Lilias Trotter, Victorian Gouache Painter

Lilias Trotter’s mentor, John Ruskin, said that if she stuck with it, she could become the “greatest living painter” and create immortal works.

She did stick with it, but her first calling was as a Christian missionary. She overcame resistance from people around her and traveled to Algeria, where she spent 40 years of her life.

She painted lots of little gouache sketches in her sketchbooks and illustrated letters.

Her studies are executed with strokes that are economical, relaxed, and graceful.

She was also interested in light and atmosphere, both in her landscapes and in her spiritual writings. She said: “Believe in the darkness what you have seen in the light."

There's a movie about her on YouTube. More on my Substack page.

When to Use Casein vs. Gouache

The Sleepy Knitter asks: Why [would] an artist would choose casein over gouache OR gouache over casein in an individual painting scenario? If I were you and preparing my plein-air kit for the day, what would make me choose the casein kit over the gouache kit, or vice versa? I'm debating whether to upgrade my student gouache kit to a professional one or instead to buy a professional casein kit. 

Hutton Street, casein

SK, good question. Of course casein and gouache are both water-based media. Both are opaque and both dry with a matte surface. You can even use them together. But the differences are notable. 

I often prefer casein when I want a fuller-bodied paint and a more closed surface when it dries. Casein can feel more like oil paint as it comes off the brush, giving you a more buttery tactile experience. When I am in an "oil mood" I often reach for casein. 

I painted for many years in oil, but I've mostly put that medium aside because of the toxic mineral spirits and the difficulty with cleanup. Also, casein is typically less expensive per cc than either gouache or oil, allowing you to use it more freely. 

On the other hand, gouache is a great choice for its fine detail capabilities and a wider range of color choices. It generally offers a higher pigment concentration and can provide a smoother, more precise finish. Gouache is also retains its solubility even after it dries, whereas casein resists reactivation once dry. 

Finally, the aroma of gouache is negligible, while casein has a striking "cleaning-solvent-like" smell that you should test first to make sure you're OK with it. Some folks love it and some don't like it, but I wouldn't use casein in an enclosed space among strangers in the wild for that reason.

Childe Hassam's World's Fair Gouaches

Childe Hassam was an eyewitness to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  

Childe Hassam, World's Fair, Chicago, gouache on paper laid on board, 11 x 14 inches. Heritage Auctions, Nov. 4, 2022

Hassam "added backgrounds and figures to a group of existing architectural drawings by other artists which were then reproduced as a series of chromolithographs entitled Gems of the White City." (Source of quote below.)

The perspective structure of the buildings is carefully measured. The vertical lines are executed with white gouache over a light gray base color using the paint in a ruling pen.

The style or mindset seems quite different from the chaotic and casual approach to the figures and distant areas.

Hassam painted several views of the Exposition buildings and its visitors using watercolor and gouache. In some of them he allowed the brown paper to show through, creating a warm and cool effect.

The fair was visited by 27 million people in a time when the US population was 50 million. The exposure was a big boost to Hassam's career.

*Source of quote: Barbara Weinberg.

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The auction includes classic illustrators such as JC Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell and American landscape painters such as William Trost Richards and Thomas Moran.

Flying Over Adair

Flying over Adair, Iowa, I wonder if there’s someone way down there in that little town who loves to draw and paint from their imagination... ...someone who is the creative “weirdo” in their family, and who hopes someday to meet other artists who totally understand how it’s possible to dream with your eyes open.

 

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Staying Focused During a Plein-Air Session

Here's a new YouTube video that I call "This Botanical Study Nearly Broke My Brain."

The idea is that the hardest thing to do when you're painting outdoors is to be patient, to slow down and observe both the big shapes and the small details. If you can do it, worlds within worlds will open up. 

Watch the full video on YouTube at this link.

Laloue's Dots and Lines

Eugène Galien-Laloue painted boulevards in Paris using gouache. 

Eugène Galien-Laloue The Statue Of Étienne Marcel, Outside The Hôtel De Ville, Paris

Gouache, 7.5 x 11.12 inches (18.5 x 30.5 cm.)

