Kaleidoscope Trees, a gouache study

Kaleidoscope trees

4"x6" Gouache* on 300g watercolour paper.

Unvarnished.
Overall paper size is approx. 4.5"x6.5" to allow for framing. 

Available for purchase on Daily Paintworks

I have noticed I am tending to blend my paint more and more, resulting in a tighter result than what I am aiming for. With this in mind, and after studying some curren impressionist painters I am working towards think twice, lay down paint once. This is much harder than it sounds. You should hear the voices in my head telling me to NOT MESS WITH IT! I am aiming to have a purer, brighter colour in the painting.

About this painting
 
This is a gouache study of a group of trees. I have an idea for a larger painting in oil using pure colour and not mixing the paint on the canvas. I laid down a thin wash and then using thick gouache straight out of the tube I placed the paint on the paper. I also mixed paint on the palette before using it on the paper for some of the colour. I love the matte finish of the gouache.

How it might look framed

 

Colourful Birches, Day 12 of the 30 day challenge and an offer

Colourful Birches

Gouache painting on canvas board

17.5x12.5cm (7"x5")

for the duration of the challenge

This painting is available for 35€ 

(it will revert back to the normal price of 55€ in Feb)

This painting has quite a story.

It used to be a gouache painting of birches (I know - it is still a gouache painting of birches!) but it just wasn't working. I hosed it down under the tap to remove the painting. As I was washing the old painting off, I paused and saw the wash of colours that was developing on the canvas. I loved the delicate meld of colours coming out. I decided to keep this wash and paint the trees over it using the same colours that had appeared in the wash.

For the trees, I used undiluted gouache laid on with a flat brush, mostly in a sideways stroke. The background is the untouched remaining wash. I am quite pleased with the painting.

NOTE
One of the benefits of gouache that is watersolouble and can be completely removed with water. If I had constinued washing the paint off I would have eventually got back to the original ground, although there might have been a few patches from the staining colours.

Day 7, 30 paintings in 30 days January 2014 challenge - Poppy Fields 2 painting

Miniature art trading card

ACEO 13 - Landscape Poppy Fields 2

2.5 by 3.5 inch 

gouache on watercolour paper

This painting is SOLD

A small painting of the Provence poppy fields in gouache.

ACEOs are small works of art measuring 2.5x3.5inch. They are an excellent and affordable way to start an art collection.

Sunset - gouache painting

Sunset by Marion Hedger

Gouache over an orange ground

20x15cm on canvas board

A landscape this time, completed a couple of days ago. I'm trying to bring together the golden nuggets as taught by Johannes Vloothuis in his webinar lessons. If you want to find out more about these webinars see Improve my Paintings

Hippy Amarylis Gouache painting

Here is another small one I painted for the Gouache Corner thread of wetcanvas.

Hippy Amarylis painting by Marion Hedger

Gouache on mountboard, coated with gesso mixed with grout to give a slight textured surface and then given a reddy/pink ground.

15x15 cm (6"x6")

I used several layers on this to get the correct colour combinations. I did not want to get too thick to soon. 
This is my first flower in gouache - well second really but the first one which was a red rose was a disaster and got washed off. That's one of the good things about gouache, it is easy to reclaim the support.
I am not sure the gouache is the correct medium for florals as it is difficult to blend as it is more suited to an impasto approach. That said though, I have seen some lovely gouache florals done using a more watercolour technique.
I am trying some roses next, to see how I go.

Green Paraqueet Bathing Gouache painting

Bathing Paraqueet by Marion Hedger

13x18 cm (5"x7")

Gouache on canvas panel

Painted as part of the January 'Gouache Corner' challenge on wetcanvas.com. Unfortunately, in the photo, the weave of the canvas is very pronounced, it is not quite so obvious in real life. This is my second bird painting and I love the subject. It reminds me of the red Eastern Rosellas we used to get in our garden in Melbourne, Australia. Unfortunately I never took a photo, so have no reminders of them. I cropped this from the original photo which contains 3 green paraqueets all taking a bath. Maybe I shall attempt all three later. This will be varnished to protect the surface and allow it to be framed without glass.

