Getting together with an old friend

Right before Easter break I asked my older students what they would like to do for the rest of the year. We'd tried many new things this year, besides revisited some old favorites, and although they seemed to enjoy each project, I just wanted to know their preference. It turns out that the general consensus was that they wanted to paint. Since we've done some watercolor and acrylic in the past, I suggested gouache.

I don't know if you've ever tried gouache, but it's a great medium to use. It is like watercolor, but opaque instead of translucent. I became acquainted with gouache in college, where I slowly built up my Winsor & Newton collection of tubes, not having tons of ready cash. For some reason, possibly because I became enamored with pen and ink for awhile, I quit painting with gouache around that time.

I thought I'd share a sample that I got ready for my class this week. (We'll be doing a little from Rod Lawrence's book to get comfortable with gouache before we strike out on our own projects.)