His way of painting was relaxed but precise, alternating big shapes with small impressionistic dots and lines that suggest detail rather than delineating it.

According to Wikipedia, "Galien-Laloue was in exclusive contract with one gallery and used other names: 'L.Dupuy', 'Juliany', 'E.Galiany', 'Lievin', 'G.L' 'Dumoutier' and 'P.Mattig'".

Zorn and the Rain Storm

American painter Edward Simmons (1852-1931) was an eyewitness to how Anders Zorn painted in watercolor:

"Zorn was one of those artists who are always showing much originality in the use of their materials and combining this with a sense of humor, which often produces fine results. I went into his back yard one day, and he had a six-foot water color leaning against the house, and was throwing pails of water on it—“bringing it together.” 

Anders Zorn, Fish Market in St. Ives, watercolor and gouache, 100 x 76cm, 1888

"He had a great success at the Grosvenor Gallery with a picture of boats, sails, masts, and the seashore sand, with a fat fish-wife walking toward one. (In those days he thought the only beautiful women
were fat ones.) He laid this on a box hedge in the garden when a thunderstorm came up. We all rushed out and it seemed to me ruined."

Anders Zorn, Fish Market in St. Ives, detail

"'Now I can make a fine picture,' he said. He painted out the smudges from the sails and fixed the dirty sky, but in the foreground, in the sands, were large spots of raindrops. These he turned into footprints, and their naturalness has been commented upon more than once."

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Books

From Seven to Seventy, a memoir by Edward Simmons (1852-1931)

Anders Zorn Sweden's Master Painter

Using Historical Reference Photos for Sci-Fi Paintings

Blog reader Jeff Jordan asks: "I was wondering if you're using gouache strictly as a sketching medium, or if you've done or are doing finished works, illustrations, whatever, in gouache?"

Jeff, yes, I love using gouache for illustrations of vehicles, robots, and architecture. For example, this small (about 6x12") painting: "The Sinking of the Hagfish" shows a giant fish-like ship, burning and sinking, with its survivors standing along the top, hoping to be rescued.

It's part of Dinotopia backstory development, documenting dramatic events thousands of years ago in Dinotopia's Age of Heroes, when humans and saurians defended Dinotopia from an invasion of drones and mech dinos from Poseidos.

The inspiration for this composition came from this historic World War II photo of the burning carrier "Franklin" off the coast of Japan after it was struck by two bombs. Over 772 of the crew were lost, but the ship returned to port on its own steam.

In my composition, I kept the figures on the far left watching the unfolding drama. The feeling that we're among those watching adds a sense of vérité to the science fiction image.

The painting appears in the expanded edition of Dinotopia: First Flight.

International Artist #144: Problems with Gouache (and How to Solve Them)

Gouache presents at least five difficulties: it freezes, it dries fast, it reactivates, it looks chalky, and it shifts values when it dries. The April/May 2022 issue of International Magazine explains all the challenges and the remedies.


The magazine has other features on Kim Casebeer, Warren Chang, Claudia Hartley, Sandra Bartels, John Lovett, Tanvi Pathare, Michael King and Erika Stearly.

You can get a signed copy of the magazine or the video for download and streaming.

Shout Me a Question About Problems With Gouache

Want to have your spoken question in my next YouTube video? The topic will be: "5 Problems with Gouache (and How to Solve Them)."

What challenges have you had with gouache? Please follow this link to Speakpipe and leave a brief question or comment.

Grisaille Portrait Video Now on YouTube

This new YouTube video takes you along on an unusual painting technique and some thoughts about what would happen if we could live our days in reverse order. Watch the 18-min video on YouTube at this link.

Painting Jobsen Swamp

You have to hike deep in the forest to find Jobsen Swamp.  

The dead trees cast long shadows across the green duckweed that covers the surface. On the far side the shadows climb up the steep bank. 

The trees fringing the swamp are mostly light and warm on the left and mostly cool and dark on the right. Smooth chases frogs. I just chase the light.

