I was inspired to start using color in my sketches and studies when I saw the Jenny Saville exhibition down in West Palm Beach, Florida. They showed never before seen studies of Saville’s earlier pieces including Suspension, Reflective Flesh, & Passage. The studies have a unique energy and fearlessness that the polished pieces didn’t have. I’m not saying that they are not good pieces, but they both have their distinct differences that make them beautiful works of art. Most of the studies actually were not done in gouache; they were done with oil paint on untreated paper. (Blasphemy right?…for those of you who don’t know…oil paint on an untreated surface will eat away at it over time.) Sometimes she will use gessoed watercolor paper from time to time with paintings such as Rosetta and Red Stare Head Collage. I am not saying you can never use oil on untreated paper; it isn’t like the paper will start melting in a few hours or anything like that, but over the decades the paper will start to deteriorate. The studies were actually made in the early 2000s so they have lasted a few years since they were made.
Gouache will allow me to experiment will color on a smaller scale (sketchbook size) and not make a huge mess. It is convenient not having to go through the burden of breaking out the huge palette, the canvas, the giant tubes of paint and the mineral spirits. The tubes of gouache come in small paint tubes so it is also portable. Relatively inexpensive (I get the cheap stuff anyway).
Look at that…it was done with oil paints on plain unprimed paper. This study in comparison to the completed Reflective Flesh, I think, contains more energy and vibrancy. Saville has mentioned in an interview with Simon Schama that she finds it frustrating to get something magical on a study and then try to replicate it on the larger painting and not being able to recreate it. This study ,in my opinion, is a perfect example of this.
Jenny Saville
Study for Reflective Flesh, 2001
Question….has anyone tried using acrylic medium with gouache?
