GOUACHE BEGINNER

Winter Blues
PROJECT PACK

3 GOUACHE TUTORIALS
SUITABLE FOR ALL ABILITIES

Snowy Hills
A Wintery Lake
Winters Moon

TUTORIALS + TIPS

RUTH WILSHAW MODERN GOUACHE

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 SUPPLIES
PAINTS

Blue, black and white gouache paints. You could also use acrylic paints
for these projects if you want to paint them on a canvas or wood panel.

PAINTING SURFACE

Watercolor paper will work great for these, either loose or in a

sketchbook. I use my Field Artist sketchbooks or Canson XL cold press
watercolor pad.

BRUSHES

A selection of a couple of larger flat brushes and a few rounds will work
for these projects. The smallest round I used was a size 1 and the largest
a size 4. I also used a small filbert brush, but you can use a round if you
don't have one .

The snow speckles are made with a stiff bristled brush or an old tooth
brush.

TAPE

The tape I use around my paintings is Scotch Magic Tape. It works great
with the papers mentioned above. Test out any tape you use before
painting; you don't want to get to the end before finding that your
tape wont peel off!

OTHER ITEMS

You will need a palette for mixing your paints, clean water and a paper
towel or cloth for wiping your brushes. I recommend mixing your
paints with a rubber brush to avoid wasting paint and causing damage
to your brushes.

You will also need a small circular object to draw around for the
Winters Moon tutorial.

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 Snowy Hills
INTRODUCTION
This little snowy scene is a great way to have a go BEFORE YOU START
at blending and layering with gouache.
A wider flat brush will make it easier
I painted it in a portrait format, but there's no to create a smooth blend for your
reason it couldn't be square or round. sky. I used a ¾ flat for this.

I hope you enjoy painting this scene. If you share

If you are intimidated by painting a
your version on Instagram, tag me @ruthwilshaw tree shape, take a look at the tips on
as I’d love to see it! page 16 first.

Before flicking snow onto your

page, test it out on a scrap piece of
paper.

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1. Using a wide flat brush, paint a
smooth sky blend that is darker
at the top and lighter at the
bottom. Your sky should take up
2/3 of the page.
4. Add a third lighter layer of
hills, again leaving a little of
the previous layers showing.
2. For your most distant hills,
paint an irregular dark blue
line across the bottom of
your sky.
5. Add your fourth layer of hills
in an even lighter blue. There
should be a little space left at
the bottom.
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3. With a slightly lighter blue,
paint another uneven line
leaving some of the distant
hills visible.
6. Use a small round brush to
add the trunks of your trees
in white. The paint should
have as little water added as
possible- just enough to make
it come off the brush easily.
7. Starting at the top of the
tree, use your small brush to
dab the white gouache in
small branch shapes.
8. Allow the branches to curve
up slightly at the tips and
make them reach farther
from the trunk as you work
down the tree.
9. Your tree will be more dense
towards the base where there
are more branches.

10. Repeat the same technique
for the second tree.
11. Use the same white to fill in
the foreground at the bottom
of the painting. Add just a tiny
bit of the lightest blue to the
white to give it some shadows
and dimension.
12. Add an additional tree on the
right hand side. Make it a
different height than the
previous two.

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13. If your white is not very
opaque or has mixed with the
background in places, you can
wait until it has dried and re-
apply the white over the top.
14. Mix a watery white gouache 15. Add a few larger snowflakes
and use a stiff bristled paint with your small round brush
brush or an old tooth brush to and peel off your tape!
flick snow onto your scene. I
would suggest testing this
technique on a piece of scrap
colored paper first.
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 A Wintery Lake
INTRODUCTION
This is a fun round painting to have a go at with
gouache or acrylic. A couple of years back I used
acrylics to paint this scene on small wood slices as
Christmas decorations for friends and family.
Painted on paper, it would make a great
Christmas card or gift tag!
I hope you enjoy painting this scene. If you share
your version on Instagram, tag me @ruthwilshaw
as I’d love to see it!
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BEFORE YOU START
You can find instructions for
creating a round mask with tape on
page 11.
If you are intimidated by painting
this one in a round shape, you can
always paint it square.
Take a look at the extra instructions
for the trees and deer shapes on
pages 11 and 16 before starting.
If you don’t have a small enough
brush for the deer, or an unsteady
hand, do this step with a black pen.
1. Paint half of your circle in
a radial gradient that is
lighter in the center and
darker towards the outer
edge.
4. Add white to the
unpainted section across
the middle of your
painting. Don’t worry if it
mixes with the blue.
2. Leaving a horizontal bare
space for your snowy
ground, paint the bottom
of the circle with your
darkest blue. Leave a small
area in the center of this
dark water.
5. Down each side of the
lake, use the white to
create snowy ground
around the waters edge.
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3. Add a lighter blue to the
small section you left
unpainted and blend into
the darker blue with
horizontal brush strokes.
6. Allow the white to dry and
then add more white to
areas that you want to be
brighter.
7. Use a small round brush
to place the trunks of the
trees in black. Make a
droopy snow-laden tree
shape using a small filbert
brush, or a round brush if
you don't have a filbert.
Both tree options can be
seen on page 16.
10. Paint the snow on all of
your black tree shapes.
8. Paint all of the black tree
shapes and allow to dry.
11. Use the very tip of a small
brush to add a few
sparkles to the water in
white.
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9. Using the same filbert
brush but with white this
time, add the snow to
your trees.
12. Use a small brush to paint
in the deer silhouette. You
can see instructions for
how to break down the
deer shape on page 11.
13. Finally, mix up a watery
white mix and flick some
snow onto the scene. Add
a few larger snowflakes
with the tip of your small
round brush. Peel off your
tape to finish!

