Creative Gouache: A Step-by-Step Guide to Exploring Opaque Watercolor - Build Your Skills with Layering, Blending, Mixed Media, and More! (Art for Modern Makers)

by Ruth Wilshaw

Take your art in a bold new direction—go gouache! In Creative Gouache, artist Ruth Wilshaw shares her step-by-step techniques for creating brilliantly vibrant effects with this easy-to-master medium, a perfect companion for transparent watercolor.

In this comprehensive guide to gouache, you’ll:

• Get an overview of essential materials and surfaces.
• Learn basic handling and coloring-mixing techniques, including layering, creating blends, and adjusting opacity, plus troubleshooting tips for common challenges, such as dealing with shifts in color and value from wet to dry.
• Explore how to paint fun, simple motifs, flowers, butterflies, landscapes, and lettering.
• Discover fun gouache techniques, such as adding texture and painting gradients and blends.
• Learn how to incorporate other mediums with gouache, including paint pens, colored pencil, and watercolor.
• Use what you learn to create inspiring projects such as dimensional artwork, clay décor pieces, and cheerful banners.

See what you can create with gorgeous, wall-to-wall color with Creative Gouache! 

Perfect for creative beginners, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.
 

• ISBN13: 9781631599378
• Publish Date: 30 November 2021 (first published 28 September 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Quarry Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 144
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Creative Gouache is a tutorial and technique guide to gouache for beginners by Ruth Wilshaw. Due out 30th Nov 2021 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a graphically appealing, well written, and attractive technique book for opaque watercolor and gouache with 9 pretty tutorials including bullet journal layout, dimensional painting, notebook cover, and a painted slab clay dish. The author provides a good basic introduction covering tools, supplies, brushes and other tools, paints, papers, and other surfaces. The supplies covered should be readily available from any art supplies and painting crafts retailer. The technique chapters are arranged around specific settings or effects: basic techniques, inspired by nature, landscapes, lettering, gouache and mixed media techniques.

Each of the tutorials includes a bullet list of materials in a highlighted sidebar, pictures of the finished project, and step by step illustrated instructions. The photos are clear and in color. The lessons and tutorials are creative and can be easily adjusted and adapted to suit many other purposes. Full size templates are included in the back of the book.

Five stars. Useful and appealing. This would make a good choice for public or school library acquisition, maker's groups, activity/scouting groups, or the home studio.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.