Jul 17, 2016

Upping the Happy

Lisa Spangler, whose style I adore, reports that she's a bit obsessed with gouache. After reading her gouache posts, and seeing all the cool stuff she's been making, I promptly went to the local art supply store and bought a few tubes. They were a bit more expensive than I anticipated, so I realized I needed to hold off before getting any more got a few more tubes from amazon.  As much as I love to support brick and mortar stores, they were a LOT less at amazon.

And here's what I made (don't you think we need to up the happiness right about now?):



This linen cardstock works beautifully for this type of card because you can see the texture through the gouache and it easily holds up for a one layer card.  No warping at all.


See what I mean?

Very easy to make. And unlike, most efforts, this came out exactly as I imagined first try.  Truth!!!
  • Select a big bold sentiment, such as this one from Up the Happy from Essentials by Ellen.
  • Make an A2 card from white linen cardstock.
  • Paint yellow gouache (I used Primary Yellow by Winsor & Newton) as shown with a dry brush so that it is a bit bigger than the sentiment.
  • Let dry. This dried by the time I finished washing out the paint brush.
  • Stamp sentiment. I used Versafine Onyx. 
  • Color insides of letters with Tombow markers.
  • Needs something. Added a bit of this Little B washi tape.  
MOOD WHEN DONE = Ob$essed with gouache.  Thanks, Lisa!


9 comments:

SmilynStef said...

Thanks to introducing me to another product I now *need* ... any idea if they carry it at the big box (i.e. coupon) stores?

Joan B said...

they should. It is a pretty common art supply. It would be in the paints section. thanks!

Betty said...

what a fun card Joan - might have to give gouache a go!!

Betty said...

I've seen gouache at Michaels in the art supply section

Laurie Schmidlin said...

This card is all kinds of fantastic!!! I adore the bright, happy colors! And thanks for the close-up shot. Is gouache really that thick? I feel an Amazon purchase coming on...

Joan B said...

Thanks Laurie, gouache can be layered. I didn't add any water and used a dry brush. In a couple of parts, I painted over and it did leave a bit of a layer. Try it!

TK said...

Sweet card! No wonder you were happy when done -- that bright yellow could lighten the mood of anything!

Debbie Olson said...

Love it, Joan! Gouache is a great medium for photorealistic painting too, just in case the urge ever strikes. 😉

Leslie Miller said...

Wow! Love all the bright happy!! Marcella Hawley swears by gouache. I wonder if you can ever have too many coloring mediums? Nah!