More Jimmy Jay concept drawings in gouache

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More gouache versions of Jimmy Jay…and there’s a human in there, too. I usually paint with a size 8 brush, but today I pulled out my Winsor and Newton Series 7 size 3. It’s a sweet Kolinsky sable brush that holds lots of paint and it comes to a nice point. It’s pricey but worth the money.

No Photoshop monkey business with these paintings.

What!? There’s a human being in this picture!

I notice that gouache has an appealing gritty look when it’s thinned down.

Learning to paint clouds with watercolor

I’m practicing with my watercolors daily. In fact, I’ve got a signed contract in front of me that says I’ve agreed to practice watercolor 365 consecutive days. I signed the contract in blood. Actually, I didn’t use blood — I used my Muji 0.38mm gel pen.

I want my children’s book illustration to have cute clouds, so that’s what I’m practicing. I’ve already learned that opaque colors aren’t going to work with pen and ink drawings. I’m using Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor for these paintings, and the reds are mostly cadmiums.

And I’ve learned that I’m one impatient guy, and when I get impatient, I try to force the paint onto the page. So, in addition to practicing watercolor painting I’m now practicing being patient. It seems that I’m going to be a very admirable person by December 2019.

I have another watercolor palette filled with Daniel Smith watercolor, all transparent. I going to switch to it when I do tomorrow’s exercises.

Here are my first efforts.