Friday, August 30, 2013

New Tricks


Gouache  noun \'gwash\  A method of painting with opaque watercolors. 

I was fortunate to be able to take a week long gouache workshop at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington through Gage Art Academy.  I was familiar with the instructor, Karen Hackenberg's work and was really looking forward to the week.  I was not let down.  

Karen is a fabulous instructor, patient and precise with excellent communication skills.  She is also a master at gouache.  I learned more than I had hoped. 
  

Maybe the best part of the adventure was the time created for painting.  I am a working artist but the days usually get interrupted by the business of living.  Rarely do I have a long day (let alone week) to devote exclusively to painting.  


#1 test: rubber faucet thing.   This was about the paint,
how it handled and the exciting discovery that it really
could cover itself. It reminded me of painting with
oil except that the paint would dry within a minute.
Kathleen Faulkner


#2 test: broken plastic fish pen.  The goals were a smooth background
and the look of plastic.  With gouache, one can go back and
fix problems such as a couple that I can see above.
Kathleen Faulkner



#3 test: plastic easter egg dye bottle with water.  
I wanted to master the little devil and that tricky
shadow.  It was a struggle.  I also practiced spatter
as a background effect.
Kathleen Faulkner




'It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.'
Henry David Thoreau