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 Creating a circle mask

1. Draw your circle 2. Apply your tape so
lightly in pencil. that it is over the
line you have drawn.
3. Use a sharp knife to 4. Carefully peel the
carefully cut sections of tape
through just the away that are inside
tape, following your the circle.
pencil line.

Painting a deer silhouette

1. Start with a bean 2. Add the legs. 3. Paint the head 4. Join the head to
shape for the and ears. the body.
body.

5. Add a little tail 6. Start the antlers 7. Add the main 8. Paint the
bump. with two small antler stems. additional antler
curves. curves.

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 Winters Moon
INTRODUCTION
One of the best things about the Winters Moon BEFORE YOU START
tutorial is the effect of the glowing moon. It is
super effective for illuminating the winter sky and If you are unsure of how to paint
the snow on the trees, and is not at all difficult to different tree silhouettes, check out
the tips on page 16.
do!

If you are having trouble blending gouache For the snow on the pine trees, it is
because of its quick-dry time, check out the easier to keep it opaque by patting
Blending Guide, found here, for extra tips. it on in small blobs rather than
brushing.
I hope you enjoy painting this scene. If you share
your version on Instagram, tag me @ruthwilshaw
as I’d love to see it!

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1. Paint a radial gradient that is lighter
in the center and darker blue
towards the outside.
3. Use your round brush and the black
gouache to turn half of the trees
into pines.
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2. With black paint and a round brush,
paint a handful of tree trunks all
pointing toward the center of the
page. Make them wider towards the
outside of the page and let them be
different heights.
4. For the other trees, use a small
brush to add bare, crooked
branches.
5. Use a stencil or a small round object 6. Make a watery white mixture and
to draw an outline for your moon in flick snow onto your page.
the center of the page. Don’t worry
if it goes over the top of a tree.

7. Paint your moon white all over. It 8. Let the white of the moon dry and
will mix with the blue underneath a then add a second layer of white to
little, but don’t worry about it. one half only.

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9. Once the white has dried, take a
clean damp brush and fuss at the
moon with the tip. You want to mix
small areas of white with the blue
underneath to make your moon
crater shadows.
11. Repeat for the rest of the pines.
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10. When your moon is dry, add the
tips of any trees over it in black.
Then, using the white and a small
round brush, dab white blobs of
snow onto the top of the pine
branches.
12. For the bare-branched trees, use a
small brush to add a little line of
white snow on the edge of the
branches facing the moon.
13. Add some larger snowflakes with
your round brush to finish.
Painting tree shapes
SMALL ROUND BRUSH
Paint your trunk first.

Starting at the top, make small irregular

speckles with the tip of your brush.
Alternate from side to side and allow the
branches to extend further from the
trunk as you get lower on the tree.

FILBERT BRUSH
Paint your trunk first.

Starting at the top, make small crescent

shapes with the tip of the filbert brush.
Alternate sides and make the tree wider
at the base.

To add snow, repeat with white but make

your crescent shapes further apart to
highlight individual branches.

SMALL ROUND BRUSH

Paint your trunk first, from the bottom

up, lifting as you go to make the line
gradually thinner.

Allow your hand to shake as you add the

branches. Start with the most pressure,
and ease off for the thinner branch tips.

Work your way from the center of the

tree outwards.

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