Gouache Painting Ideas: Dessert

Looking for ideas for what to paint next? In my Gouache Painting Ideas series, I share different motifs to help spark your imagination so you can break through your creative blocks and start painting right away. Whether you just got your first set of jelly gouache, or are an experienced artist looking to explore a new medium, these easy gouache painting ideas will help kickstart your creativity.

Note: All images in this post are copyrighted and can’t be sold or recreated for profit. Read my blog post about how to gather reference images without copying here.

Today, I’m sharing one of my go-to gouache painting ideas:

Dessert!

Pastries and desserts are a work of art in themselves, so sweet treats are one of my go-to’s when I can’t think of what to paint. You can’t help but feel happy when painting something sweet! If you’re wondering where to start, pick your favorite dessert and do a study of the different varieties and flavors of it. You might be surprised at how many options you have. I can easily get carried away and fill an entire sketchbook with different flavors of desserts!

How to paint desserts:

Start by finding reference images of the dessert you want to paint. Here are some tips for finding good reference images!

My favorite way to find references for painting sweets is to stop by my local bakery and pick up something that inspires me (and looks delicious, of course!). Or better yet, bake your own inspiration! I love baking macarons and I’ve used my creations as references for my paintings more than a few times!

If you want to learn how to paint what you see from your reference image, check out my classes on Skillshare! I don’t have any about desserts specifically (yet!) but the principles I teach in class can apply to anything you want to paint. I’d recommend starting with my floral painting class and applying what you learn to your favorite dessert!

I hope this post gave you a boost of gouache painting inspiration! If you want to learn more about painting with gouache, I share in-depth techniques and step-by-step tutorials in my online classes. If you’re new to Skillshare, you can get a free month-long trial which grants you unlimited access to my classes plus thousands of others.