Exploring Gouache With the Still Life (Online Course) Winter 2025 w/ Nithya Swaminathan

January 23 to February 20 (Thursdays), 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, Eastern Time

**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.

Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.

DEMO: https://youtu.be/jlTfYFoIBkY

Course Description

This five-week course will take you through the process of setting up your own still life and painting it from direct observation. We will focus on creating simple but interesting still life paintings with objects from your immediate surroundings and bring them to life using gouache paints. The participants are encouraged to work from life in their studios.

This course is right for you if you want to explore the world of gouache.

You will learn to:

- Understand the basics of Gouache - how does the paint behave

- Setup a simple still life - what to look for to create a strong design

- Create value sketches to plan your final composition

- Plan your painting based on the sketches

- Generate a series of ideas using small variations to work in a series

- Bring your ideas to life using Gouache

Course Outline

Week 1 -

How to go about setting up a still life? What to look for to make your setups interesting? We will collect things from our homes and play around with different arrangements.

Demo: Setting up a still life.

Week 2 -

Sketches to compose your painting - create multiple sketches with pencil, charcoal or pen and ink to arrive at a final composition. With a focus on values, we will try to simplify the design.

Demo: Sketching in Pen and Ink.

Week 3 -

Create your own still life painting from life. We will cover the basics of Gouache paints, its drying properties, paint thickness and consistency. We will talk about the many ways of using gouache paints.

We will discuss the challenges of using gouache paints and how to overcome them.

Demo: Paint a Simple Still Life From Life With Gouache.

Week 4 -

With the first set up as a basis, generate more ideas to work in a series. We will use the same set of objects and come up with different arrangements. We will aim to create a cohesivebody of work.

Demo: Creating a Still Life Series - Approach and Sketches.

Week 5 -

How to approach complex elements like Reflections, Shadows, Fabric folds etc. Creating more interest in your still life with edges and textures. Techniques like Dry Brushing.

Demo: Demo of Reflections, Fabric Folds.

Course Materials

Support

Watercolor paper (at least 300 gsm/140 lb) - I like to work with cold pressed paper, you can use hot pressed too. Cold Pressed paper has a tooth and I like it, I personally find hot pressed paper too smooth.

Recommended Brands - Strathmore, Canson, Fabriano, Magnani.

Sketchbook, pencil or pen and ink.

Colors

I use the Horadam series and Designer Gouache series from Schmincke, as well as Winsor & Newton. I am not familiar with other brands.

I use a limited palette for most of my work. My basic palette consists of -

Alizarin Crimson (W&N)

Cadmium Red (Schmincke)

Ultramarine Blue (Schmincke or W&N)

Cadmium Yellow Lemon (Schmincke or W&N)

Cadmium Yellow medium (Schmincke or W&N)

Titanium White or Permanent White (Schmincke or W&N)

I also add Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre to my palette for grounding the paper and washes.

Brushes

Acrylic and Watercolor brushes, I mostly use flats. We will be working with thick paint so acrylic brushes are a good bet.

I like the brushes from Da Vinci, you are welcome to use whatever brushes you are comfortable with. Do not use very small brushes.