Counting Sheep

An artist friend of mine has been working in gouache. I recently saw her work at a show, and marveled at how clean and flat the medium was (or at least her use of it). It looked as much like opaque ink or a print than something done with paint, brush and hand. Also, I was slightly surprised to realize I had never used gouache - didn't know the first thing about this very basic medium.

Fast forward a few months, and I received a basic set of gouache paints from my daughter for Christmas (with a little directional help from my wife). And a set of brushes from my son (with less directional help).

And I felt like pulling them out and getting a sense of them. The *ahem* quality of the brushes were a significant hinderance. But then, goal was more exploratory, anyway. I do not see myself ever producing works in the medium, but I can easily see myself using a dot or stroke to accent works in other media.

Also, as the picture implies, I was very tired. I thought this could be a quick, lazy way out for the evening. Turns out, not so much.