The last house painting I did—the Chautauqua House—was my first experiment painting with gouache and a resist (a substance much like rubber cement that blocks paint). I fell in love with gouache’s rich colors and velvet matte surface. Although it’s basically watercolor, it’s opaque, not transparent, and therefore much more forgiving. It’s possible to paint over mistakes, at least sometimes.

I got so excited after finishing the Chautauqua house that I thought I’d try painting the Fort Lauderdale condo that I have enjoyed for two weeks during each of the last four (maybe five?) winters. It’s even yellow, a color that really glows with gouache. It turned out beautifully. I painted John in on his bicycle (although it really doesn’t look like John) and Carol walking toward the entry.

Although the size—about 11×22 inches—is hard to make prints of to fit a standard frame, the painting makes fabulous 4×9 notecards. Apparently some other residents like them too.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Click here to check out some of my other commissions.