Reluctant Sorcerer by Meg Lyman

4×4″ gouache and ink on matboard

SOLD

This was a fun little experiment in a few ways. The background color was left over from the background of Nautilius – I liked the color too much to throw out the extra pile of paint when I was done. The support was a piece of matboard left over from something or other, very absorbent. I put on a layer and wiped it off several times for the interesting effect.

After I painted the little cutie, I decided to try varnishing. Fellow gouache enthusiast Ralph Parker uses glossy spray varnish, and I wanted to try something similar. I had a can of Prismacolor matte fixative sitting around, so I put a few coats on this guy. Turned out fine! Didn’t seem to change the colors at all, and was not shiny at all (as advertised). I didn’t try wetting it after it was dry to see how well the fixative protects it, though. I’m a chicken.