Two Gouaches

I've been working with gouache (opaque watercolor) for almost a year and am still learning of course.  For the plein air paint-outs I go on, sometimes I feel gouache will work better for what I have in mind than transparent watercolor.  On many plein air outings in the past few months I've painted a gouache piece in addition to my watercolor.  While my transparent watercolor washes are drying I can work on a smaller gouache.  Or, sometimes the time I have to spend is short so I just try a gouache.  The paint dries faster than watercolor and I paint at a smaller size, 5x7", so far.  

I have two recent gouache pieces to share.  The first I painted last Saturday with the group on Avenue 64 in Highland Park, a neighborhood of Los Angeles.  Our location was the Church of the Angels, 1889, but the hillside across the street from the church caught my eye.  I thought the houses and trees might be fun to try in gouache as I wasn't feeling up to the church's architecture.  I found an old photo of the church online which shows the hillside I painted before it was covered with homes.    

Another recent paint-out was at the Pasadena Playhouse, 1925, built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.  Finding some shade the day we were there was a challenge so I decided to use gouache to paint my view of the courtyard arches and hibiscus from some shaded steps.  I'll be back at both of these locations to paint other views!

5 x 7"

5 x 7"