Artists' Gouache Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

*******

Are you enjoying the December 2022 Artists' Gouache Set - Strolling Through New York Release Blog Hop? So many inspirational projects to jump start your inner artist! After all, isn't that what card making / papercrafting is all about? The need to create/craft something every day is so very satisfing to me! Even if it is only a 10 minute practice watercolor. I was thrilled to be asked to give the new Artists' Gouache Set from ALTENEW a first look. This post gives you my journey through the set.

First impressions of the Artistry Gouache Set Strolling Through New York:

I am such a newbie to gouache I thought it was pronounced ganache as in the chocolate, that's the newbie that I am, lol.

Below are the swatches of each color in the set:

I masked off a strip of watercolor paper for several practice windows, grabbed some clean water and brushes.

The set already had the color swatching done on the side of the packaging, so I jumped right in by painting an elementary bloom to get accustomed with the pigment and learn how much water it took to make a very simple flower and leaves. Of course, I began with Primary Yellow straight from the tube. 

Next I simply added a wash of the same color for the background. added a tiny bit of detail to the petals and let the window dry completely.

After fuller dry, I played with the Pistachio Green for leaves and splatter.

And finally, Primary Cyan mixed in with the two previous colors to see how the colors mixed.  Making MUD by mixing too many colors is a struggle for me, so constantly reminding myself to keep it simple was definitely a minute by minute reminder...the colors are so tempting to play with ALL of them at once!

*******

Next day I moved on to a few free hand florals, which was a learning experience as well.

*******

Here is a second freehand floral using more of the colors in the set. For this one, I allowed for more dry time between layers to get more depth/definition. However it doesn't take long for them to dry, which is good, because I was excited to keep going! The colors are more opaque with less water. For most of the detail elements in my arrangement I dabbed the brush straight into the tube for pure intense color.

*******

Finally, I colored a more detailed gouache on a stamped image of Wonderland, to enjoy mixing and layering the gouache for gauzy petals :)  I was thrilled with the completed result!

Petal Colors: Coral Red, Ruby Red, and Baby Pink

Stem colors: Lagoon, Primary Cyan, Misty Teal, and Prussian Blue

A kiss of Primary Yellow to make everything HAPPY! And a hint of black Fine liner pen for more drama.

Splattering and wash of all the colors for the background after masking off the flowers. Then a quick sentiment stamped with Grey Denim

*******

After working with the Artistry Gouache Set Strolling Through New York for a few days, I'm wondering what I've done without it in my life! The kids told me, 'Mom this looks like you've used your crayons,' which is and will always be my favorite coloring medium! 

Was thrilled at how easy the pigment moves and found it more enjoyable to work with than regular watercolors. The hues are vibrant, a little bit goes a long way, and on watercolor paper, excess color can be daubed up with a paper towel. It works famously for splatter too. 

Thanks for reading through my First Impressions of the Strolling Through New York Gouache set. Leave me a comment before you leave telling me if you have ever worked with gouache before. 

HOP along to your NEXT stop along the way....the talented Therese Calvird!

Giveaway Prizes:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a *$100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $20 gift certificate to 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 12/12/2022 for a chance to win. 

Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 12/14/2022.

*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

 

Blog Hop Order:

Altenew Blog

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Virginia Lu

Kelly Griglione

LauraJane You are here

Therese Calvird

Erum Tasneem

Joylita Dsouza

Agnieszka Małyszek

Jenny Colacicco

***FREE brand-new Journal Flowers Stamp Set ($9.99 value) on orders over $79 from 12/07/2022 at 12:01 am EST until 12/11/2022 at 11:59 pm EST. The free gift will be added to the cart automatically on eligible orders while supplies last.

HAPPY Crafting!

LauraJane:)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter