Creative Gouache

A Step-by-Step Guide to Exploring Opaque Watercolor - Build Your Skills with Layering, Blending, Mixed Media, and More!

Ruth Wilshaw

• Publisher: Quarry Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781631599378
• eBook ISBN: 9781631599385
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Take your art in a bold new direction—go gouache! In Creative Gouache, artist Ruth Wilshaw shares her step-by-step techniques for creating brilliantly vibrant effects with this easy-to-master medium, a perfect companion for transparent watercolor.

In this comprehensive guide to gouache, you’ll:

• Get an overview of essential materials and surfaces.
• Learn basic handling and coloring-mixing techniques, including layering, creating blends, and adjusting opacity, plus troubleshooting tips for common challenges, such as dealing with shifts in color and value from wet to dry.
• Explore how to paint fun, simple motifs, flowers, butterflies, landscapes, and lettering.
• Discover fun gouache techniques, such as adding texture and painting gradients and blends.
• Learn how to incorporate other mediums with gouache, including paint pens, colored pencil, and watercolor.
• Use what you learn to create inspiring projects such as dimensional artwork, clay décor pieces, and cheerful banners.

See what you can create with gorgeous, wall-to-wall color with Creative Gouache! 

Perfect for creative beginners, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.
 

1

ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES

Where better to begin than with the essential supplies you’ll need to start painting with gouache. In this section, we’ll look at the different kinds of gouache paint, as well as brushes and paper that will help you get the best results. I’ll also share a few must-have supplies for your gouache kit, along with some advice for painting on surfaces other than paper.

TYPES OF GOUACHE

When I’m asked, “What is gouache?” I typically respond that it’s a medium halfway between watercolor and acrylic, with the permanent solubility of the former and the opacity of the latter. There are three kinds of gouache: artists’, designers’, and acrylic. They’re all slightly different in formulation, but each provides the beautiful matte finish that you expect from gouache.

• Artists’ gouache (A) generally has no added opacifiers. The colors are bright and pure, but some of the naturally transparent pigments won’t give opaque coverage without adding white. The fine-quality pigments found in artists’ gouache are the most suited to artwork that will be framed and displayed.
• Designers’ gouache (B) often has excellent opacity and can be found in a wide range of vibrant colors. Some pigments used in this kind of gouache are not as lightfast as others, meaning they will fade over time when exposed to light. This type of gouache is great for learning and practicing and for painting in a sketchbook. It’s also a good option if you want to digitize your work for patterns or prints.
• Acrylic gouache (C) is a matte acrylic paint that dries with the same matte finish as regular gouache, but is waterproof once dry. This makes it an excellent choice for painting on surfaces that you don’t want to frame under glass, such as wood panels or canvas. However, don’t let acrylic gouache dry on your brushes, or they will be ruined.

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

When it comes to cost, gouache can be split into two categories: inexpensive sets of paint and expensive single tubes. A major driving factor for price is how the various brands achieve opacity in their paints. The more expensive paints pack in extra pigment and a little chalk for opacity, whereas inexpensive sets tend to contain less pigment and more chalk. For practicing and learning the basics, you don’t need to spend a fortune. I used the same inexpensive set for the first year I painted with gouache.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive alternative to high-quality acrylic gouache, try matte acrylic craft paint. This will give you the same matte finish, and these paints are often formulated to withstand exposure to bright light and moisture.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO GOUACHE: POSTER COLOR

“High quality” poster color is a good, though equally expensive, alternative if you’re unable to find true gouache paint. Its pigment isn’t as finely ground as that of gouache paint, so your results will be more opaque but otherwise the same. Poster color is sold in jars more often than in tubes.

PAPER

Gouache works well on a variety of paper types, but keep in mind that the more water you add to the paint the heavier the paper should be. For most work, 140 lb cold press watercolor paper is a great choice. It has a nice weight and feels firm under your brush. It won’t buckle, even if you cover large areas with paint. I find the Canson XL Watercolor pad to be a great inexpensive, everyday paper that comes in a variety of convenient sizes.

Paper Texture

Watercolor paper textures range from smooth to rough, and this varies among manufacturers. Smooth paper is ideal for creating uniform blends and even brush-lettering lines.

Textured paper can add interest to the flat finish of gouache. You can also make the texture of the paper a feature by using a dry-brushing technique to highlight the uneven surface (see here).

Colored Paper

Gouache’s opaque nature makes it an excellent choice for painting on colored papers.

Paint on black paper for incredible contrast or kraft paper for a vintage look. Other colored papers and thin cardstock can be used to great effect, but try to add as little water as possible to the paint to avoid warping the paper.

Gray- or tan-toned mixed media paper offers a lovely smooth and sturdy surface for painting with gouache. The neutral background, especially the gray, is often a good choice for paintings with lots of color, as it allows you to gauge color values m...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Essential Supplies
• 2 Basic Techniques
• 3 Inspired By Nature
• 4 Landscapes
• 5 Lettering
• 6 Gouache and Mixed Media
• 7 Projects
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Index
• Dedication
• Copyright