How to Paint Animals & Landscapes in Gouache

I've found over the years that telling myself to DO IT NOW can be a great way to start an activity. Since I'm also prone to plan things to death, DO IT NOW is a godsend. You need a plan, of course, but you can find that you never ever get out of the planning phase. There are always slight improvements to make to your plan before it's finally ready to go.

The same applies whether it's painting, writing, starting a business. For that reason, I find it's a good idea to make the plan your second activity, rather than first, and just dive into something that gets you going. This is where your DO IT NOW moment comes in. Just say it to yourself, grab your tools and START. So you need something easy, that you don't have to plan, as your first activity. Here's one for painting.

If you've never done any painting, start in the shallow end. On www.witwoo.com I show a way that not only helped me get started, it still helps now, when I get "Painter's Block". The secret is to take a sketch pad and mark off a load of three-quarter inch squares, then fill them in with your colours. Just for kids? Not at all. You finish up with more useful colour mixing charts than you can shake a stick at.

So get some paints out and say "DO IT NOW".

We can assume that, since you're reading this, you're interested in using gouache, ok? Well, first, get your gouache. If you click on the image above, you'll find a list of gouache paints I use, along with links to Dick Blick's art materials website. You don't have to buy them via that link, but it helps to support me if you do! And, of course, we both want that.

If you don't have any paints yet - DO IT NOW.

Before we start, a lot of painters worry about using photographs because they think people will say they're cheating. If Durer had had a digital SLR, he'd have used it. So would Caravaggio and lots more. Cheats! Many painters who use photos have a self-conscious way of saying they make use of 'Photographic Reference'. Me? I'm too old to worry, so I just plain cheat. However, I only ever use photos I've taken myself, so they're just another aid in the process of making a painting.

To make this useful aid to copying and scaling images, get hold of a few clear acetate sheets - the kind used with old-style overhead projectors. They're usually A4 size. Get some fine-tipped permanent ink marker pens to use with the acetate sheets. You'll find both of these at a stationer's. The purpose is to help in scaling images from your original photo or drawing to fit your painting. Using acetates is something I came up with when I first started. There's probably a product on the market that saves you doing this, but I haven't seen it.
The next thing to do is to draw a grid on your acetate with your marker, so that you have (about) 28 squares horizontally and 18 vertically, so space your lines about 1 cm, or 3/8 inch apart.
The way to use the grid is to tape your original drawing or photo to the back with clear tape, or masking tape, then draw in pencil on your paper or canvas, larger, corresponding squares. You can correctly size and position your object on your finished work. For example, if I wanted the gateposts above to fill a 12 inch wide sheet of paper, I'd divide the width of the paper into about ten equal vertical lines, because ten squares easily cover the original, with a bit of space each side. Next, add the horizontal lines to make the squares. Then, it's quite straightforward to take one square at a time and pencil in what you see, estimating the fractions of a square on the original and on the paper..

You want a main subject that enthuses you, not something you'll get bored with along the way. I've always been interested in taking photos of animals on my travels, so I had lots to choose from. I also take photos of landscapes and old rustic buildings. For my first painting, I chose a Border Collie. For the next, I went for a Donkey and a Chicken.

The same applies whether you're doing landscapes, still life, portraits or abstract - whichever style you choose, the subject must capture and hold your attention for the whole period of its creation. So, choose wisely and take your time, if you have to.

This is where my next self-motivator comes in - GO FOR IT. Much like DO IT NOW, telling yourself to go for it gives you the confidence not to aim too low. Pick a subject that looks like a challenge, rather than something you know will be easy. You've already done easy in DO IT NOW, so come on, push yourself a bit. Remember, with gouache, you'll be able to keep changing things until you're happy with the result.

This shows a work in progress, acrylic on canvas board, using the photo above. Note how I've drawn, in pencil, a grid with slightly larger squares than the original. You can see from this how to scale up in size. I could even scale it up to paint a mural, by drawing suitably large squares on the wall.
Note the pencil work yet to be overpainted. You can also see how I complete a part of the painting before even starting on another part. Not quite top down design, whereby I'd outline the whole painting before starting to underpaint.
Sometimes, I'll mark in reference numbers across the top of the grid and letters down the side, with the same on the acetate grid, to help check which square I'm working on.
Note that within the same painting, you can use different sized grids, to draw some objects to other scales. In fact you'll probably do that quite often.

