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tips for using white gouache

step by step how to

• Stamp the flowers from the Mom’s Spring Flowers set in Pumice Stone Distress Ink on a piece of Neenah Desert Storm Card.
• I find that fine details quickly lose definition when coloured or painted and so I like to go over those lines with a black marker. Here I drew over the stamen of the flowers, but I would do the same, for example, with the features of the face of people or animals. It saves having to add those in at the end and try and guess where the original lines were.
• Colour with pencils, I used Faber Castell Polychromos, but there are a lot of options on the market – just use what you have.

• I wanted the flowers to appear like white blossoms. You could add lots and lots of white pencil when colouring the flowers, but a quick and easy tip is to paint the petal with white gouache first before colouring on top.
• I used the gouache again to add highlight interests around the colouring. I added dots for the tops of the stamens, a few swooshes on the petals where the light would catch them and even a little to emphasise the veins on the leaves.
• Finally, I pulled out the black pen again and drew in the outline in a few places which would’ve been in the deepest shadow. Essentially, adding the white gouache and then the pen work at the end emphasised the lightest highlights and darkest shadows, bringing in contrast and interest.

• Back to the white gouache, I tell you, it is essential in my kit! Splatter lightly over the flowers and onto the untouched kraft card around them. This simple trick helps the flowers to become a part of the card as a whole rather than stuck on one edge.
• Stamp the ‘sending hugs’ greeting from the Clean Line Stacks set in Nocturne ink and trim out before adding to the coloured panel with foam tape.
• Use foam tape again to attach the panel to a card base cut and scored from Ivory card.
• Embellish with enamel dots.

supplies

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.