and I have a children's author and illustrator, I love..
Graeme Base ( his first name starts with G too) lives in Australia, but he was born in England. He was in a band... before he became an author and illustrator called Rikitikitavi- I love the name of that band. But... Animalia... was his first book.. There is even a Animalia app for iphone and ipad. His website is www.graemebase.com it is very colorful and informative if you have never heard of him... take a minute to check it out..
I was reading my son the book....The Water Hole.. which I have show cased before... it's about numbers, and much more.. it has a lesson that is life-affirming. His paintings remind me.. of Renaissance...but his words remind me of Dr. Seuss with a flare.... After reading it my son asked me how the illustrator made the pictures...I was not sure.. but when I read the back.. it said...the illustrations were made with watercolors, pencil, and gouache on hot-press illustration board. I am not an artist.. so I wanted to know more about gouache... so for today's letter G... is for Gouache.....
* this is a illustration from one of the pages.. inside The Water Hole
So what is Gouache? Paint gouache provides watercolorists with a way to opaquely or transparently capture a subject. It is said to have all the qualities plus more of watercolors.
Gouache is like poster paint with a bit of a twist... It can be used to lay color on thickly and creamy and to cover huge surfaces without a hint of brush stroke. You do not have to paint fast, as some beginning watercolorists do. You can even paint the entire background first.. and put details on top.
Wikipedia says:" Gouache---- also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor ( the term preferred by art historians) it is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor. Gouache differs from watercolor in that the particles are larger, the ratio of pigment to water is much higher, and an additional, inert, white pigment such as a chalk is also present. This makes gouache heavier and more opaque, with greater reflective qualities."
So I hope I taught you something new.. if your an author.. and if your an illustrator... I hope you try this ... I want to.
As far as his storytelling ability... I love it.. and I did a unit on Australia a few years back.. and he has a great book entitled...
My Grandma lives in Gooligulch ( it's full of Australian sayings and places) * more g's... there... see you tomorrow... for letter H......
10 comments:
I love paintings done with gouache. The color is always so vivid.
My dad is the one who introduced me to gouache. I love it. Really must pass on the favor to my children (though I'll probably wait until the one isn't a toddler any more).
Erin's blog
Is he a newer author? Don't remember these books from my childhood.
Hi, a couple of comments, as long as I have been interested in doing art, I never knew that what I called a wash, is actually spelled Gouache. Imagine that! Another thing, is that as you probably know, Rudyard Kipling wrote a story called "Riki-tiki-tavi" which is so very entertaining. I read it a long time ago. Thanks for visiting me so regularly. Ruby
We have Animalia and loved it! I think I got it at a used book store. I never ran across his others though, which makes me sad--I think the illustrations were gorgeous. Now I have teens, so it would be silly to look, but I liked this little reminiscing...
Yes, you did teach me something new. I admire those with artistic talents.
I did learn something new; I want some of that! So wonderful and no brush strokes~ Amazing art! I love children's books; I miss the library adventures we use to have!
I love the paintings and the cover of the book 'The Eleventh Hour'! Very nice! I did learn something new about gouache. I've heard of it before but have never tried it..hey, I'm doing the A-Z challenge too, but I was too late to sign up officially, so I guess I'm an 'unofficial entrant'. I'm only up to letter B so far because I just started..gotta get going on that eh? lol! I do love your blog!
This was amazingly cool and informative! And I didn't know about this author either - I'll have to check out some of these books.
New follower from A-Z! Nice to meet you.
Great to be here, very informative and I love the books, the are beautifully illustrated.
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