I am thrilled to share with you some more watercolor and gouache painting tips with my first DVD release coming out Dec.22, 2008! It's been a real pleasure working with the folks over at The Gnomon Workshop in Los Angeles, Ca. I am planning more in the series, including on site sketching, mood sketches, time of day studies and how to approach master studies down the road.

Watercolor & Gouache DVD

Mixed media/digital color sketches for a landscape painting commission. The finished size will be 45x60 inches in oils.
(Mono chromatic gouache underpainting scanned in with Painter X work over that.)

Suggested Materials list for Workshop:

Watercolors:

M.Graham makes a nice line, but W&N are fine too.

Burnt Sienna

Burnt Umber

Ivory Black

Yellow Ochre

Ultramarine Blue

Anthraquinone Blue

Hansa Yellow

Quinacridone Red

Sap Green Permanent/ or Virdian


Gouaches: M.Graham

Titanium White

Ivory Black


Gouache Extras: Not needed, but nice to experiment with.

Daler Rowney Brand

Delft Blue, Neutral Gray 1, 2, 3. Warm Gray 1,2,3. Van Dyke Brown Hue


Watercolor Brushes:

Blick Master Kolinsky Sable Brushes work great!

Sizes 1,4, 6 Plus any kind of Synthetic blend Flat brush, 3/4 inch wide. (Robert Simmons Short Handle Sapphire Brushes work fine for flats.

Paper Blocks:

Fabriano Artistico Watercolor Block Hot Press 5"x7", 9"x12", Cold Press same size to see texture differences.

Drawing Tools,

Penicls - 2b, kneaded eraser, vine charcoal, pitt artist pens, fine tip and brush tip.

SketchBook (smooth paper) of your choice, not too small.


Water jar, paper towels.

Upcoming Fall 2008 Painting Workshop!

Gouache and Watercolor Painting in Mendocino, CA

Workshop info & Location:
Fall/Fine Art Section

Please join me for a fun weekend, exploring two of my favorite mediums.
________________________________________________________
October 4 - 5, 2008
GOUACHE AND WATERCOLOR PAINTING
Erik Tiemens
Class begins Saturday, October 4th. Two day workshop meets Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Tuition: $175 (members may take a $25 discount on one workshop per year). NOTE: THIS CLASS IS FOR INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED STUDENTS.

From the smallest thumbnail sketch to more finished works in the field, discover the importance of planning and seeing more options in your compositions, color palettes and tonal combinations before committing time on larger studio paintings. The workshop will go over techniques to previsualize your final idea and truly see the many options a location can inspire in a final painting. By combining the best of gouache’s opaque-change friendly qualities with watercolor’s transparent subtlety you can work more efficiently in capturing lighting, atmosphere and tonal information. Intermediate to Advanced. Tuition: $175.

Recent sketches from my trip on the East Coast. Fantastic clouds there! I also got to see the Turner show and a nice collection of Dutch landscape paintings from the 17th century at the Met in NYC. In addition a real highlight was getting together with Jim Gurney and his wife Jeanette for some outdoor plein air painting.. lots of fun. My friend Bill Mather joined me too.

"The Unknown Path" 16x20"

Recent oil painting on panel that was created for the Totoro Forest Project. There will be an auction and a book of the artwork with 200 artists sharing their creations this September with selected pieces being shown at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, Ca. All proceeds will go to help save the Sayama forest near Tokyo which is threatened by development.

More info here:

I just wanted to mention I will be giving a workshop this weekend
(June 15, 2008) in Hollywood, California with the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.
Many talented folks who I have worked with and are friends with
will be presenting too. Should be fun. I hope to see you there if you are in the area.

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/events.html


I am doing a workshop this October in Northern California (Mendocino) also.
This will have more of a focus for fine artists and concept artist who
want to improve their sketching skills and how to work with gouache and watercolor
in the planning stages for more finished work.

http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/PSS_Cart.36.LassoApp?category=189&feature2=Fall

Watercolor & Gouache still life. Quick study of textures and edges.

Part 3 Gouache Demo (last section)

Part 2 of the 3 part Gouache Demo. Thanks for all the positive feedback!

1 of 3 (5 minutes each) quicktime videos. This is a my first demo, done spur of the moment and fairly sloppy but gets the idea across. The main theme of the lesson here is starting loose, letting shapes evolve into forms that are influenced by moody light.



Enjoy!

This has been saved as a Gouache Demo painting - 16 mins long. I will break this into several parts so it can be uploaded. As it stands it is 254 mb. 3 parts should work.
Coming Soon!

'Storm Castle' 5x7 gouache

Gouache figure studies on dark blue paper. 20 minute poses.

Study of young oaks with spring running down a trail.

After our recent rains and severe winds in Northern California the hills are saturated with moisture and will provide for a robust springtime. I opted for a monochromatic study in browns and grays on Fabriano/ Artistico traditional white cotton paper. 12" x 18" is roughly the size of this gouache/watercolor. I had to work fast for the almost impossible capture of detail and shifting light. I was interested in the sweeping S curve and the small cliffs catching light in the background. Working in black and white reminds of the old newspaper illustrations from the turn of the century (1900). I was also thinking about Ruisdael again with his large tree drawings approached with grays washes.