Landscape Impressions Gouache Paintings - Group Display

Here are all my current landscape impressions grouped together, which I displayed at an exhibition featuring art by members of the 'ASSOCIATION PEINTRES DANS LA RUE' (Painters in the street), a local art group who display at various venues around the Alpes Maritimes during the summer months.

Gouache Abstract Landscape Paintings on canvas board

The paintings have been mounted on MDF

to fit into an 18x24cm standard frame.

All the paintings have been varnished with acrylic varnish

for protection allowing them to be framed without glass.

Landscape Impressions VII and VIII - abstract gouache paintings

Here are another two in the series.

Landscape Impressions #VII by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish.
Purchase this painting HERE

Landscape Impressions #VIII by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish.
Purchase this painting HERE 

These little paintings make an ideal gift, they are mounted on black coated hardboard sized to fit into a standar photo frame.

The varnish on these little gouache paintings give a tough,
resilient coating that protects them from moisture and allows framing without glass.

they are mounted on black MDF board to fit directly into an 18x24cm frame

Landscape Impressionss V and VI - abstract gouache paintings

These two use the same colour combinations, one with a high horizon line and the other with a low one.

 Landscape Impressions #V by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish.
Purchase this painting HERE
These little paintings make an ideal gift

The varnish on this little gouache painting gives it a tough,
resilient coating that protects it from moisture and means it can be framed without glass.

It has been mounted on black MDF board to fit directly into an 18x24cm frame

Landscape Impression #VI by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish.
Purchase this painting HERE
These little paintings make an ideal gift

The varnish on these little gouache paintings give a tough,
resilient coating that protects them from moisture and allows framing without glass.

they are mounted on black MDF board to fit directly into an 18x24cm frame

These have given me the idea of doing a series with limited colour combination maybe red and yellow, blue and green and so on.

Landscape Impressions IV - abstract gouache painting

A slightly different feel in this painting. I like the merging of the colours in this one with just a hint of recognisable features.

 Landscape Impressions #IV by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish.

These little paintings make an ideal gift
Purchase this painting HERE

The varnish on this little gouache painting gives it a tough,
resilient coating that protects it from moisture and means it can be framed without glass.

It has been mounted on black MDF board, painted black to fit directly into an 18x24cm frame.

Landscape Impressions III - abstract gouache painting

Number 3 in the landscape impressions series.

Landscape Impression III  by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish

The varnish on this little gouache painting gives it a tough,
resilient coating that protects it from moisture and means it can be framed without glass.

It has been mounted on black MDF board to fit directly into an 18x24cm frame.
Purchase this unique painting HERE

A different view of the landscape to give the impression of birch trees. I started this in the same way as the previous two to give the background colours. Then  using thick gouache and a flat brush, I criss crossed the different colours to give an impression of  autumn woodland. After this had dried, - and that is the beauty of gouache it dries almost instantly - I used another flat brush to wipe away the paint for the tree trunk impressions and then worked back into the silhouettes left with grey and white to give the tree trunk markings. I finished off with the twig squiggles.

Landscape Impressions II - abstract gouache painting

The second in the series this time with more of a 'waterscape' feel to it.

Landscape Impressions #II  by Marion Hedger

12.5x17.5cm (5"x7") Gouache on canvas board
coated with acrylic varnish
These small paintings make an ideal gift
Purchase this painting HERE

The varnish on this little gouache painting gives it a tough, resilient coating that protects it from moisture and means it can be framed without glass.
It has been mounted on MDF board to fit directly into an 18x24cm frame.

Through the woods - 2nd Gouache Experiment

This is my second attempt at a gouache landscape.

Through the woods

Gouache painting by Marion Hedger

21x30cm on thin black card.

I really like the effect of this one. I am still learning how to use the gouache and I have kept this fairly loose with the black ground peeping throught, hopefully giving it some harmony. As I still have my limited palette of kid's paints I could not mix all the colours I needed, but to me it does have a nice energy about it.

This is from one of my photos while walking through the woods close by. We do not get a typical autumn here, it is a mixture between a few coloured and dry leaves and fresh growth that sprouts after the autumn storms following a very dry summer. I hope I have captured some of that feeling.