Painting Atmospheric Landscapes with Gouache
A course by Ruth Wilshaw, Artist and Author
Learn how to paint layered landscapes with a magical atmosphere using gouache paint
The ability to pull the viewer into your magical scene takes both imagination and technique. Ruth Wilshaw is a self-taught painter with a passion for exploring nature and depicting the wonders of it through her art. She enjoys sharing her love for gouache and has recently published a book Creative Gouache, encouraging her readers to have fun with this medium.
In this course, Ruth shows you a new way to explore the beauty of the natural world and how to translate it into a layered gouache painting. Combine bold colors with dark silhouettes, learn gouache techniques, study texture, and discover ways to stay inspired.
What will you learn in this online course?
22 lessons & 30 downloads
What's included in this course?
Begin by getting to know painter Ruth Wilshaw as she tells the story of how she found her passion for painting with gouache. She talks of her early experience with art, her influences, what excited her into making gouache painting a full-time career, and some of her work that may inspire you too.
Explore gouache paints, learning about the four basic consistencies, how to layer, and the different ways to blend. Ruth also guides you through some common landscape elements, such as sky and water, as well as the value of adding silhouettes.
Discover how to find your inspiration in nature by looking at a collection of images and exploring their qualities, commonalities, and magic. Then understand how to take what you’ve found and transfer it into a plan for your painting.
Once your plan is in place and inspiration is flowing, it’s time to paint your rough-edged waterfall landscape. Ruth walks you through using color to capture the right atmosphere for your piece, ordering and sketching the layers of your paint as a guide, and building your landscape from background to foreground.
Ruth shares a selection of her favorite methods for painting different landscape elements. She discusses experimenting with texture before you paint, and gives advice on different approaches to painting and how to stay inspired. She also explains her tips on how to photograph artwork and document the process for social media.
- 99% positive reviews (444)
- 12,625 students
- 22 lessons (4h 20m)
- 30 additional resources (19 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Paint an atmospheric waterfall landscape using gouache paint and a range of techniques.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone interested in exploring landscape painting.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience or knowledge is required.
In terms of materials, you will need gouache paints, synthetic paintbrushes, watercolor paper, and other materials specified by the teacher in the course.
Reviews
Ruth Wilshaw
A course by Ruth Wilshaw
Ruth Wilshaw is a full-time artist specializing in painting landscapes with gouache. As a child, she never missed an opportunity to draw or paint. Although she was always motivated by her inner creativity, Ruth was disappointed in the subjective attitude to art during college and decided to leave. Years later, she found inspiration from the show The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, and once her artistic fire had been rekindled, Ruth was determined to explore painting once more, first with other mediums such as charcoal and watercolor before finally falling in love with gouache.
Since then, after amassing a large Instagram following of over 100K, she has established a full-time career and written the book Creative Gouache and continues to share her work and processes on social media.
Content
-
U1
Introduction
-
About Me
-
Influences
-
-
U2
Getting to Know Gouache
-
About Gouache
-
Materials
-
Consistency
-
Layering
-
Blending 1
-
Blending 2
-
Landscape Basics 1
-
Landscape Basics 2
-
Landscape Basics 3
-
Landscape Basics 4
-
-
U3
Finding Magic
-
Being Inspired
-
The Shape of the Painting
-
Turning an Idea into a Plan
-
-
U4
Painting a Magical Waterfall
-
Starting with Colour
-
Layers and Sketching
-
The First Layer or Background
-
The Middle Ground
-
The Foreground
-
-
U5
Moving Forward
-
Texture Studies
-
Staying Inspired and Sharing Your Work
-
-
FP
Final project
-
Painting Atmospheric Landscapes with Gouache
-
What to expect from a Domestika course
-
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
-
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
-
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
-
Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
-
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
-
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
-
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
-
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for beginners and covers foundational gouache techniques, landscape painting basics, and essential materials to get you started.
You’ll need gouache paints, a selection of brushes, watercolor or toned paper, a palette, water container, paper towels, and reference photos. The course provides guidance on choosing brands and tools.
You’ll learn core gouache techniques, layering, blending, creating textures, painting realistic and fantasy landscapes, and developing your personal art style.
Gouache is more opaque than watercolor, allowing for bold colors, strong layering, and easy corrections. The course explains key differences and how to transition from watercolor to gouache.
Yes, the course covers blending and layering techniques for smooth gradients, textured backgrounds, and atmospheric effects in landscape scenes.
Yes, you’ll learn how to paint reflections, sky gradients, fluffy clouds, and light effects using gouache-specific methods.
Absolutely! The course includes tips for adding fantasy elements, magical lighting, and imaginative details to your landscape paintings.
Gostei do curso, aprendi técnicas de como pintar grama, água do mar e silhuetas.
Cours très intéressant, et la voix est apaisante.
I love Ruth as a tutor, but her YouTube videos which are much better. They are super simple where the focus is just on the artwork and the color palette. I don’t know why they have so many cuts in these videos. Absolutely destroys the immersion. Please remake the videos in her style.
Me ha encanta. Enseña muchas tecnicas de manera muy sencilla.
Muy interesante y con consejos muy útiles.