Gouache Painting Ideas: Quotes & Hand Lettering

Wondering 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:

Hand-Lettered Quotes!

The beauty of hand-lettering is that you can make it totally unique to you. It’s also a really approachable motif since if you’re anything like me, you might have spent your school-age years doodling bubble letters in the margins of your notebooks! 

When you’re looking for creative inspiration, think of a quote, word, or phrase that inspires you.

You can even pick something that’s humorous and cheeky if that fits your style!

How to paint a hand-lettered quote:

Hand-lettered illustrations are just an elevated version of doodled block lettering that many of us are familiar with. You don’t need to learn fancy calligraphy or even have good handwriting to make a stunning quote illustration. The trick is to think of each letter as a drawing, not as something you’re writing. 

Here are a few examples of block-lettered quotes from my portfolio! 

If you want to try your hand at a more calligraphic style of lettering, check out this blog post where I share how to get started with hand-lettering as a beginner.

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.