Guided Project: Create A Strange Animal

Guided Project: Experiment with expressive gouache illustration

“Don't know where to start? No problem. This project is designed to help you work with gouache in a creative and experimental way. Whether you're already experienced with this medium or completely new to it, the important thing is to enjoy the process and try new things. If you can't think of your own idea, you can use one of the following five suggestions as a starting point or adapt it to your own style. 1. Expressive Portrait: Paint what you feel, not what you see Description: Create a portrait that focuses on emotional impact rather than realistic representation. Use gouache to express feelings through color, texture, and composition. Whether it's a self-portrait or someone else, it's all about atmosphere. Project example: A self-portrait in cool colors and abstract forms, expressing thoughtfulness or melancholy – with loose brushstrokes and lots of movement. 2. Mood series: Three pictures, three emotions Description: Paint a series of three illustrations depicting different moods—for example, joy, calm, and chaos. Experiment with color contrasts, unusual compositions, and a free use of brushes and surfaces. Project example: Three heads in different color moods: warm and bright for joy, desaturated green for calm, dark, irregular structures for restlessness or fear. 3. Man and Nature: Connected Forms Description: Create an illustration that blends a human portrait with elements from nature—plants, water, fire, stone. Use gouache to create smooth transitions and incorporate transparency or texture. Project example: A face that merges into leaves, branches and moss – with soft transitions and natural colors that overlap. 4. Negative space as a design element Description: Create an illustration that deliberately uses white space. Use the surface of the paper as an active part of the composition. Work deliberately with contrasts between painted and unpainted areas. Project example: A delicate silhouette surrounded by deep blue shapes, with the empty space between the colored areas becoming the main character. 5. Gouache Collage: Combine painting and material Description: Use cut-outs of paper, patterns, or old materials and integrate them with gouache painting to create an experimental collage. Play with structure, color, and rhythm. Project example: A figure collage made of wrapping paper and painted surfaces in bold colors, complemented by geometric shapes and spontaneous brush gestures. ”

Course summary for: Guided Project: Create A Strange Animal

• Level: Beginner
• 141 students
• 1 unit
• 6 lessons (1h 20m)
• 10 downloads

• Category

  Illustration

• Areas

  Watercolor Painting