are Sennelier, Schmincke, Daler-Rowney,
Royal Talens, Pebeo and Reeves.Surfaces and brushes
You can use gouache on a great
many surfaces including all types of
watercolour paper, the heavier the
better. Upwards of 140lb will avoid the
need for stretching, while lighter papers
will need to be stretched to avoid
cockling. Coloured pastel papers work
well, but larger pieces will need to be
stretched. Mountboard is good as a
support and is a great way to use up
your off-cuts. Canvas boards are also
good to paint on. Stretched canvases
can be used, but care should be taken
not to apply the paint too thickly,
as it can crack on flexible surfaces.
I use various types of brush for
painting with gouache, including hog
bristle brushes, synthetic and sable
watercolour brushes and acrylic brushes.
As gouache is an opaque medium
many of the oil-painting techniques that
I use can be used for applying gouache
as can most watercolour techniques.
It can be thinned down and applied
as a wash, but its true value is in being
able to work from dark to light. LP60 SUMMER 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk
I love painting on very dark coloured
and especially black paper or card.
Body colour, as referred to when
reading about Victorian watercolourists,
is, in fact, watercolour with the addition
of Chinese white, an early form of
gouache, although not as opaque as true
white gouache. The addition of Chinese
white added to watercolour will turn it
into a more opaque medium, but the
intensity of colour that gouache achieves
is not possible using this method.
There are many brands of gouache
on the market, ranging greatly in price.
The cheaper brands tend to contain
cheaper and higher quantities of
extenders, which are additives to make
the pigments go further. The binder is
gum arabic in the better quality paints
and yellow dextrin in the cheaper
varieties. The cheaper paints are great to
experiment with, but your work deserves
the better quality products, as they will
give better, longer lasting results and the
covering power is better. I mainly use
Winsor & Newton’s Designer’s Gouache
of which there are a total of 85 great
colours in the range. Most of the world’s
artists paint manufacturers, however,
produce their own brands, among theseGouache
TIPS
lExperiment with applying gouache
with different types of brushes, for
instance your acrylic, watercolour
and hog bristle brushes, to see the
different effects that you can achieve.
lAlthough technically gouache
is classed as a watercolour, don’t
think of it as watercolour, but
treat it as an opaque medium.
lExperiment with dampening dry
areas of paint and blending other
colours into it, and see the advantages
that this ability gives you. I often use
an atomiser with water to do this.
lPractise using the paint only
just wet enough to be able to move
it as you wish, it can also be used
almost straight from the tube to
achieve some great dry brush
effects!
lTubes of gouache that have dried
out can be split open and the paint
used like a watercolour pan, however
use an old bristle brush to work the
paint up as this would not be good
for your better quality brushes.Step 1
Draw the basic scene
as shown here.tDemonstrationLoch Leven
Youwillneed
nSurface
l140lb Rough watercolour
paper 8^1 ⁄ 4 x 81 ⁄ 4 in. (21x21cm)
n Brushes
lWatercolour brushes
Nos. 2, 6 and 8
lRound hog bristle brush
No. 4
n Winsor & Newton
Designer’s Gouache
lPermanent white
lCobalt blue
lCadmium yellow pale
lPrimary red
lRaw umber
lRaw sienna
lLamp black
n Miscellaneous
lA mixing palette.
This can be flat or one
with mixing wells
lAn old or cheap No. 4
Round hog bristle brushLPS 59-62 Ince_Layout 1 28/05/2019 14:51 Page 60