GOUACHE PAINTING PRACTICE | ART + DESIGN

Here are some recent gouache painting sketches that I have been working on. One of my recent goals as an artist is to include more color in my work. 

I LOVE the texture of gouache and can already see improvement from the first sketch to the last. I'm figuring out how to blend the paint properly to avoid the dry patches but also retain the smooth texture. I found some great YouTube tutorials and Patreon account tutorials to practice from. 

My new favorite subject is gouache sunsets! I feel like the way the colors blend are so dreamy and you can get really accurate colors with gouache in my opinion.  I'm excited to do more! :]

What do you think of gouache paint as a medium? 

Follow along on my updated social links are here: https://linktr.ee/lizzvisions

SKETCHBOOK DRAWING | PRETTY FACE + ART SUPPLY HAUL

Hello blog! I took a break from sketching in May and June. Dealing with some personal stuff but I found my groove again in July. This sketch is of a beautiful model I found on Pinterest / Insta named Adual Jok Akol. I also used the portrait drawing book pdf guide I printed out from Humid Peach, one of my favorite artist online. :]

I'm hoping to do more in August because I've purchased some new art supplies for myself! :] Some really nice Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and Holbein gouache paint. I will likely do a review of them later this year on my Youtube channel, after I've had a chance to truly put them to the test. 

It feels particularly good to splurge every once in a while on my inner artist. She deserves nice things too :]

I also unfortunately had to deal with losing my first TikTok account in April. :[ My @lizzbooksandart account was deleted by Tiktok at 7k followers. That was really disappointing and caused me to stop posting for a while.

But I refuse to stay down, so I've made a new account! @lizzvisionsss is already up to 900+ followers!!! I will be posting more art content (and once I have the heart for it again, more booktok content lol). 

Do you like this sketch? Check out my new tiktok here: @lizzvisionsss

My other links here: https://linktr.ee/lizzvisions

SKETCHBOOK DRAWING | KATE SHARMA from BRIDGERTON

I spent some time in my sketchbook this month on a drawing from a tv show that super inspired me - Bridgerton on Netflix. The character's name is Kate Sharma played by lovely actress Simone Ashley. This scene during the ballroom dance was one of my favs! **swooning** 

I did this sketch freehand and fairly quickly (no grid!) so it tested my ability in a really interesting way. I enjoy the realism you can achieve with the grid method but I also love how illustrative this drawing came out. Seems like I'm finding my own art style now so that's a huge plus :]

Did you watch this season? :]

Follow along on my updated social links are here: https://linktr.ee/lizzvisions

RECENT DRAWINGS AND SKETCHES AMITA SUMAN + FREDDY CARTER | ART + DESIGN

Here are some portrait sketches of  Freddy Carter and Amita Suman (two of my favorite actors from the show "Shadow and Bone") completed these last few weeks. 

One of my big goals is to develop my portrait drawing skills this year :] 

My art on Instagram:  @lizzvisions

My art and books reviews on TikTok: @lizzbooksandart 

EXPLORING DIGITAL ART... | ART + DESIGN

2021 did not leave much time for art and creativity (due to finally finishing law school and starting a full time job!) But one thing I've been itching to try is more digital art. I really enjoyed the process of making my first sticker designs last year. So I bought an iPad Pro and Apple pencil to explore more of that process! :]

Here is a digital drawing of a stylized moth I worked on from guided tutorials on YouTube. Be sure to follow along on my socials!

My updated social links are here: https://linktr.ee/lizzvisions

MASTER COPY JOHN SINGER SARGENT ILLUSTRATION | ART + DESIGN

Here is a John Singer Sargent master copy painting done in gouache earlier this year. 

My art on Instagram: @lizzvisions

My art and books reviews on TikTok: @lizzbooksandart 

HOW I AM MAKING VINYL STICKERS | ART + DESIGN

For the month of October, I decided to put my Microsoft Surface tablet and pen to use and practice some digital drawing! I drew a sunflower design, which came out way better than I expected, and a pink justice scales logo. 

This is different from my usual portraits but I really enjoyed the process of making these stickers. (Another fun thing I can attribute to being on Tik Tok nonstop these last few months lol 😄). I saw some other artists who make stickers and thought it looked so fun. I drew up my design and then uploaded it to a website called Stickermule. They arrived in the mail a few days later and viola!

