My love for gouache paint ...

I guess I my must be the only fairy doll maker who paints a  lot with gouache paint !!!

I use the jars from Talens which are available in lots of colors , and availble in most local craft stores (in Belgium anyway ) and are not that expensice BUT remember it is not a permanent paint (not fixing and not waterproof!!)  and thats maybe why doll makers dont use it ....

well, their loss because working with this kind of paint allows me to create nice colors shades , and being water based like aquarel  , the paint can be removed easily when you make a mistake .

This paint (except the black one ) in considered not toxic for health ...always good to know ...

First of all, its important that you ALWAYS  apply the paint pure from the jar (without adding any water ) and then you can create the color shades in two different ways :

- you paint and let it dry for a few minutes ( it dries fast ) and then whiping it off with a wet cotton (ear 

   cleaning) stick .

- Or applying the paint and whipe it off immediately with a dry cotton  (ear cleaning )stick ....

This method has been used on  Fairy "Pine" 's outfit ... she's completely painted with gouache ...so dont you dare exposing her to water or any kind of humidity ...

If you paint the eyes , you also apply the paint pure on the white eye ball and paint a full iris ..let it dry for a minute and then you wet your paint brush and "paint" the inside of the iris and you'll see the water will dilute the paint you applied . the wet area you created is removed with a small cotton or tissue ( remember to touch nothing but the  middle of teh iris !! ) and you get an iris in a lighter color but surrounded by a darker colored circle ...see what I mean ?? I will make pictures of that soon and put it on my blog , I promise !!

I never varnish my painted creations expect the  painted eyes ..I use fimo lacker to fix and give a natural  shine to the iris .

just one more thing :

be careful with the intense colors like blue and red... if you make a mistake with these colors, you might not get them off that easily ...you still end up with lightly shade of that color on your clay that you cannot  get off ..

I also noticed that he white color doesnt paint well on polymer clay and the black color peels off after drying !!!!! So I avoid working with these colors and replace them by white and black colored acryl .

The greatest colors to use are

burned umber ( great for painting trees )

sepia (a bit "softer" looking than black )

olive green ( what a great color for leaves and grass )

bronze and gold