I’ve always wanted to try using gouache, an opaque variation of watercolor that offers the look and feel of watercolor with the added benefit of allowing you to layer light over dark.

This scan is a raw scan of the results of my gouache experiment. Honestly, I prefer to draw and paint free-hand to my Wacom tablet. I don’t have the greatest graphics card and I often get lags in performance between the pen stroke and the software causing frustration. There’s also the issue of the actual “tooth” of the paper that can’t be replicated on my low-end pen tablet.

What do I notice? Well, first of all, I need to save the line work for the end of the wash. Secondly, I will start to use watercolor paper as this experiment was on cheap sketch pad paper that curled up and probably didn’t let the paint do its work. Lastly, I need to work a little bigger, these are small-scale drawings of about 3″ x 5″.

Ultimately, it was a fun venture. I’m going to continue to experiment with both mediums, traditional and all-digital. There’s something that’s very satisfying about using real materials and making a real mess. Sometimes, you have to make if slower and more complicated. Especially if you’re cartooning a guy wearing a dunce cap, a renaissance-era man-blouse, a duck floaty, no pants and clown shoes. COMEDY GOLD JERRY!

Thanks for stopping by!