I just bought a house. And leading up to the big move (we are moving ourselves) I decided it was a brilliant idea to commit to 20 days of daily gouache painting. As crazy as it might be to start a daily painting challenge during a hectic time, I knew I needed something to stay grounded. Painting – or anything creative – has always been my happy, calm place.
And it turns out I really needed it. I loved starting my mornings with a focused painting session before the pandemonium of the day began. I was also using it as a way to stay motivated to post online. Disappearing into the chaos of moving would have been too easy!
This wasn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done a 100 day challenge before. Now that was insane. But I always grew as an artist far beyond my imagination during that time. However I knew I needed a shorter challenge this time around. So let’s take a look..
In this post:
Challenge Parameters
- 20 Days
- Use gouache
- 20 minute timer (try not to go too far past it)
- Post results daily on Youtube and Instagram
My Supplies
- Gouache – I used my stay wet palette box with Shinhan colors
- Lemon Yellow (BUY)
- Yellow Ochre (BUY)
- Permanent Yellow Deep (BUY)
- Burnt Umber (BUY)
- Opera (BUY)
- Primary Magenta (BUY)
- Quinacridone Red (BUY)
- Burnt Sienna (BUY)
- Viridian (BUY)
- Cobalt Turquoise (BUY)
- Ultramarine Deep (BUY)
- Prussian Blue (BUY)
- I always use a tube of fresh white gouache on the side. (BUY)
- I got the palette box from Amazon (not affiliated)
- I used a fountain pen to sketch, so that I wouldn’t get too bogged down with drawing details. Using ink helps me accept any “mistakes” and move on. Plus most of it gets covered by gouache. I used my Kaweco Sport with SketchInk ‘Carmen.’ It’s waterproof.
- Brushes – I mainly used my Craftamo set.
- Paper – I got this little pad of paper while I was in Spain. It handled washes beautifully, as well as thicker layers. Definitely recommend this paper.
Lessons Learned
What did I learn from the experience? Not only did I gain a ton of brush mileage in a short time (great for technical skills), I created a really nice and efficient workflow. The 20 minute timer encouraged me to be a little more forgiving in the process. Quick sketch (ink), then jump straight into the first layer, use a heat gun to dry it, then layer the details. Time after time, I learned to trust the process. The initial wash is usually pretty messy (some call it the ‘ugly phase’) but I knew that if I just trust my vision and keep layering, I’d make it work.
That is a huge confidence booster! And yes, sometimes it doesn’t work out how I would like. But I learn a lot from those ‘mistakes,’ maybe even more.
After each session, I did a little self-critique and tried to distill everything I learned. Don’t skip this step!
Watch the Video
Was it worth it?
Absolutely yes. A “short” challenge like this wasn’t too overwhelming. There were a couple days where I questioned my sanity. But that was just my anxiety pushing back, wanting control, wanting to spend all day “being productive” (packing, moving, cleaning, etc). It turns out that devoting one solid hour to my creativity helped me be more productive, because I was happy. I wasn’t just stressed and tired. I had an outlet, some “me” time during the otherwise horrible task of moving house.
I posted closeups of each painting on Instagram (alongside the daily short videos).
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