#30×30, 2025, Day 10: A Head of the Game!

I just want to say; that’s 38 paintings today! :) So I’m well ahead of the game. :) :)

Now, most of them are only 4 or 5 inches, though this one is 10×10″. Sooooooo – I can’t *really* say that’s totally playing fair. But why not! Working super-small is certainly a strategy for working daily.

My goal of course, is to use these miniatures to I can re-recreate the best ones in full-size. Or just use what I’ve learned and apply it to scaling up. Which is something I’ve always had problems with – I’m pretty comfortable small, but I have a hard time scaling up my brushwork to larger work.

But I’m still mulling all this over; so here’s a little portrait in Gouache; done from a random Instgrammer:)

The beauty of the opaque watercolor; you really and truly can do *anything* in the first layers. It really doesn’t matter. Just keep layering on top and it eventually comes together :)

So this is what – seven or eight days playtesting the gouache?

This one is pretty much identical to how I’d approach it with oil. I didn’t really use any watercolor concepts. SOOOOO – not sure if that’s good or bad.

Possibly; the problem is, this paint-box I’m using.

It’s certainly convenient for plein air – but maybe for studio work, it’s just not enough mixing area? Maybe I should work from fresh-mixed paint every time? In the week or so I’ve had this, the box is drying out. Even though I keep it in a plastic storage box with a wet sponge.

Perhaps I could be more flexible with how wet the mixes are. I have a pile of little Chinese sauce dishes for more saucy mixes, so probably I need to work with those next.

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This sketch was actually the first one of the night, I’m less happy with it – overworked I think! And the face is a bit crooked.

But there are some nice chunks of color.

~m