Gouache Style Experiments

 I chose Talonmour Kaens to experiment style with. I used gouache for how versatile it is and unable to use oil paint due to not having good ventilation at all times.
  I kept colour swatches in my sketchbook of everything i used. I even had a little look into using oil pastels but due to my usual undeveloped skill in that medium i decided it was best to stick to what i know right now.
   I decided to use green as the main colour for Kaens right now as i was feeling drawn to it, and it made sense with their connection to snakes. I didnt want to explore their skin pattern like scales due to not everyone else having that detail. I wanted to explore styles that worked for every poster for consistency, rest of the personal details can be added later for the actual poster.
      I painted the green background first to create a colour tone underneath her skin to build up on top. I wanted this paint style to be slightly patchy in different tones but layered on thick. I added the red as i really like how it bled in the paint, however next time i would need to use a smaller brush to create thin lines going down. I also noticed that i needed to add more dark green to create a shadow behind Kaens as the shadow here is very subtle.
  I then focused on building up the skin tones; that was most important to figure out what style would work for the performers. As i layered on different tones i needed to remember where the light was hitting the body. I included some lines going across the body as well instead of just little patches that would all blend together when not focused on the image. I feel these lines catch the eye as they disrupt the skin tones.
 
 I layered the colours some more so some areas didnt look so watered down in comparison. Then added more pinker tones for some shading and warmer appearance. I painted her eyes and horns white as the blankness in the eyes adds to that alien look and how Kaens doesnt connect to humans. I am intrigued in the idea of painting the body a solid white or black colour for a leathery like appearance when it comes to the personal poster.
  The shadow behind Kaens definitely works better here but i think the shape is wrong to the face and needs be more exaggerated by the horns. I think i am quite fond of this style as it definitely works with the 19150s illustration appearance but also appears dirty, which ties into how deceitful characters are usually dirtier when stereotyped. If i was to alter this into Kaens poster i would remove the red background details, instead add the snake in which ill be red.

   For the next experiment, i took the style i did for an old piece that i showed in "Artist" under Graua (the black n white Lady in block shading). I tried to do a similar style here, using green and white for shading. I did the block style more loosely as they blocks were not that strict as i used multiple green shades. I decided to do more colours as i want the performers to appear more life like compared to the 2D appearance of the lady i did in Unit 2. However, i do think i needed to work out stricter light/shadow lines all over the body as some areas appear a bit too empty.
   The face is a lot better as i was able to see more shadow/ light spaces compared to the shoulders. I think more light is needed on her back and then shadows on the shoulder closer to the wall. I do really enjoy painting in this style and it could work more efficiently like this with practice and looking into using light for photo shoots to base my paintings off. However, i feel this wont work well for all the performers as not all of them have a significant colour to use, or too much detail to their appearance that wont translate well in this style. Last of all, some of the paint is too patchy when it needs to be in a solid block colour; i think this occurred due to me trying to revive the same colour without having to re-mix the colour and having it appearing slightly differently.

   I chose to go back to skin colours and go for a more faint water colour appearance. I layered up skin tones again, but toned back the shades to paler colours with the shading being the only bold parts. The watery consistency in the paint aided the faint soft appearance and a youthful look.
   I changed Kaens eyes to black this time as i felt white wouldn't really show/look effective with how pale Kaen is here. Then altered the last two small features of the face that appeared in the other works. The line down the forehead was on purpose, inspired by the makeup i did for a Witch photo shoot,(i showed earlier on Madame Etolarac Sketch). The tear shape under the eye occurred on the first painting, i felt the appearance suited Kaen and balanced the line out on her face. On this painting, these features are the most bold, due to these details blending in on the green painting. The red also compliments the pink tones in Kaens skin. Which pulled together nicely with the circus tent stripes i add after.
   This style is the softest and most appealing appearance as the first one, due to the green undertones, Kaen looks sickly. I think if i pulled the first style together with this one it could work. For instance if i follow through with the posters starting of bright, then growing darker. Then the brighter posters can be painted like soft Kaen as it looks innocent, then as it gets darker they get dirtier and appear more like first painting.

    For the last painting, i was feeling quite uninspired and tired at this point as it was late. I wanted to fill the gap on the page so went for a more relaxed style. I took small elements from each painting above, the use of green for the skin, patchy/rough paint and light/soft areas. I added some raw sienna as i felt the green was too much by itself and needed something to contrast it. I do like how the paint appears on the neck and shoulders. Its patchy and shows the paint strokes. If i could create that consistently on the face as well, also break out of the lines more as i feel it looks too controlled for this style.
   Overall, i will not be doing this style for the posters as it is undeveloped and, similar to the green one earlier, wouldn't work efficiently for all the performers.

  I received some feedback and really appreciated this comment as i got to see what an outsider thought of these paintings. The questions they brought up was interesting and is the sort of reaction i want with the performers so people feel the need to explore further to see for themselves, leading them to the lie.