The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge: With Gouache!

Hi there and welcome to “The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge” Blog Hop. This challenge is the genius creation of the amazing Kathy Racoosin. Can you believe this is her 5th challenge? It’s gotta be a ton of work. She’s one of my stamping heroes!

k30challenge

The premise of the challenge is to color something everyday even if it’s for five minutes. It doesn’t matter what you color or what medium you use. You can jump in or out of the challenge at any time. Find out more right here on Kathy’s blog.

I can’t tell you how much I love playing along with the challenge. Because a day without coloring is just not the same.

FIVE Cards (!!!!!)

Five cards -- with Gouache! by Lisa Spangler

Yeah, I got a little carried away — what can I say! I love coloring. :)

I ended up making five cards — and I could have kept going! But I had to stop and take photos to share them with you.

These all use gouache. It’s my new addiction. :)

So, what the heck is gouache?

gouache

I thought I’d start off with a little bit about gouache — rhymes with squash. This paint is so cool. It’s kind of like watercolor, but it’s opaque. This means that you can use it on dark cardstock and it will block out the layer underneath it. Love!

It also dries to a matte finish — double love! And it doesn’t take long to dry at all, especially in this Texas heat.

Just like watercolors, you can mix colors together to form new colors. I like to add a little water to the paint to make it easier to work with. Just enough so that it spreads well. Some of the colors need more than others. You can even mix gouache with watercolors if you like!

gouache2

One last thing you should know. There are two kinds of gouache out there in the world. One is waterproof when dry, while the other reactivates with water. Generally, if the tube has a word on it that kinda resembles “acrylic” on it then it’s waterproof. It’s best to check the manufacturer’s info before purchasing. Neither one is better than the other, it just depends on what you want. Some of mine that are waterproof have the words “acryl” and “acryla”. I can’t wait to try some techniques that take advantage of this! Art journaling, anyone?

When I’m working  with gouache that dries to be waterproof I like to squeeze it out on a disposable paper plate or wax paper — that way cleanup is a snap. Before I realized it would dry hard I used a watercolor palette, oops! I’ll never do that again. I’m going to purchase this “stay-wet palette” to see how that works — I’ll report back!

If you’re just starting out with gouache I’d recommend getting some FUN colors and some basics. You could start with the primary red, green and blue and mix your own, of course. Here’s my list:

  • Winsor & Newton white and gold — both of these can be reactivated after they’ve dried! You can also mix them with watercolors. I’d say they are must-haves.
  • Turner lumi. rose and lumi. red — these have a bright, vibrant look that the camera just doesn’t do justice. They almost seem to glow! I used them on all the cactus flowers. They are waterproof when dry.
  • Winsor & Newton has this basic set that I wish I’d got to start with. It includes white and black.
  • Turner has this basic set — the greens on the cacti are mainly the perm. green light that’s in the set. These are waterproof when dry! I also mixed that green with Winsor & Newton ultramarie blue for the dark green, or white + a touch of pale aqua for the minty green.

The Process

All five cards followed pretty much the same process. First I stamped the images from the Hero Arts Stamp Your Own Cactus set with soft granite ink (supplies are listed at the end), and then I colored them with gouache.

Hero Arts Stamp Your Own Cactus (SSS)
Hero Arts Stamp Your Own Cactus (SSS)

For this one, I stamped the pot on the left in black because I really wanted it to pop! You’ll notice that I didn’t even bother to mask them since the gouache covers everything up.

stamp

The plant in the middle and the other pots are from the Hero Arts Stamp Your Own Succulents set — it mixes so well with the cactus set.

Here’s the finished card!

Cactus Trio by Lisa Spangler

 

See how the pale yellow and baby blue gouache stripes can go right over that black ink on the flowerpot? It works the same on black cardstock.

Here’s another view — I went out in the driveway and took this pic so you could see all that golden shimmer! Got some weird looks from the neighbors lol! But I wanted you to be able to see it. :)

Cactus Trio with Gouache by Lisa Spangler

The white gouache makes for some awesome spines, am I right? :)

I painted the flowers freehand with lumi. red and lumi. rose gouache.

A Closer Look

Now how about a closer look the other four cards! I’ll just add a few notes here and there about ’em that I just have to share with you.

Card #2: Howdy: This one has gold and white gouache for the spines and the sand. Notice how the white gouache shows up against the green!

