Polly Steps
24th July 2026
In: Acrylic Gouache, Art
Two acrylic gouache sketches were painted outdoors on paper at Polly Steps in Teignmouth. The first depicts the River Teign looking into the light. The neutral palette simplified the process, which was helpful as the tide was creeping up to my perch quicker than I would have liked!
Feeling the need to move, I began a second painting from the quay area, looking towards The Ness. I wanted to capture the headland’s imposing nature and the beach huts provided a useful sense of scale. As the evening light started to fade, I finished the painting at home, adhering to the brief outdoor painting style.
Note: this is the first time I had used acrylic gouache in an outdoor setting. As expected on a warm evening, the paint dried very quickly on the palette paper and I tried to keep colours alive with a spray. At times this made the paint wash on the paper causing it to buckle. There was also a loss of opacity which later I exploited as a glaze to intensify colour, although I would generally describe acrylic gouache as an opaque medium. Going forward I might need to give more attention to the surface I use with acrylic gouache but I enjoyed the freedom of sketching outdoors with a relatively simple set up.
Feeling the need to move, I began a second painting from the quay area, looking towards The Ness. I wanted to capture the headland’s imposing nature and the beach huts provided a useful sense of scale. As the evening light started to fade, I finished the painting at home, adhering to the brief outdoor painting style.
Note: this is the first time I had used acrylic gouache in an outdoor setting. As expected on a warm evening, the paint dried very quickly on the palette paper and I tried to keep colours alive with a spray. At times this made the paint wash on the paper causing it to buckle. There was also a loss of opacity which later I exploited as a glaze to intensify colour, although I would generally describe acrylic gouache as an opaque medium. Going forward I might need to give more attention to the surface I use with acrylic gouache but I enjoyed the freedom of sketching outdoors with a relatively simple set up.