Gouache Experiment

I registered to spend a week at Nimrod Hall again this summer, but it was not to be. Laura Loe, the owner and operator of Nimrod, decided to cancel the whole 2020 season in light of the need for social distancing to stay safe. I was heartbroken, but it was the right thing to do. I will need to focus on the 2021 season instead.

Nimrod is such a magical place where artists go to fuel our creativity. This year I had signed up with Kesra Hoffman again. I don’t usually sign up for the same instructor, but Kesra is very versatile (watercolor, acrylic, gouache), allowing me to run with whatever medium I am in the mood for. But since she really excels at gouache I thought I’d practice a bit. Here’s a painting done from a photo I took of the Raven’s Roost Overlook, on the Blue Ridge Parkway not to far from where we live.

It’s on Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor paper. For watercolor I usually work on cold pressed paper, which has a rough surface. I thought the smoother surface would be nice with gouache.

Gouache is opaque watercolor, so in many ways it behaves the same, but it is also very different. One thing that really struck me for this painting is the difference in how the colors work. Watercolor dries lighter than what it appears when you apply it. Gouache dries darker. As a result, the colors in this painting are bright and bold, and not particularly realistic. I ended up not minding that too much. I particularly like the highlights and the shadows in the mountains. I can’t get that effect in watercolor. I think that is partly because watercolor is transparent and blends more than gouache, and partly because of the smoother surface of the paper. I will need to experiment more.

I hope everyone is home and safe and free from COVID-19. Please take care and be well!

My Blog Has Moved!

As I’ve been painting more and more, and trying harder to get my name out there, I’ve been thinking that I should grow up and get a real web site under my own name for my art. I recently bought my domain name, cynthiagilmer.com, and I have rehosted my blog on that URL. I’m excited to have a real art website and hopefully will be doing some enhancements to my gallery in the near future. The old site should redirect to the new location for now. I will be cancelling that service and eventually the domain name will expire and potentially be resold, but for now you should be able to find me using either URL.

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I also have an update on my 6X6 post from a few weeks ago. I am a member of a social group here at Wintergreen called Mountain Women. They have a handicraft group and I decided to go and paint with them. It was being held at my friend Sallie’s house, and she was the impetus of me painting my series of 6×6 paintings because she had a small wall where she wanted to hang one of my paintings. Because of that, I took the series of paintings with me to the event.

They were a hit! I sold two (Afton Mountain Vineyard, and our backyard stream) to Mary, one of the attendees, who will frame them herself.

I also sold two to Sallie. One was the cub creek barn and the other one was a redo of the spring stream running through a nearby field, which I started at the crafting meeting. I like this version so much better than the first. I did a lot of the detail with watercolor and a nib pen, a technique that I started using recently and really like.

I framed these for Sallie in the frames I had. Since we are social distancing because of COVID-19 I’m not sure when I’ll get to give them to her, but the look very nice sitting in my studio in their frames.

I’m always so flattered when someone likes my art enough to buy it. It motivates me to keep painting.

Finally, I have been taking a weekly class on using ink and watercolor together from a local artist named John Hancock. I attended two sessions, both of which were excellent, but now it is on hold until coronavirus is no longer a threat. I will blog about that when I finally get a chance to complete it.