I also turned my original Meg Thee Stallion sketch into a sticker. But it’s a bit too large for my water bottle so I made this collage of stickers instead. It’s on 8 x 8 canvas that I painted with pink acrylic paint. Turns out I actually like it this way! 

Check out my process and mini-tutorial on my Instagram: @lizzvisions

SEPTEMBER SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS ROUNDUP | ART + DESIGN

Here are some of my sketches from September. I enjoyed doing this one of actor Chadwick Boseman. He was an inspiration. He said “Sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can really figure out what your fight is and how you need to fight it.” I hope to live this fully and purposefully in my own life. Rest in Power, King.

Some of my favorite quotes from him: “When you are deciding on next steps, next jobs, next careers, further education, you should rather find purpose than a job or a career,” he said at the time. “Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history.” - Chadwick Boseman at Howard University commencement 2018. 

“I feel that I’m living my purpose. But the thing about purpose is that it unfolds to you more and more everyday,” the actor said. “You could be living in what was revealed to you at a particular time, and then you might get stagnated because there’s more that you’re supposed to do. It doesn’t just stop as you do one thing. I think it’s [about] being open to what you’re supposed to do at this moment and not getting stuck in the past. Purpose is not related to career or career. It’s related to what God put inside you that you’re supposed to give to the world.” - Chadwick Boseman, at the NAACP Image Awards in 2019. 

Follow on Instagram for more updates! @lizzvisions 

AUGUST SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS ROUNDUP | ART + DESIGN

Here is quick roundup of sketches I've been working on during August. One of my goals for 2020 and 2021 is to do more portrait drawing. It is a style I've always admired but felt like I was not the best at. I'm also interested in doing more gouache portraits and building up the layers for the skin tones in watercolor. I think it can make a really interesting effect similar to oil paints.  

The first one is of rapper Meg Thee Stallion. I'm working on 5 x 7 Crescent Illustration Board. It's my first time using this material. The board is a bit soft to the touch so I was trying to not press too hard. I'm interested in seeing how it handles watercolor paint. You can see I used the grid method for the Meg Thee Stallion sketch. I'm showing the early stages to remind myself how to push through even when the drawing starts out not looking exactly the way you want. 

The second one is of model Gage Gomez. I'm working on Canson L'Aquarelle Heritage 140 lb watercolor block paper using a mix of Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, and Mijello Mission Gold watercolor paints. 

Some things I liked about these sketches: I like how I captured the eyes for the Gage Gomez sketch. I also like how I captured the blush tones in the skin. It was my first time really mixing skin tones so I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials and tried to experiment. I like how I captured the eyes and lips in the Meg sketch as well and how I simplified her dress and chain in the bottom half of the sketch. 

Some things I can improve on with these sketches: I think I can get better proportions for the the lips in the male sketch. I want to have more dynamic lines and feel free to deviate from the reference photo. I think next time I can also try pushing the line weight and really making some dark lines for the shadows and values in the Meg sketch.

Which drawing is your favorite?

Follow on Instagram for more updates! @lizzvisions

NOVEMBER RECAP: EXPERIMENTS WITH GOUACHE | ART + DESIGN

I had a pretty good time experimenting with new materials last month! 

1. I bought my first high quality paper watercolor block. I tested out the new Canson L'Aquarelle Heritage Watercolor Paper and found it to be great quality! It takes multiple layers of watercolor and gouache well and feels almost like cloth!

2. I made a new color chart by mixing my watercolor paints with white gouache to see the opaque versions of the colors. I tried to mix them 50/50 as accurately as possible and the colors came out rich and smooth.

3. I also purchased some new watercolor paints from Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton to try to fill up my new clear Transom 24-well watercolor palette that I also purchased a few weeks ago. Colors: Cerulean Blue (WS), Sap Green (DS), Undersea Green (DS), Yellow Ochre (DS), Carbazole Violet (DS) and Payne's Grey (WS).

4. I painted two small gouache still life studies from an online demo I found on Youtube to try and get more practice with gouache. Took me a couple of weeks (!) but I finished recently with a real sense of accomplishment. I still have so much more to learn but it's great to finish a piece and realize 'hey, it's not that bad'... :]

Be sure to follow along on my Instagram @lizzvisions ! 

Have you experimented with any new art materials recently?