Schedule: Sat., May 20, 9 am to 4:00 pm, and Sun., May 21, 9 am to 4:00 pm
Cost: $275
To Register: info@covestreetarts.com or (207) 808-8911; Payment due upon registration.
Summary:
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Subject(s): Learning to handle a gouache medium with various techniques
Unit of Study: Applying new techniques to a final painting
Objective: Students will feel more confident in the use and application of a gouache medium on various surfaces.
Time Allotment: Students will use the majority of day one learning the handling of the paint and applying it in different painting exercises as predetermined by the instructor. The remaining time of the 2-day allotment will be spent using new techniques to create a still life painting, or freestyle on the theme of texture.
About the Class
Jessica Myer is bringing her love of gouache back to Cove Street Arts for her second workshop “Painting with Gouache 2.0.” Myer will retrain the skills taught in the previous lesson, and build on those ideas in new and exciting ways. Students will experiment using acrylic gouache, claybord and aquabord to discover how the medium handles on various surfaces. We will also use more traditional surfaces and discuss color, composition, and how to execute techniques unique to gouache painting. For those returning to the class, there will be new things to learn and expand upon- and yes, you may use your traditional gouache and opt out of acrylics! If you are joining us for the first time, you won’t be behind. I encourage everyone to move at their own pace and “go where it takes you”. As the instructor, I help guide each student to their own bespoke interpretation of a successful class.
About the Instructor
Myer earned her MFA in 2013 with a focus in illustrative painting, specific to children’s books. She has an extensive background in fine art gallery management and, most recently, has taught art to youth groups local to Cumberland County. Over the years she has taught a wide variety of audiences in the New England area including New York, Massachusetts, and Maine. Myer is now working as a studio artist in Portland, Maine.
About the Medium
Gouache has been used for the past 12 centuries in cultures around the world. It is similar to watercolor being that it is water soluble and can be rewetted. It also can be applied in varying degrees of transparency. However, it can also be applied rather thickly and opaquely, much like acrylic. It has a mostly matte finish and is traditionally used for design work and illustrative paintings.
Acrylic gouache is a much more recently discovered form of paint. Acrylic gouache is a unique form of traditional gouache. Also called acryla gouache, the paint contains the addition of an acrylic binder that turns it from water-soluble to waterproof. This is the feature that attracts artists who love to layer and use vivid colors in their artwork.
This matte acrylic paint comprises an acrylic polymer emulsion instead of gum arabic. The result is a hybrid between watercolor and acrylic, which gives you the best of both worlds!
Acrylic gouache offers more flexibility than its traditional counterpart. You can overpaint in layers without worrying about smearing. As long as the layer is dry, you are free to add more paint. While it’s still wet, though, it has the traits of watercolors. You can adjust, fix, remove, and reapply as needed.
Another bonus is that acrylic gouache adheres to almost any surface. The final, dried look is almost velvety but still brilliant and bright, just like traditional gouache.