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How Sacrificing Detail Can Add Mood

In a new YouTube video I show how I painted this moody morning scene in gouache by sacrificing detail and emphasizing light effects.

My goal is to capture a fleeing light effect by using a warm priming color to achieve a "photographic" lens flare. Halfway through, I paint over the whole thing with a glaze to reduce detail. The glaze is risky because gouache reactivates when it's rewet, and to be honest, it's kind of a disaster for a while.

Here are some takeaway quotes about the theory of sacrifices: 

“Nature instills sentiments in the spectator through the selective sacrifice of details in order to improve the overall effect.” 

--The Theory and Practice of Water Colour Painting: Elucidated in a Series of Letters

“Painters without experience often weaken the effect they wish to produce by a prodigality which multiplies uselessly the figures and accessories of a picture. It will not be long before they learn that, the greater the conciseness and simplicity with which a thought is interpreted, the more it gains in expressive force.” 

—Jules Breton, The Life of an Artist: An Autobiography, 1890

Bridgeport Ferry

The ferry ride from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson takes an hour and 15 minutes, enough for a rapid impression in gouache.

 

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I used a very minimal set of watercolors: anthraquinone blue, transparent red oxide, with a touch of naphthol red, plus titanium white gouache.

Painting a Blue Cup of Ice Water

Hang out with me and Jeanette at the diner as I paint this blue plastic cup of ice water. (Link to YouTube)

As we wait for our eggs and fried potatoes, we chat about how Jeanette used to watch her mother (who was an illustrator) paint in watercolor. For a spot of complementary color, I used an orange straw from Dunkin' Donuts.

Painting an Alleyway in Gouache

This YouTube video is a sample of my new Gumroad tutorial "Gradients." 

Angela Sung, VisDev & Art Direction, says: “I never knew gradients could be accomplished simply and never thought that you could use so many methods to accomplish them. I cannot wait to try out these techniques and experiment with my future landscapes! But first, let's paint a checked cylinder.”

You can download or stream the entire Gradients video at Gumroad. It's also available as a DVD. 

Landing the Spirit of St. Louis

A replica of The Spirit of St. Louis comes in for a landing just past the tower at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Ken Cassens is at the controls.

Cassens is the Aerodrome's veteran mechanic, builder, and pilot. This replica has the fuel tank in front of the pilot, just like Charles Lindbergh's original, but the tank blocks the pilot's view forward.

(Click right arrow below to watch video of the aircraft in flight.) 

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To see the small grassy airstrip, Cassens maneuvers the plane so that he looks out a side window as it slips sideways.

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Read more: 

Lindbergh’s Airplane (or a Close Replica) Takes to the Skies

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

 

Surrounded by Memory

This man was sitting by himself at the diner. I liked the cool colors of the walls and his jeans, in contrast to the warm-colored notes of his scrambled eggs and his face.

The painting is gouache and watercolor in a watercolor sketchbook and it took about an hour.

The words written around him with a fountain pen are a short poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory—
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the belovèd's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

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Painting Forsythia Flowers

I paint the flowers of a forsythia shrub using a limited palette of watercolor and gouache. I show how to start by capturing the overall gesture and silhouette of the whole plant and then subdivide the mass into smaller shapes.

Full video on YouTube 

ART SUPPLIES: 

White gouache 

Cadmium yellow

Cerulean blue 

Scarlet pyrrol

Burnt sienna

Water cup 

VIDEO TUTORIALS: 

“Watercolor in the Wild” (Download or stream on Gumroad)  

"Flower Painting in the Wild" (Gumroad): 

"Gouache in the Wild" (Gumroad)

"Gouache in the Wild" on (DVD): 

“How to Make a Sketch Easel” (DVD) 

“Watercolor in the Wild” (Download) 

Let's Paint a Snowscape One Last Time

Here's a new video with some suggestions for painting snow. 

I paint a campfire in the snow, some snow melting on a smooth rock (below), and the last snow clinging to a cloverleaf bypass. 

I use watercolor and gouache and focus on three variables: color, light, and shape. (Link to YouTube)