Moonlight Glow

I’m really getting into Gouache since Lisa Bardot had introduced it to us during the Portugal Retreat last May! Although I have used it a few times before, she’s successfully promoted it as being a versatile and perfect medium to use for illustrations. And of course you can use it for realistic painting too. What makes gouache so special is how intense the colors turn out and its opaque chalky matte finish. Acrylic, for instance, generally gives a glossy finish, while watercolor is turns out more transparent. Of course, I enjoy using all the mediums depending on what I want to achieve. And this time, I wanted to experiment Gouache on black paper to see how it will turn out. And wow!

I love it! Here is an image of me and my BF just hanging out in the garden admiring the full moon. How romantic is that! See how the colors just pop out and give that intense pastel tone. To achieve that, lighter and brigher colors are more effective. The challenging part was painting my hair brown as I had to go a bit reddish to make the brown more visible, then layering a glaze of sepia to play down the fieriness. Amazing was also the various shades of blue behind the black background. And I also love how the grass gives that moonlit look! A serene yet energetic mood. Furthermore, such color intensity certainly enhances the cuteness of this illustration, making Gouache a perfect choice here. And about the gouache:

Holbein’s Gouache from Japan is considered one of the top brands. Not to be confused with Holbein’s Acryla gouache which is acrylic-based (hence “permanent” and smudge-proof), this particular range is purely water-based. The binding agents are just different. Holbein’s Gouache comes in a wide range of beautiful colors too, and having helped myself to a big box of the entire range of 84 shades some years ago, I felt it was time to enjoy them now that I have a better knowledge about them. Black paper used was a A4-size sketchbook from Art Gecko (150 gsm). So happy with how it all turned out that I can’t wait to churn out more gouache paintings on colored paper!