Painting study - Layers and the ‘Ugly’ stage (Gouache)

I’ve just finished this seascape study, which is a perfect example of how painting takes time, and can be built up up using layers, in this case in Gouache.

Gouache isn’t as forgiving as acrylic paint, but most of the principle is the same in this example, as I’ve used layers of gouache over, and over each other to slowly build shapes and forms of the rocks and the sea freehand, going through some seriously ‘ugly’ stages. If you look at the last-to-one picture below you’ll see how much can be added right at the end of the process to bring it all together.

Like watercolour paint, but unlike acrylics, I have had to carefully consider the white areas of the piece before beginning, but the opaque nature of gouache (especially the white) makes this much easier. If this was an acrylic piece I would probably started with a base of Naples yellow to allow some of the warmth to come through, as I prefer acrylic paintings to have a little more depth of colour and mood, rather than this paper-white freshness that gouache offers.