Howdy by Lisa Spangler

Howdy by Lisa Spangler

Here’s another view so you can see the golden spines + sand :)

Howdy by Lisa Spangler

Card #3: Greetings from Texas: I’m at it again with the white gouache on this one! LOVE this Texas set by Kelly Purkey. It goes perfectly with prickly pear cacti! We have some in our garden. :)

Greetings from Texas by Lisa Spangler
Card #4: All The Cacti!: I left this one blank on the front because I could’t bear to cover up any of those cacti! :) I think this one is my fave — I put on music and then just colored away.

All the Cacti by Lisa Spangler

ALL the Cacti by Lisa Spangler

 

Card #5: Cuddling Cacti: Speaking of not being able to cover up anything on the front — I had to stamp the message on the inside of this one. Don’t they look like they’re cuddling? LOL! I plan to give this card to my husband.

Cuddling Cacti by Lisa Spangler

Cuddling Cacti by Lisa Spangler

Here’s a look back at all FIVE cards!

all3

Whew! Thanks for sticking with me! (Get it, sticking? ha!)

Giveaway!

At the end of the hop you will find an awesome GIVEAWAY from Hero Arts: 2 shopping sprees of $25.00 each! YEAH! Winners will be randomly selected from all the blog comments of the blog hop.

Hop On

Your next stop on the hop is Virginia Lu’s blog! I can’t wait to see what she makes — just love everything she does. She also organized this hop — thanks Virginia! She is another of my stamping heroes.

Here’s the full lineup in case you’d like to start at the beginning or encounter a broken link:

Such a great lineup — love these talented women. Can’t tell you how much it means to be able to count them as friends. So thankful for Hero Arts for bringing us all together. My heart is full.

I also wanted to say BIG thanks to all of YOU for hopping along with us! Hugs all around, and yay for this community that brings us all together.

Hope you have a great day — with time to color, if only for 5 minutes. xoxo

Supplies

Here are the main supplies that I used. These are affiliate links, so I’ll receive a small commission if you make your purchase by clicking the link. There’s no extra fee to you! :)

SSS = Simon Says Stamp and AZ = Amazon.

262 Replies to “The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge: With Gouache!”

  1. I really like how bright the colors are…the plants really pop off the cardstock. I will have to try gouache now!!!

  2. These are AMAZING!!! I LOVE the vibrant colors. Each card looks like a little painting!!

  3. I really like the gold Gouache. I don’t have a lot of room for differently coloring mediums in my small apartment, but I wonder if I could use just the gold Gouache along with other coloring mediums I already own. It is so pretty! Thank you for the wonderful inspiration!

    1. Hi Suzanne — gold gouache goes with everything! I’ve used it along with watercolors and markers :)

  4. I love the cactuses! cacti? Th are really different!

  5. Your cards are so fun – love the look created with the gouache – will have to try some !!!

  6. So cool! Love the vibrancy of the colours.

  7. Awesome cards…what a great look from the gouache!

  8. I really love the look of your cards with the gouache. They are great. Thanks.

  9. Wow! I love your technique and the colors that you get are wonderful!

  10. Awesome cards!! But oh no…another coloring medium or choice…just can’t handle it…LOL!! I do love that you don’t have to mask because it colors right over the other colors…how cool is that right??

  11. Your cards are darling!
    Thanks for the gouache info. Something else to buy. 😉 I’d love to try them on craft or black.

  12. great to learn about a new product (to me). Your explanation was great on how to use it.

  13. Love these products. Thanks for the art and the post. Nice work!

  14. Love your cards – especially the designs you painted on your pots!

  15. i remember going into an art store many many years ago and asking for gouache without knowing how to pronounce it properly. Other patrons laughed at me but I got the product. Haven’t used it in over 25 years but after seeing your cards it’s going on my blick list. Thanks for the inspiration.

  16. Oh my gosh! I love the southwestern look of your cards! I need that stamp set! Thank you for sharing your beautiful cards!
    Elaine

  17. JoAnn K Delery says:

    i ordered my W&N Gouche paint set from amazon because i love your cards so much and i have both hero arts succulent sets! thanks lisa for your recommendation!

    1. Awwww thanks so much JoAnn! Have fun with the gouache!! xo

  18. I’ve been wondering about Gouche, but I’ve been too much of a chicken to try them out. I don’t know why I thought you’d have to be well-trained in fine arts to use this medium!!! After reading this post, I ordered a small-tubed starter set. Just wondering – can I use my watercolor brushes for gouche? Any recommendations? Thanks a bunch!

    1. Hi Enna! Yes, you sure can use your watercolor brushes. Have fun! xoxo!

  19. […] at it with the gouache! I’ve been a little obsessed with it for months, actually. Check out this post for a brief intro to gouache and a set of cactus […]

  20. Great…now I have a new paint on my wish list! I really like the vibrancy of the colors.

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