back on the opposite side. The folded paper should look like a closed paper fan or an accordion once this step is finished.
2. Next, fold the folded paper in half as well as an inch or two of pipe cleaner around the folded paper. Be sure to twist the cleaner, as this will act as the stem of the flower. Placing the pipe cleaners in opposite directions will give different color combinations.
3. Cut the folded paper into three equal pieces and adjust them if needed to make the pipe cleaner at the center of the flower. Trim the outer edges of the paper into rounded edges.
If you like, the paper trimmings can be saved to make confetti that the flower girl can use during the ceremony.
4. Open the folded paper while holding the stem. Pull the topmost layer of the paper all the way around. This will show you the end result, but be careful not to rip the paper, especially if you’re using crepe or Japanese paper.
5. Once you have your finished product, you can repeat the process to make as many as you like. You can even bend the pipe cleaners to make the flowers bend, which will allow you to make different bouquet arrangements in different containers.
You can also make the same flowers but in different sizes, as well as in different colors combinations depending on the theme of your wedding. When placing them in containers you can add a little more spruce to the arrangements by adding ribbons.
Plastic foliage can also work well when paired with paper flowers. Be sure to use a good glue that will stick the pipe cleaner to the plastic.
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Things to Know About Venice Biennale
If you love arts, you will realize that it is everywhere. Even the smallest thing can become an extraordinary art if you put your heart to it. If you want to share your arts to the world, you can eye the Venice Biennale. Venice Biennale is a prestigious art exhibition.
What is the Venice Biennale? Every patron of the art should know what this is about especially that Singapore has decided to return. So, here are some details about the prestigious Venice Biennale:
- Background: Venice Biennale is a major art exhibition that focuses on contemporary arts. It takes place every 2 years. It is celebrated in Venice, Italy. Venice Film Festival forms part of the Venice Biennale. Apart from the Film Festival, the Venice Biennale of Architecture is also part of it. Venice Biennale came about in 1985. After World War I, the international community showed interest in modern art. The Biennale accommodated about 300,000 visitors today.
- Role: When the Venice Biennale was formulated, organizers thought about creating a market for contemporary art. From 1942 to 1968, Biennale assisted artists in looking for clients and eventually selling their pieces. Biennale initially charged 10% commission. Towards the end of 1968, there was a sales ban.
- National Pavilions: The Biennale is based in Giardini, a park in Venice. Giardini features spacious exhibition hall that showcases themed exhibition organized by the director of Biennale. To date, there are at least thirty permanent pavilions located in different countries who participate in the art exhibition. Countries without pavilions can choose to showcase their exhibits in other venues. The committee is very positive because of the growing number of participating countries.
- Singapore Picture: Countries participating in Venice Biennale include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia and many more. The good news is that Singapore joined the community of artists. Come 2015, an artist who goes by the name of Charles Lim will feature his installations. He is assisted by Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, a curator. The works of Mr. Lim revolves around water. Mr. Lim hopes to raise awareness to other artists.
The Venice Biennale is the best venue to show to the world how you see beauty. The Venice Biennale is attainable; it is not that impossible. You can start small and work your way up. There are many art centres here in Singapore that you can join. You can also major in arts if you want. This prestigious exhibition will raise the profile of Singaporean artists.
