Sunday 25th March turned out to be a magic Autumn day.  The artists arrived to set up for the workshop.  They had all wanted to learn how to paint a possum in gouache.  I selected a photograph of a glorious female possum from the Atherton Tablelands.  These beautiful animals have a rich almost red orange under colour in their fur.

The focus of the workshop was twofold -

1. to paint a possum with character and a thick fur coat.

2. to learn about gouache and some of the techniques of application.

Once the picture was sketched in we masked the areas we wanted to keep clear of wash.  Choosing whatever colours each wanted we put in a loose wash and dropped in other colours.  It was allowed to flow and dry.  The next step was to peel off the masking and get onto the undercoats of colour.  Darks on the branch and red orange on large areas of the possum.  Initially it is very bright however with the careful layering of burnt umber and yellow ochre the shape begins to happen.

We laughed and chatted and painted and by the end of the day had covered a great deal. The participants went away wanting more workshops and determined to get into painting with gouache in a big way. Each of the participants painted a very different painting and it was wonderful to see the range of styles as we went through the process.  We will do this again!

My Workshop Possum

I was welcomed very warmly as I set up for the demonstration at St George Art Society’s Hall in Kogarah.  They had asked me to show how I paint my gum blossoms and as some of these beautiful flowers are quite small I decided to use the Western Australian Bush Rose as the subject.  It is an extraordinary shrub with large green-grey, leathery leaves and magnificent, large blossoms.  In this way the audience was able to see the painting clearly as it took shape.

I enjoyed the interaction with the audience as I went about the demonstration.  Most artists only use gouache white with watercolour but I love the feel and malleability of the paint as a whole.  I  use Daler-Rowney as I find it has great staying power and flows better than other brands I have tried.  However that is a personal preference.

I used zinc white, viridian and French ultramarine for the leaves, burnt umber and paynes grey for the stem, various reds and pinks for the flowers and soft greys to indicate the rough textures.  There is a little white highlight on flowers and leaves.

I had a lovely evening and this is the finished painting.

Raindrops on Roses - gouache (WA Bush Rose)