Learning objectives
■ How to simplify a variety of greens
■ How to see and paint in layers
■ Working dark to light with gouache
As gouache has such strong covering power, you can paint on a great variety of supports; I used Arches Cold-pressed oil-painting paper for this painting, which has a lovely surface, more like a watercolour paper, but slightly grittier. You could use acrylic or watercolour paper, canvas board or mountboard, but I suggest you choose something with some texture to help with the painting process.
I have recently discovered the Shiraz range of brushes from Rosemary & Co. which I now use for all my gouache painting projects, as they are perfect for the medium, but you can use any watercolour brushes you have. The Shiraz brushes are just a little stiffer and snappier than everyday watercolour brushes. For this painting I used six brushes (see
