Gouache Resist

A few people have asked me how I achieved the faux-print effect on my You Are What You Eat series, so I thought I'd share/show the process.

I did the series using a gouache resist technique on 500lb arches cold press paper.

I drew out all my lines onto the paper, and then depending on the area, I either painted everything but the lines (all the large white spaces/negative space areas) or painted the lines (the details in the faces).



After waiting for the gouache to completely dry, I dabbed waterproof ink with a brush across the whole surface.



Then waited for the ink to dry. Once the ink is completely dry, I run the paper until the faucet. The result is that the ink on top of the gouache flakes off, while the ink directly on the paper surface stays unharmed.

And that is gouache resist. Its a fun technique, but I don't know if I'll ever use it again in the future. I do like the end look, but I might just stick to white on black from now on.