Nature Journaling with Gouache

Another canoe trip on Raccoon Lake with my nature journal yielded pages of rough pencil and ink sketches of a Great Blue Heron perched above us in a hemlock tree.

Back at home, I added gouache, painting from memory, to fill in the scene.

A half-submerged log near the shore caught my eye as we paddled by and I only had time for a very rough sketch of its shape.  The log had wildflowers growing out of the spongy, decaying wood.

The amazing thing about gouache is that you can fix any mistake.  Above is the finished version of my painting.  Below are two steps along the way. I took photos with my phone to help me see the big picture, and each photo showed me something I wanted to fix.

The first one had a brown streak in the reflection that needed to be blended in.

I added some gray paint over top and around the edges to soften them.

After fixing the streak, I took another photo and noticed that the log's reflection was wider than the log itself.

I painted over the log reflection with greens and browns on the left side.  The result is below.

This photo trick magically helped me to see the big picture, and areas that needed work were obvious.

Other ways to take stock of an artwork are to step back 3 feet from it, or to look at its reflection in a hand mirror.

Sometimes, just stepping away from my painting and coming back later helps get my head out of the details so I can see what needs to be done.

When I no longer see things that I want to work on, the painting is done!

I hope you'll try some of these techniques, and that you'll take time for your art this week.

Happy Creating!