Gouache Experiments: Week 3 | Italian Plates | Yaansoon Illustration + Art

Gouache Experiments: Week 3 | Italian Plates | By Yaansoon Illustration + Art. Pattern, Illustrated Motifs, Sketchbook, Art

Today’s Gouache Experiments painting is somewhat food-related, as it is about the plate we put our food on. It is inspired by the beautiful motifs adorning traditional Italian plates, pottery and ceramics.

My twist on the Italian theme is the use of a different colour palette than usually is the case. Traditional Italian tiles and ceramics are known for their vibrant and bright blues, yellows and reds. However, I chose a colour palette that is more earth-toned with a combo that celebrates stone colours found in Eastern deserts (and in my wardrobe!). I also added a bit of turquoise to create a nice contrast with the earthy tones.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a weekly gouache experiments challenge with the purpose of developing my gouache painting and illustration technique. So, far I’ve produced two pieces in week 1, and one painting in week 2.

I’m really enjoying this challenge, it’s opening my eyes to new possibilities especially that I didn’t quite expect to fall in love with gouache this deeply. It’s just the kind of paint material that I seem to understand and play with quite intuitively.

As I have mentioned before, I am not sure if the reason is my (cheap) gouache set, which has excellent intermixable qualities and gorgeous coverage, or if this is really an intrinsic gouache quality.

The piece I created for this week is basically six Italian-inspired plates, with different motifs from different parts of Italy, mainly Sicily.

My husband comes from a mountainous Italian region, which I haven’t been to yet, but some years ago I went to Capri, the gorgeous island a couple of hours away from Napoli. I remember the ceramics place I once found one afternoon stroll. It was tucked away between the alleyways, and I felt like I found a little treasure cave when I stumbled across that beautiful piece of handcrafts heaven. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I entered that gorgeous shop, which was not easy to find, and not at all close to the main plaza overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Before I go, I want to invite you to watch my YouTube video, which captures a time lapse of my painting process.