Clare Therese Gray - Painting Nature with Clare: Create Beautiful Gouache Motifs of the Garden, Countryside, Sea, River and Forest

Painting Nature

with Clare

Create Beautiful Gouache Motifs of the Garden, Countryside, Sea, River and Forest

Clare Therese Gray

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

Nature gouache has grown from two of my real passionspainting and the natural world.

In this practical, project-based book, I invite you on a journey through day and night, summer and winter, from close to home in your garden or local park, out into the countryside and forest, along rivers and down to the sea. We will create a spectrum of elements, scenes and patterns inspired by the flora, fauna and landscapes we find along the way.

I first stumbled across gouache painting when starting out as a freelance pattern designer. Its fast-drying nature appealed to me as it meant I could layer paint quickly and create a vibrant matte finish. I quickly realized I could replicate the effects I was familiar with in watercolor painting, but with the bonus of being able to mix with opaque white to create a rich range of pastel shades. This makes gouache ideal for digitalizing into print and great for photographing and posting on social media. Most of the projects in this book have been drawn from familiar subjects that I paint day to day in both my personal and professional work.

This book explores the potential of gouache to create a great variety of techniques. It is primarily a painting book, but as drawing is an integral part of the process, I begin each project by instructing you on how to compose the scene. I use darker guidelines to help with the basic composition of some projects and to break down elements into simple shapes. The introductory chapter is a handy reference and walks you through the basics of choosing and mixing colors as well as practical paint handling.

All the projects in the book are designed to be accessible to beginners, but with enough scope to engage and satisfy the more experienced amateur artist. Each chapter progresses from relatively simple pieces to slightly more complicated ones so you can challenge yourself, try new techniques and grow your skillset. However, you can also dip into the book wherever you fancy. It is certainly not necessary to work through it sequentially.

There are plenty of things you can do to nurture your own sources of inspiration. I would say the most important thing to do is draw. Draw from your imagination, but also refresh yourself by carving out some time to draw from life. It doesnt take muchjust keep a small sketchbook and pencil that you can pop in your bag or coat pocket and have a play with leaves and flowers you might find in the garden, hedge or supermarket.

Wherever you are, I hope this book will help you find inspiration in the natural world and will give you the confidence to turn that inspiration into beautiful, original artwork of your owndesigns, cards, invitations, even all-over patterns!

I would love to see how you get on! Find me on Instagram @claretheresegray and please do share your nature gouache painting journey using the hashtag #paintwithclare.

Im told that the correct way to pronounce gouache is gwash, but whenever I say it like that, no one seems to understand me so Im going to stick with goo-ash!

To get started with gouache painting, you will need a carefully selected range of colors. Traditional artist sets will include one cool and one warm shade of each primary color. I personally find this very helpful. A limited palette with a few premixed colors offers a real breadth of color-mixing possibilities.

The main colors I use in this book are Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Red and Alizarin Crimson. I also use four very versatile earth colors: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna and Olive Green; and then Ivory Black and Permanent White. I have chosen two additional premixed brights: Cobalt Turquoise Light and Opera Pink, which are not strictly necessary, but create extraordinary vibrancy and are a joyful addition to any set.

If you are starting out, I would recommend getting your hands on the paints I have listed. Each project requires a different set of colors, so you could always invest gradually. Bear in mind that if you do go for a starter set, you may not end up using all the colors, so purchasing them individually may end up reducing waste.

Dont worry if you already have a nice set of gouache paints with slightly different color names. Many can be easily substituted and a quick online search will give you a ready list. An example of a color I have used is Phthalo Blue, but Winsor Blue, Monastral Blue, Prussian Blue or Indanthrene Blue would all make fine substitutes, and will give you a very similar result in your painting.

My preferred brand of paint is Designers Gouache by Winsor & Newton, and I have used it for all the projects in this book. I find it to be of great quality, as well as affordable and easily available online and in plenty of art stores. There is no right or wrong brand to use and several other great quality ones are available such as Holbein, Schmincke, Horadam, Caran DAche and Royal Talens. These have similarly named paints and colors. For example, Ultramarine or Yellow Ochre will be very similar across brands and which brand you go for is entirely up to you.

I tend to use four different shapes of synthetic brushes in a variety of sizes. Brush brands are also very much subject to your personal preference. In these projects I use a variety of brushes from Winsor & Newton, Pro Arte and Arteza. The key is to have a range and not to be at all put off if you dont have the exact one I describejust use the closest thing you have on hand.

Round: An all-purpose round head with a pointed tip is great for lines of varying thicknesses. Small ones are useful for when precision is key, and spot brushes have shorter bristles for extra control.

Flat: