Art Journaling with Shari Carroll: Gouache Painted Background
Welcome everyone!!! Its Shari here trying out some Gouache paints for a colorful background. I’ve never tried them before so I picked up the Paper Fashion Set 2 from American Crafts. This background was a practice sheet that I ended up liking, so into my journal it went.
You may be asking yourself, what are Gouache paints? They are opaque watercolors that have a few fantastic qualities about them. You can water them down like watercolors or use them straight from the tube. You can layer colors on top of each other, even lights over darks!! You can paint over pencil lines without the need to erase. They dry flat with a matte finish. Oh.. and they remain water reactive even once they’ve dried!
I started off trying a watered down wash then continued building color on top. I mixed my colors as I went just to see how they worked. Just playing with them to create a colorful background gave me an idea of how different they are from watercolors.
I was also wondering how they differ from acrylic paints. One thing that stood out was how they dry, I didn’t have any brush strokes, they dry flat. Clean-up is much easier and you can use all your watercolor brushes with them. And finally, you can easily journal over them since they don’t leave a coated finish.
Once I had my background glued in place in my journal, I added splats of Paper Fashion Pearl Liquid Metal for a bit of shine. From there I went about decorating the page with die cuts and gems.
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So beautiful!!!
How lovely! Thanks for sharing this with us. I’ve never used Gouache and this gives me a little better understanding of it.
Great project.
Stunning work of art, I love the background and pretty vellum flowers!
Beautiful page!! That background looks awesome!
What a lovely design! Just beautiful!
Beautiful, love the colors you used, you make it look easy. Thanks.
OMG! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the gems! Gorgeous card!
Oh- I love this idea. So pretty. I want to try this!
Really Beautiful!! I love the look of the teardrop gems in the leaves!!
Love this page, super beautiful! Thanks for the amazing inspiration!
Gosh you can make a practice sheet look pretty. I already follow by email.
Shari, you are so creative! Love all the colors!
This is just beautiful Shari
Wow….just wow…that gouache painting is just stunning, Shari! I can now see I need something else on my paint shelf! Those colors – beautiful – and for a trial page…yum! Love how the whole page came together…Total inspiration – thanks!
WOW, your colors are FABULOUS!
Wow this is really beautiful!
What an interesting and fun set of paints.
Great colors!
gorgeous project – great mix of colours!
Lovely background. I have never used gouache paints before. Would love to try them sometime.
Very pretty – I love the colour layering.
Beautiful – love that wash of artsy colour in the background.
Watching you create is absolutely mesmerizing. I’ve never used gouache paint before, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it, but it looks wonderful. Your background is stunning.
This is stunning Shari, I love how you made the background and I am still in love with the leaves die. Thank you so much for showing this awesome project.
Great project
Wow! Beautiful background and looks easy to do. Love that leaf die and all the embellishments you added.
This is so beautiful! I love the background!
Beautiful as always and it’s always good to learn about new products, or new to me products!
Oh my this is lovely! Thanks for the video!
Really inspires me to play – lots of new products to add to my wishlist!
Absolutely beautiful.
Oh my! What amazing colors and it is so dreamy how they layer! I am very intrigued with these watercolors. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Another amazing project, Shari!
This project and all the details are totally amazing!!!
WOW!!!!!!!
Beautiful journal page!!! Love the colorful background, and the bling just ties it all together!!! ? Watercolors tend to intimidate me, but watching you makes me want to push myself to practice more with them!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!! ???️
What a beautiful background. The whole project is stunning!
love the delicate die!
This is super pretty!
Thanks for the explanation of what Gouache is – I’ve always wondered but kept forgetting to look it up. Your page is lovely!
I love the softness in these colours. Thank you for commenting on the difference from acrylic paints as I was wondering the same thing!
Beautiful project! Great video!
I’ve never heard of Gouache paints before, but oh, your background is fabulous with all of the opaque soft coloured layers. Thanks for the video. I always enjoy your process.
Hi Shari,
Question about the gouache: Do you think the Prima Marketing Gouache sold by Simon now is on par to what you used in this video by American Craft (which is no longer carried by Simon it appears). I loved the colors in the American Craft palette.
So creative!