This is an exercise using only oil paint brushes and a single layer, instead of relying heavily on layers of different transparencies, more standard brushes, and blending modes, to get the desired effect.
I found it rather intimidating to do, and rewarding. I relied heavily on references for this, I can’t draw lifelike figures without them.
I had to look up gouache, first time I’ve heard of it. No idea how anyone would do that digitally…!?
And thank you, I saw a YouTube saying we should try to use as few layers as possible, preferably just one, don’t use undo, and just paint through our mistakes. Felt like walking on a tight rope without a net as I started to get to like the painting more and more.