cd sketches

If you spend any time on the Plein air side of the internet, I'm sure you have heard of underpaintings. An underpainting is a layer of paint that will later influence the rest of the painting. Artist like James Gurney and Jared Cullum make some of the best use of this technique. While this technique may seem a bit confusing now, by the end of this article, you'll begin to get the gist.  1. Forces you to Cover the Whole Page If you are using an opaque medium and you want to make sure that you paint the whole page opaquely, an underpainting can be a great way to achieve your goal. It would be almost impossible to ignore a missing spaces when they are bright orange instead of white. Some artist like to leave bits of color exposed, but if you want to cover it all you certainly can. Covering the whole page opaquely also lends itself well to that unique gouache look.  I use this a lot for plein-air 2. Blank Page Syndrome You are excited to paint, you pull out your sketchbook open to...

    As with any new painting medium, making the jump to gouache can be exciting but also a bit scary. But it doesn't have to be. Painting like anything else is a skill that can be learned, improved and adapted to new styles and mediums. In this Article, I will go over some things that you should at least recognize before getting too deep into painting with gouache.  1. It's Not Exactly Like Watercolor The first thing that you will need to adjust to when using gouache is the fact that, while gouache is similar to watercolor in many ways, It also is its own thing. I made a helpful article on this topic not too long ago. Gouache Vs. Watercolor .   But the overall idea is that gouache and watercolor have unique traits that lend themselves to different techniques and use cases. Watercolor is a very transparent paint that even when used directly from the tube is not as opaque as gouache. Gouache on the other hand, even when watered down, has some opacity that makes its use...

 I can vividly remember time in my life (not so long ago) when I absolutely couldn't stand how my art looked. I always thought that something was off, my paintings were never worth keeping. I would draw something in my sketchbook, look at it for far too long, crumple it up and throw it away. Looking back, I probably should've just kept them. But the point is to say that this feeling isn't uncommon among artists. This article looks to explore some of the reasons you can't stand the art you make and how you can go about changing that.  1. You Revere Perfectionism The first reason why you aren't happy with your art is not perfectionism itself, but the fact that you may think perfectionism is a good or cool trait to have. Wanting your work to be as good as is can be is fine, but when you begin to think that the time you spent painting or drawing was worthless because it's not perfect, it is no longer conducive to feeling good about your work or yourself. It's ve...

1. A Snowy Landscape 2. A Self Portrait 3. Your Car 4. Boxing Match Figure Study 5. A Childhood Home 6. Your Pencil Case 7. A Mechanical Device 8. Your Favorite Movie Character 9. A House in Your Neighborhood 10. The View from Your window 11. Medieval Weaponry 12. A Castle 13. A Random Object in Your Room 14. The View from a Park Bench 15. Basketball game Figure Study 16. An Ornate Staircase 17. A Family Member Portrait 18. Your Favorite TV show Character 19. A Scene from a Movie 20. A Beach Scene 21. Construction Equipment  22. A Man with a Mustache 23. A Fruit Still life 24. Landscape with Rolling Hills 25. Football Game Figure Studies 26. A Forest Scene 27. An Abandoned Building 28. Your Dog 29. Your Cat 30. Your kitchen 31. A Cowboy 32. A Mountain Range 33. Pink Flowers 34. A Knight on Horseback 35.A Fallen Tree 36. Your Local McDonalds 37. Your Dream Car 38. Horse riding Figure Studies 39. A Pumpkin Patch 40. A King/Queen 41. A Shadowy face 42. Something You've never painted 4...