5 skills you will learn on my course!

In my new course with Domestika you’ll find an Introduction to Gouache and learn how to mix and pick colours. Painting exercises filled with tips and tricks as well as a step by step guide for how I personally create artworks filled with vibrant colour and life. So if you fancy a further sneak peek, keep reading below!

1. Discover your pallet!
I truly believe that for artists colour is a gift to be shared, and a great place to start with any medium is by creating a chromatic colour wheel. By mixing colour swatches together we can familiarise ourselves with Gouache and learn the colours we can create when mixed together. In this particular wheel we’ll also learn how to create lighter tints and darker shades of each hue. Perfect when you want to create subtle harmonious shifts or add that colourful punch to make your artwork pop.

2. Create Simple Skies!
Colour theory is always a great place to start but it's only when we apply it we prove that we’re learning and understanding. Gouache is known for its wonderful buttery texture and one of my favourite uses is for creating beautiful skies. In our first exercise we’ll learn to smoothly blend our paint so we can experiment with gradients and layers. You’d be surprised at how useful this technique is as the same process can apply to painting skies, water, wide open landscapes and urban cityscapes too.

3. Choosing the Best Reference
Learn how to see like an artist and pick out the elements we want to commit to canvas. I don’t believe art has to be about perfectly replicating a scene or copying a photo. As artists we are storytellers and can place emphasis on the elements we want to share with our viewers. What is it in a scene that caught attention? Was it the colour, light, composition or mood of a place? I’ll show you how to create your own visual stories that will turn the heads of passers by to inspire and delight them too.

4. Create Vibrant Urban Illustration with Gouache Paint
The name of the course and the main event! I’ll guide you through my entire process to create a vibrant urban storefront in Gouache watercolours. We begin by planning our composition with a simple sketch breaking down complex forms into simple shapes. Then overcome the fear of a blank canvas as we lay down our first washes of thinly layered paint. Before building up lighter and darker values and adding texture. Then finally the most fun part, adding and refining details! All demonstrated at a pace that’s easy to follow with skills that are transferable and applicable to whatever you want to paint in the future!

5. Get you work out there!
Finally I’ll guide you through how to photograph, edit and frame your artwork. As well as how to share your art online, approach galleries and tackle commissions with ease. Useful stuff for any aspiring artists or creative veterans looking for new tricks!

By the end of the course you will be able to capture Urban Life in your Artwork and transform them into vibrant illustrations. I’m thrilled with how this course has come together so to join in and create artwork bursting with life, follow the link below and use code MIKETHOMASART-LAUNCH to get an extra 10%off!

I can’t wait to see what you create!
-Mike & Red the Cat