With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I thought this candy hearts painting would be a fun design to paint to get in the mood. I don’t know about you, but I also happen to love Valentine’s conversation hearts candies, they are so cute and nostalgic and the sayings are just fun.

I was planning to paint this project in only gouache, but then went ahead and painted them in gouache, watercolor and acryla gouache. Let’s take a moment to explore these different mediums.

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Watercolor

Watercolor is what I usually use when I paint, but I have been branching out to other paint mediums lately. What draws me to watercolor is how dynamic the paint medium is. It is unpredictable, full of contrast and life. It feels very rich with energy and liveliness. The downside is that it can also be hard to work with, being that it is so unpredictable, but that unpredictability can also be what makes it so interesting and unique as well.

Gouache

Gouache is also a watercolor, but it is an opaque watercolor. The main difference is that it is more solid in color and less transparent. I find that it is less unpredictable than watercolor and easier to work with. It gives a great punch of color with a single application which is nice. With watercolor, I find that you sometimes have to layer the paint in order to achieve a good rich color.

Acryla Gouache

Acryla gouache is sort of a mix between acrylic paint and gouache. It is very opaque and solid in color. It is flat and there is not much contrast in color. There is a lovely velvet texture that it gives off which is really appealing to me. Sometimes the issue I have with it is that it does not look as natural in color as watercolor and gouache and I just love an earthy natural look in my painted art. It does allow for some fun different colors that I do not usually get with watercolor and gouache.