Rocky Beach
16
JANUARY, 2020
Painting Techniques
Gouache Paint
Calm waters at a beach with rocks are featured in this scene from Martha’s Vineyard. I watched the small waves meet after rolling past a large rock just off shore. A nice plume of spray kicked up from the wave action.
As I was watching the ocean a seal popped his head up. At first I thought it was a rock but as I kept watching the seal appeared in different locations. You never know what you might see when you are observing nature. This was a real treat!
Calm waters off Martha’s Vineyard are featured in this original gouache painting.
See painting on the Shop page here: https://studio.pjcookartist.com/product/aquinnah-beach-painting
Working on an 8″ x 10″ Bainbridge illustration board I start by wetting the board with my brush. I tend to work similar to watercolor painting, building up layers of paint.
Starting at the top I painted the sky and worked my way down. Sometimes I use watercolor paint along with gouache paint. I have many more colors in watercolor and they can be used with gouache paint.
A seal popped his head up in the calm waters.
There are areas of opaque color along with areas of transparent color as I build layers. These transparent glazes have a radiance of color and texture different from the opaque areas. It’s nice to have a variety of layers creating texture.
I paint the rocks opaquely with thicker layers, using a variety of color.
The foreground beach area I keep transparent. Adding paint spatter with my brush by tapping against the handle of another brush.
