I-F: Wrapped

There's nothing more comforting than being all wrapped up in bed when it's stormy outside. (As it was here in Melbourne this past weekend!)

Well thanks again for all your encouraging comments on my brush painting from my last two Illustration Friday submissions. As fun as it was (and as much as I want to continue!) I need to get down to the crux of my dilemma at the moment: which medium will I use for my book?

I've used watercolours for several years now, but I want to incorporate collage a lot more into my work, which is difficult to do with w/c - because it's transparent, you can't paint on top of the collage paper. So at the moment I am experimenting with gouache, hoping it will get me where I want to go....

IF : Idle

Ah, those idle days of childhood...

This one is a bit of an experiment - watercolour background, but the foreground is done in gouache. It is my second attempt at using gouache (too embarassed to show you my first one!)

I think it will be good once I get used to it. I remember feeling this frustration when I first started using watercolours! But I like that you can use gouache thick or thin - transparent or opaque - and then it dries with a matte finish (unlike acrylics) which means you can still use other media on top of it.

so stay tuned for more experiments!