Introduction

I've been using gouache to paint en plein air for a while now. Once upon a time, my choice of media was oils, but I grew leery of solvents and heavy metals, so they got put on a shelf. Although I make a valiant stab at landscape work, greens tend to be my Kryptonite. Fortunately, I find human-made structures to be interesting.

I try to keep my kit as spartan as possible, so my gouache is limited to a cool and a warm of each primary, plus white. I also sometimes include a "guest color" or two - typically Pthalo Green (B) and/or Dioxazine Purple; one round and one or two flat brushes; water, sponge, cup; heavy cold press paper and painter's tape; a fountain pen with a big fat fude nib. In the studio, I work at a drawing table because the habits of years of life as an illustrator die hard. On location I use a small pochade and tripod. When I put my oils away years ago, I also stopped working large. It's unusual for me to work larger than 14 inches - more typically, my sketches and paintings will be smaller than 8 x 10 inches, and sometimes they're the size of a beer coaster!

I'm very process-oriented. The path I take is more interesting to me than the actual "thing." I begin by designing; representation is less important to me than a strong visual dynamic. In fact, I'm often so much more intrigued by the initial pencil or pen sketches that they wind up being the place I stop: It would be impossible to mimic the energy of a rough sketch in a much more refined piece. (Sadly, I was never able to convince a client of that!)

I may scribble out a sketch with a fountain pen and permanent India ink, then start to play around with colors.

What I'm looking for though, is a sketch that excites me enough that I want to keep doing it.