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Gouaches Sketches

Gouaches Sketches

Claire Prouvost
December 8, 2017
1 Comment

This gouache series is a part of my sketchbook. I love to paint after work and over the weekend, and relax my mind by doing so. Recently enough, I've made some little formats, and I'm picking a still-life, or a portrait, and try to interpret it in my own way. This (ever growing) series is what I've picked from all these gouache sketches and which are actually worth showing the world.



Few months ago, I was trying to explore my style as many techniques as I could. In work, we have that side project called "sketch club", where we mainly sketch each other's portraits at lunch time, once a week. One day, I've decided to give up my pencils for a brush and some gouache (what I had at my desk at the time) and I loved it! The process, the texture, the restricted colour palette I was unconsciously giving myself... Since, I've been practicing a lot, got some nice gouaches, and I'm trying to think the composition a lot more.


These are all made from scratch, but they are sketches, so I didn't use any softwares. They are hand-painted using gouache. I just go with the flow, I don't over think it, pick up a picture or a subject I like (often from my Instagram feed) and start to draw. There are a lot of imperfections, but it also has its charm. You can see the pencil marks, the paper and the texture given by the paint. On some other illustrations, I would use photoshop and some custom brushes.




I got a pretty good answer and a lot of encouragement from my family and friends, which is motivating me a lot to practice. I've recently started to post some of them on Instagram and also got nice feedback.
I've learnt a lot with this ongoing project and I can really see my personality evolving through every single one of them. And it makes me feel so good to do it. It's like little moments after a long day/week, just for me.

Inspirations perhaps?
I love the work of some painters from the early 20th century, and movements like Cubism, Fauvism...
I'm immensely inspired by Picasso, Matisse, Léger, Klee, but also Niki de Saint Phalle and Frans Masereel.

Claire Prouvost

Claire is a graphic designer and illustrator living and working in Dublin, Ireland. She has recently graduated from Toulouse University’s MA in Graphic Design, Editorial, Illustration. She is now working for Graham Thew Design in a great co-working space, The Fumbally Exchange, during the day and enjoys drawing on the kitchen table in the evening. She has a certain appeal for Gouaches, for the bright colour palette and textures they give.

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