At our Design Studio we love to champion creativity at home. Unlock your creative skills with this ‘how to’ guide for making your own collection of gouache artworks…

Before you begin creating a project, it’s helpful to choose a topic or theme. Whilst creative ideas can naturally unravel, we find it helps to have a starting point. On this occasion, we’ve chosen a theme of drinks bottles.

Step 1: Supplies

Make sure you prepare all of your supplies before you start. You will require:

Gouache (we wanted to try this new media, but watercolour is also a great option)
A5 paper (we recommend getting heavyweight paper, suitable for the media you are using)
Pencil
Different sizes and brush shapes
Palette to mix your colour
Water
Tissues / towel to dry and clean your brushes

Step 2: Sketching & Painting

Start by sketching your design in pencil. This doesn’t have to be your final design, but the lines will act as a guide for when you add colours.

Step 3: Framing

New frames can be expensive, so we recommend finding second hand options from flea markets, charity shops or online. Here we have spray painted our frames in a bold orange to create a contrast against the white walls. When painting, make sure you prepare your surfaces with a lot of newspaper to prevent any staining! Let the paint dry and give things a second coat if needed.

Step 4: Layout

From time to time we recommend distancing yourself from your paintings as you might find small details that could be missing in your collection.

Once you have completed all of your illustrations, you can start playing around with them to make different combinations based on shape and colour.

Step 5: Hanging

Often overlooked, it is important to place your artwork at the right height. If you are working on a set of art pieces we recommend leaving a 5 cm gap between each artwork.

We hope we have inspired you to get creative at home. Enjoy the process and share your creations with us on Instagram @KitKempDesignThread.