FAQ's. The answers to your questions.
What medium do I work in?
I paint with gouache. It’s a very versatile medium. It can be watered down and applied transparently (as in traditional watercolor painting), applied thick and opaque (as in traditional oil painting), or applied like caulk (as in traditional acrylic painting).
What support do I paint on?
I work on 140 lb. Winsor-Newton hot pressed watercolor paper.
What kind of brush do I use?
When I first started painting I used the infamous Winsor-Newton Series 7 round, but (mainly because of the high price on the Series 7), I have switched to a less expensive, synthetic brush. Specifically, I use the Golden Fleece Round, (mainly 6’s and 8’s) from Cheap Joes Art Supply.
What size do I work at?
I used to work really large. When the art was reduced to be printed, it tightened up and really looked great. I now tend to work roughly to size. Since I finish all my art with a computer and Photoshop, bigger sizes equal more work for me. An illustration that is larger than my scanner bed requires multiple scans that later have to be pieced together. When I work “to size” and can usually get the scan in one take and save myself a whole lot of trouble.
What books would I recommend?
There is a great book on gouache by Rob Howard called “Gouache for Illustration” that I would highly recommend
I figured a lot of things out about color with Jeanne Dobies book, “Making Color Sing”
Stephen Quillers book, “Color Choices” was helpful, too
A really great all around book that covers all the fundamentals is Tony Couchs book, “Watercolor, You Can Do It”
...and if you really want to geek out on whats up with pigments, try Michael Wilcoxs, “The Artists Guide to Selecting Colors”. This ones not for everybody, but I found it very interesting.
How do I come up with my ideas?
I pull the assignment out of the envelope, read the job description and the article that goes along with it (if there is one) and something will just pop into my head. That first idea is usually the one I run with.
What colors are in my palette?
I use Winsor-Newton gouache. These are the colors I keep in my palette. (1) Burnt Umber (2) Burnt Sienna (3) Raw Sienna (4) Yellow Ochre (5) Naples Yellow (6) Cadmium Lemon (7) Cadmium Yellow Pale (8) Cadmium Yellow Deep (9) Cadmium Scarlet (10) Cadmium Red Pale (11) Red Rose (*this is a DaVinci Paint) (12) Winsor Blue (13) Turquoise Blue (14) Winsor Green (15) Brilliant Green (16) Permanent White.
My suggestion for starting gouache painters.
If you have ever mixed yellow and red together hoping to create a brilliant orange and ended up creating a brilliant BROWN
Or mixed red and blue together hoping to come up with a really great purple and instead came up with a really great BROWN
Or if you have ever mixed blue and yellow together for a beautiful green and created instead a beautiful BROWN
...then I would like to suggest you try these six Winsor-Newton colors. (1) Lemon Yellow (2) Orange Lake Deep (3) Phthalo Blue (4) Permanent White (5) Ivory Black (6) Bengal Rose (this one is a DaVinci color)
These six tubes of paint will be a lot less expensive than a full palette of pigments and color theory WILL work with this group of hues. They are all good, permanent colors (except for the Bengal Rose which is a necessary evil. You must have it to mix purple). Use the Orange Lake Deep as the palette red to create orange. Use the white and black to lighten and darken your mixes.