A word about paper. I like a smoothe surface. Hot Press (HP) is smoothe. However, because I bought a pad of paper before I had any idea about the different types, I used 140lb Cold Press, which is a nice compromise between Rough and HP, as it turns out. I was going to explain here what 140 lb and 300 lb mean but it's unnecessarily confusing so for now, I won't.

Just to be clear, I suggest you buy 140lb Cold Press Paper (also called NOT). Dick Blick's item No. 10021-1006, which is a Canson Montval block of 15 sheets 12" x 16".

Click on the watercolour pad above to find a link.

When it comes to using the paper, you'll probably want to stretch it and mount it on a panel before use. Whether to stretch it or not depends on the thickness of your paper and how wet you get it whilst you're painting. If your paper is thick, say 300lb, then you won't need to stretch it, but with 140lb, I would, if I were you. The point is, when you apply wet paint to thinner paper, it can "cockle" - distort - as it dries unless you've stretched it.

The panels I use are half-inch thick white melamine laminated board, although anything that won't be affected by water should be ok. To stretch and mount the paper, soak it in a bath or sink of clean water until it's thoroughly wet, handling it carefully. Then, lay it on your mounting board and make sure there aren't any bubbles behind it. Use plenty of clean, flat tissues to soak up the surface water and then tape the edges when they're still slightly moist.

The recommended tape is the brown paper tape that you wet to stick but I've never had much success with it. I use one inch wide masking tape, also known as pressure-sensitive tape and I use a small wallpaper seam roller to make sure it stays stuck as the paper dries.

Now leave your paper to dry - bone dry. You'll find it very satisfying to see how nice and flat it dries. Just keep your hands off it!. I'm always very careful not to touch the paper. Place a thick sheet of clean paper under your hand whenever you're painting or drawing.

What this next sequence of three images shows is how I go from the original photo to the painting stage. In this case, I've used a different technique from the squares, to show you the level of detail I use in the pencil applied to paper or canvas.

I traced the image from the photo onto tracing paper and used a sheet of thin paper on which I'd covered the reverse using a thick graphite stick (same as a graphite pencil but about 6mm square, for speed). I placed this graphite side down over the canvas board and drew over the dog image on the tracing paper, thus transferring the dog detail to the canvas.

This painting is acrylic, but the same method can be used with gouache, since both are opaque enough to cover any pencil work on the paper or canvas.

When I started out, I found that there's more to using top quality brushes than their superior performance. It gives a whole different feel to your work. Apart from being superb to work with, Kolinsky Sable brushes make you feel like a professional. They affect your attitude. I use Winsor & Newton Series 7 or Series 16, from sizes 0 up to 5. For larger areas, I'll use lesser quality big brushes, because of the huge cost of large sables. Some of the synthetic brushes are also ok for that and for trying out effects, etc.

The best way to find the brushes that suit you, obviously, is to try as wide a range as you can, but you can't go wrong with the top quality ones.
The accompanying photo shows what I've called "The best brush I ever used". That may be an exaggeration, but these Elco brushes were so good to hold. A really high gloss finish, with a similar feel to a Windsor & Newton Series 7 from the business end. I haven't been able to find these anywhere for a long, long time and even though this one is worn out, I keep it just to pick up and hold now and then.

While we're on this subject, I probably go over the top with this, but I made it a habit to use distilled water right from the start, to avoid any lime scale marks. As I say, maybe I'm just being eccentric, but I think little things like that affect your whole approach

I love this painting for its models. I've done a short SquidPaws lens about it but I wanted to show it here as well. People who see the original say "why did you put that scruffy cat in there?" Well, I did, and there she stays! By the way, I assure you that's a very good likeness of her.

There are three features in this painting that I loved painting in gouache: the straw, the rope, and the bull's coat (hat? hair? wig?).

Something I noticed about my paintings' subjects when I looked at them together after a while is that they all feature some kind of restraint - rope in this case, but in others, fences and in one case a dam. Must say something about my subconscious!