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Painting with Gouache
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THE NATURE OF GOUACHE
COLOUR
 Gouache
is a water soluble paint which is favoured by designers because
of its ability to create beautifully even areas of bright colour
without streaking.
It is not to be confused with watercolour, though both are water-based media.
Watercolour should be used thinly and transparently, but Gouache should be applied
in opaque washes, very much in the style of oil colour. Like oil colour, it is
capable of covering over other colours, which is useful for correcting mistakes
or lightening areas.
Gouache is a very practical medium – brushes are easily cleaned with
water, which is also used to thin the colour.
The technique of painting is broadly similar to that of oil and acylic colour,
but it does not stay wet enough to blend colours in a painting. Instead, areas
are often butted together using a technique similar to that of paint by numbers.
Gouache is also not suitable for applying very thickly to create texture.
PREPARATION
The board supplied is ready to be painted
on. It should be kept as flat as possible to prevent the colour from
running. It is a good idea to have a plastic or disposable table cloth,
a jar of clean water and a kitchen roll for wiping brushes. If you
are indoors, make sure you have enough natural light to the front or
side of you.
Gouache dries quite quickly, so only squeeze out small quantities of colour at
a time. Unlike watercolour, the colour cannot be re-activated once it has become
hard.
COLOUR MIXING
 Before
you begin painting it is best to practise a few basic exercises. Firstly
try painting a flat wash. To best achieve a flat wash of colour, make
sure you have mixed enough colour on the palette to cover the area.
The consistency of the colour should not be thick, but not watery either.
Apply smoothly and quickly with a large, well loaded brush. Test the colour strength
on a scrap of paper first.
Knowing how to mix colours and how much paint to use can only come with experience
and experimentation. Red, Yellow, and Blue are called the Primary Colours. This
means they cannot be mixed from other colours. Your set of colours can be mixed
to form a comprehensive range, but remember that sometimes it may be necessary
to mix 3 or even 4 colours to achieve a result.
Once you have achieved the correct colour, you must then achieve the correct
tone (or shade) i.e. the strength of the colour. Remember that black is not the
only way of darkening a colour. It can make colours look dirty. Try experimenting
with browns and blues. They darken colours in very different ways to black. Conversely,
try lightening colours with yellow or white, or a combination of the two. It
is advisable to make notes to remind you how to achieve various colour mixes.
Experiment on a piece of scrap board by trying to accurately mix the colours
of objects around you. Always mix the colours thoroughly. Try both supplied brushes.
They will make very different types of mark on the board. Add water to the mix
to thin the colour. Remember that Gouache is capable of being used thinly like
watercolour or opaquely like oil colour.
Finally there are no shortcuts to learning about colour mixing. It is inevitable
that you will make mistakes, but some of them may be happy ones!
COMPOSITION
 Choosing
subject matter is a very personal thing. If you are inexperienced,
avoid complex compositions, you will become frustrated and abandon
the picture! It is better to tackle a simple scene and do it well.
Before committing yourself to paper, consider the scene from different angles
and distances until you settle on the best viewpoint. Work out which section
of the scene you are going to paint and then lightly, with a soft pencil sketch
out the basic lines of the composition. Do not concern yourself with too much
detail at this stage. Correct any mistakes with a soft putty eraser to avoid
tearing the paper surface, and never use an eraser on wet paper.
PAINTING
Whether you are painting a still-life, a
figure or a landscape the same rules apply. The pictures opposite show
how a painting is built up in stages.
| 1. Simple
tonal sketch of the composition in diluted yellow ochre and
brown. Allow to dry. The artist has made a feature of the dramatic
sky by keeping the horizon line low in the composition. The
farm building provides a useful focal point. |
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| 2. The sky
area is blocked in with thicker paint applied with the square
ended brush. A basic mix of blue & white is used for the
sky and yellow and white for the clouds. The darker areas of
sky are created by mixing the blue with a touch of crimson
to make purple, and applied on top of the existing blue sky,
once it has dried. Areas of white are also added into the clouds
to create highlights. Remember gouache dries quickly. Here
the artist has applied the paint in an impressionist way, adding
layer on layer with no attempt to blend colours together whilst
wet. The basic underpaint of the path and grass areas is blocked
in with mid green and cream. |
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| 3. The background
trees are created by adding blue with the green mix, giving
the impression of distance. The basic underpaint of the farm
buildings and large tree is added. (It’s advisable to
allow the sky to dry before adding tree detail). |
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| 4. More layers
of tone have been added and the picture is now at full strength.
The medium allows both dark and light areas of detail to be
painted on top of the undercoat, as shown clearly in the foreground
grassy area. As a general rule, undercoat layers should be
thin, with the consistency of the paint increasing for the
top layers. Areas of detail have now been added to the farmhouse
and the large tree. The paint has been scraped on sparsely
to create the broken texture of the tree’s leaves. Finishing
touches are added with a small brush. The picture is impressionist
in style, so no attempt has been made to paint individual leaves
or blades of grass etc. |
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FINISHING TOUCHES
Gouache paintings are traditionally framed
under glass, with a bevel-cut card mount, unlike oil paintings. The
mount stops the glass touching the picture and causing damage. Most
professional artists allow a small margin on their paper rather than
painting to the edge. This is useful for testing colours prior to painting,
and also helps the framer to site the mount. Mount cutters and mitre
saws can be purchased from artist suppliers if you wish to make your
own frames.
CARE OF EQUIPMENT
Never stand brushes upright in water jars.
This ruins the bristles. Always thoroughly clean brushes in soap and
water at the end of the day and restore their shape before putting
them away. Do not contaminate the purity of your paints by dipping
brushes into them, or by using the wrong tops. Always use the palette
for mixing. Make sure the tops are firmly screwed onto the tubes to
avoid drying out. |
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