Mini Gouache Studies
Medium: Gouache on Paper, 2”x2”
Date: 2022
A series of small-scale gouache paintings created as part of a daily studio practice. Each image was completed in a single sitting in my Mayura Journal, typically within an hour, on paper roughly two inches square.
Subjects varied from observational studies inspired by other’s work to loosely imagined scenes, including natural forms, landscapes, and small narrative compositions. The emphasis was not on producing finished (or even original) works, but on maintaining a consistent, repeatable creative rhythm.
While many of these studies were simple in intention, certain images (such as the mushroom) took on a life beyond their original context, resonating visually in ways that extended past the exercise itself.
Process Notes:
This series emerged from a deliberate commitment to re-establish a daily creative practice.
Working at a small scale and within a fixed time constraint made it possible to return to materials consistently without the pressure of larger, more resolved work. Gouache was used for its immediacy, its ability to move quickly between opacity and transparency, and its reliability when photographing finished pieces.
Each painting was approached as a contained exercise: one image, one sitting, no revision beyond what could be resolved within that time. The goal was not refinement, but continuity.
Over time, this practice became more than a technical exercise. The daily structure created a stable entry point into the studio, a place where making could happen regardless of external conditions. It was within this rhythm that early sketches for later work began to appear, including the first visual ideas that would eventually develop into larger bodies of imagery.
The time slot established for these studies has continued to function as an active part of my studio process, now supporting ongoing work in other formats while maintaining the same underlying sideboards: small, consistent acts of making that accumulate over time.
