gouache is definitely not gauche

way back in '00 i took a course about color; as part of the itinerary we had to compile a book from our notes and hand paint samples. scale forward to yesterday, while browsing my bookshelf i happened to open it, found i hadn't quite finished it, and decided to haul out the gouache paints.

there's something very fun about the flat hues gouache gives you; about how it goes down dark and as it dries the intensity lightens. the really neat thing is that it behaves like watercolor, but the opacity can be layered like acrylics. i hadn't painted with them for years, something about an instructor telling me that i needed to stay away from them unless i could learn to relax a bit in my painting style. sad to say, but i put them away after that.

as i already had my gouache paint out, i decided to paint the label of a paper bag. it was just a red stamp, kind of calling out to be painted, really. like the outlines in a coloring book. i think i shall paint more things with my brush and my gouache.