Lush

I am dreaming of escaping to the cool mountains and refreshing sea.  Anywhere to get away from this sticky heat!  So I had the mind to imagine and describe my dream.  I was in the mood for water colours again but this time decided not to go for the Gansai (traditional Japanese paint) but the conventional brand.  Just wanted to try something different again, too, and have a bit of a go with Gouache (or Tempera paint)

I outlined firstly what I wanted in pencil and then began filling in with water colour.  The set I used is a local one by Talens “Art Creations” which is good enough me.  For the sky, I wanted to make it special so I again used the “salt trick”.   Here I switched to sea salt in place of table salt and found it much more effective because, well obviously, the grains of salt are chunkier and larger compared to the sandy consistency of table salt.  So in future, sea salt it is!

And for the sea, I chose to make it more turquoisy so added more yellow in the paint.  Then I took some tissue and and lifting out liquid and blotted out some colour to make the finish more choppy.

I continued painting away and experimented with mixing colours and producing various kinds of green for the mountains and the trees.  For the tree barks and skin and hair of the Mini Me, I also mixed colours to get the right shade.  This is far more challenging and funner than choosing one colour directly from the tube!

I wanted to have a go with Gouache so decided to use that in the end for the finishing touches like the eyes and flowers.  It goes without saying that a little does go a long way.  And compared to water colour, Gouache is heavier pigmented with a stronger colour.  Falls between water colour and acrylic.  It’s great in combination with water colour.  Will definitely be using it again!

Yep, so that’s my wishful thinking! Cooling down in the clear blue ocean or hanging around the mountains for some fresh air.  And as my British friends would describe the green-ness of the mountains, it looks oh so lush! The only thing that’s missing is my boyfriend so perhaps in another painting I shall do one of us together…