Gouache (g-wash) - (from the Italian aguazzo):

Today, I mostly paint in oil. But for some years I painted in gouache, and produced many paintings. Click here to view some of my Gouache paintings.

Perhaps these thoughts on using gouache maybe of use to others.

How I Paint with Gouache:

I first used gouache because I am lazy!

When painting with watercolor, it is usual to save the white of the paper by coating the desired white areas with a resist material.

Then, when the painting of the other areas is near complete, the resist is rubbed off leaving white of the paper to show through.

This takes planning, time for the resist to be applied, and time for it to dry. Then after painting, there is the time for the resist to be carefully removed – plus time to soften the resulting hard edges by going over with a moist brush.

Always wanting to take the short cut, I soon found it is quicker and easier to add opaque white (gouache) where white is needed in the near finished painting.

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Background about Gouache

Click here to skip the history lesson and to go to where I discuss my techniques.

Click here to view some of my Gouache paintings.

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Gouache is a heavy, opaque watercolor paint, sometimes called body color, which produces a less wet-appearing and more strongly colored picture than ordinary watercolor.

Also, the word is used to describe any painting produced with gouache. The term gouache can be used interchangeably with body color, although the latter is made in a slightly different way.

The paint is rendered heavy and opaque by the addition of a white pigment (chalk, Chinese white, etc.) in a gum Arabic mixture. This results in a stronger color than ordinary watercolor. Which is why my gouache paintings look so bright and colorful!

The term was originally coined during the eighteenth century in France, although the technique is considerably older, being in use as early as the fifthteenth century in Europe.

Starting in the middle of the nineteenth century and continuing through the middle of the twentieth century, most European & American artists painted in gouache at one time or another in their careers.

Gouache was the original, and is still the primary paint used in the production of decalcomanias. It can be very effective when applied to colored paper, see example in the works by J.M.W. Turner.  

Throughout the twentieth century commercial artists used gouache widely. This association caused many contemporary artists of that period to avoid its use. And, until recently, few fine artists used gouache.

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Problems With Gouache Painting

The pigment dries slightly lighter than it appears when wet, which can make it difficult to match colors. But with practice, it is easy to compensate.

Also, the medium can be susceptible to cracking if applied too thickly onto paper. This problem can be alleviated to some degree by the use of a commercial thickening media, often known as Aquapasto.

I have had success using thick gouache on rigid textured clayboard. As discussed below, I have frequently painted with gouache in an impasto style using a palette knife to apply the paint.

The finished gouache surface looks somewhat like oil or acrylic, often with a three dimensional thickness that adds character to the image.

An example may be seen in my painting “Lunch Break” where the painted hamburger in the left figure’s hand is probably in excess of an 1/8 inch thick.

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I Started Using Watercolor

When I began to paint seriously, my early work was mostly ink drawn botanicals on paper, using plants and flowers from my garden. Often these were enhanced with watercolor washes.  

From this, I progressed to live figure drawing and an intensive study of art theory. Much of my artwork from this period was created in the studio using watercolors on paper. It was during this period that I started developing my limited color palette, which I have continued to use with watercolor, gouache, and now oil painting.

Gradually I moved out of the studio and began painting on paper en plein-air (outdoor painting of landscapes), still using mostly transparent watercolor. But later, I began adding some gouache – first white, and then later other colors. I was able to obtain effects that are not so easy to produce with regular watercolor alone.

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In 2002, at a workshop, I was encouraged to experiment with painting watercolor onto gessoed paper. And then protect the finished image with varnish instead of the usual glass. I found this process difficult, due to the lack of absorbency of the gessoed paper – but fascinating due to the boldness of the resulting colors.

I persevered with the process after the workshop, and tried using gessoed canvas instead of paper. This rougher surface seemed somewhat easier to anchor the paint. I created some dozen or so paintings using this technique – some en plein-air and some in the studio. 

To increase the boldness of the colors I started intermix more gouache with my transparent watercolors. The technique, with its resulting strong colors and sharp contrast, continued to appeal.

Using a varnish finish and doing away with protective glass and its reflections was a great plus. But still the gesso support did not adsorb water. It was necessary to paint layer by layer with periods of drying between. I tended to work with a hair dryer in one hand and a brush in the other! The process was slow.

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Using Textured Clayboard

In early 2003, I was asked to submit some nocturnal scenes for an invitational show. I wanted to use my new bold technique with its strong colors. This would enable my work to be comparable to other exhibitors working in acrylic and oil.

A few months earlier, at a Los Angeles art materials trade show, I had seen a demonstration of a then new support material: textured clayboard. This rigid material has a surface adsorption similar to good watercolor paper.

It is designed specifically for water based paints and is recommended to be finishing with a sealer or varnish.

I purchased some boards, found it easy to work, and produced some excellent paintings. After completing four paintings for that show, I sold two immediately - and did not looked back! Since then I have produced many paintings on this board.

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Using Watermedia Canvas

In 2004 a new form of “gessoed” watermedia canvas become available, specifically designed for watermedia paints. This specially treated canvas has a surface that absorbs water. I found that painting on it was very similar to the textured clayboard.

Large sheets of clayboard are heavy. Stretched canvas panels are light and I started to use this canvas for my larger paintings. Since then I have completed many such paintings.

Painting with Gouache

Since gouache is opaque, it has a lot of similarity to oil or acrylic in its application. These processes is so similar, that I found my eventual transition to oil painting very easy.

With gouache, so long as it is wet, colors may be mixed on the work surface. Or, if it has dried, the surface may be lightly sprayed with water to soften the dried paint and to allow wet into wet techniques to be used.

But, if used wet over dry, with a very dry brush, it easy to completely hide an earlier coat. This is very useful to correct or change existing work.

Using my standard color palette, I have developed a series of palette boxes using Masterson’s Handy Stay-Wet Palette.

These compact boxes are made of lightweight white plastic that clean up easily. They are reasonably airtight when closed. A sponge layer, below a special strong porous paper, creates a damp atmosphere and keeps the top surface moist.

I use one box for each pair of complementary colors (see my palette discussion – red/green, blue/orange, and yellow/ultramarine-violet). In addition I have a box for black/white, and another for earth tones and flesh colors.

By squeezing a blob of each color pair paint at each end of a box, with a palette knife I smear and mix the colors. The result, for the complementary colors, is a transition from one color, through black, to the other color complement.

Then, by adding a blob of white to the side of the box, it is possible to get the lighter shades. Smaller blobs of my "additional" colors around the box intermix to give other tints that I use from time to time.

Using these boxes, almost any shade and color I need may be found. I touch my brush to pick up paint in the desired color, and transfer it directly to my work surface. When I get low in a color, I just add some more.

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Use Distilled Water

I always use distilled water for painting and for moistening my palette boxes. One reason, is that where I live the local water is heavy in minerals. This often results in the painted colors looking drab, and sometimes stains the light areas.

Also, most local water contains a lot of organic material, which encourages mildew and algae. Using distilled water, I have some boxes that have been continual use for well over five years.

I use a spray bottle of distilled water to moisten up my boxes if they become too dry. If the work surface gets too dry, the same spray bottle comes in handy to moisten the work area.

A drop of distilled water on my work surface will dry and leave no stain.

"Gouache : An Introduction to Opaque Watercolor" by Sharon Himes.

"An introduction to Gouache paint."

"Gouache Paints and Pigment"

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Updated March 2008.