I had been getting depressed about my abilities in gouache. I loved the idea of it but was having trouble mixing colors and getting the right consistency and amount of paint. I think for one thing I need slightly stiffer brushes. Today I decided to move away from the sky studies and try them in the forest today, and I'm much happier with the result. I love that I can lay in a dark area and then pull light on top of it, which you can't do in watercolor. I want to get a couple of less vivid greens as a base to mix from. The single green in my starter set is really vividly unnatural, and it's hard to knock it down enough. But I'm very encouraged with today's results. I did two sketches along the way of my walk today and really had a ball.

Below is the second one, in progress first and then the finished version. I added the blue late, and it got muddy with the green. I might either clean it up or just take it back out all together. I haven't quite decided.