Granny in gouache

I got myself a whole crap load of art supplies the other day in order to practice lots before my big art course starts in a few weeks. The first things I played with were my gouache [rhymes with squash, I'm only going to tell you once!] paints. I'd never, ever touched gouache before yesterday, and I literally had no idea what to expect. The colors dry much darker than what I saw when I was mixing them wet on the palette. Also, they are almost completely opaque and quick-drying, which means they were quite impossible to mix whilst on the paper. I soon gave up trying.

Overall, I can't say I'm unhappy with the finished product. She's cute, if a little bit of a rip-off of the South Park character style. She ended up looking like a 9 year-old painted her, but I think that is more due to lack of pre-planning than anything.

Next time: Do a colour chart first. Do a rough sketch before the painting begins. Do paint the background before the foreground (duh!). Do have a clearer idea on the final product before a single stroke is laid.

Here's nan!