You may have noticed that there’s a lot of interest in gouache among artists these days. If you’re a watercolor painter who’s wondering what all the buzz is about (and maybe how to give gouache a try yourself) this post is for you!
Why You Might Want To Give Gouache A Try
- Trying a new medium opens creative doors and allows you to work in new ways. Mixing more opaque colors into my watercolors has added another level to my work, and the ability to add light on top of dark feels freeing and fun.
- New mediums push you to learn. Personally, I’ve found that because gouache needs to be mixed on the palette rather than on paper, and because white must be added to get lighter shades, painting with gouache has helped (forced?) me to become better at mixing the color I want on the first try.
- Gouache is a great new medium for watercolorists to try because you can use many of your existing supplies and materials, and you can easily use it in combination with your watercolors.
Convinced? Now it’s time to get your supplies! For gouache, this doesn’t need to be a major expense. You probably have many of the supplies already.
Try Gouache For $6
The cheapest way to try gouache is to just buy a tube of white and mix it with your existing watercolors to make them opaque. You won’t be able to get the darkest darks, but then, you can get those with watercolor. It’s a great way to play around with working light over dark AND dark over light. Turner design gouache ($6 at Jerry’s Artarama) is decent and a good place to start. Nathan Fowkes works this way and has a fun book on the subject which will get you well on your way towards adding gouache to your practice. Cindy Baron also uses white gouache mixed with watercolor to finish her landscapes, as she shows in this demo.
If you want to get in deeper and make all-gouache paintings, which can feel and look more like painting with oils (but without all the oils and solvents!) you’ve now got a choice to make:
Traditional Gouache or Acrylic Gouache?
Some artists sneer at even calling Acrylic Gouache or Acryl Gouache “Gouache.” In the end, it’s just matte acrylic paint. However, its handling properties and end appearance are so close to gouache that it makes sense to consider it alongside the traditional gum arabic-based paint. I’m generally a traditionalist, but there are some compelling reasons to go acrylic.
Acrylic Gouache Pros:
- Much less expensive than traditional gouache – important if you want to paint larger
- You don’t have to worry about reactivating previous layers if you accidentally use too much water (more on that in my next post) because the paint is almost waterproof
- A quick spray with varnish and your work is ready to hang – no glass needed – again, thanks to that waterproof paint
- Acrylic is flexible when dry, so you can paint in thick layers on thinner, inexpensive paper and not worry about the paint cracking – a real concern with traditional gouache
Acrylic Gouache Cons:
- All gouache dries quickly, within minutes. Acrylic Gouache dries REALLY quickly, likely quicker than you’ll want it to if you’re used to painting with watercolors. That said, you can buy a drying retarder to mix with your paints and keep them manageable.
- Traditional gouache can be re-activated with water (although not as readily as watercolor). Acrylic gouache can’t.
- You have to keep your brushes wet at all times or the paint will dry on them – and once dry, it doesn’t come off. This is a steep learning curve for a watercolor painter – you have to keep your brush IN the water jar when you’re not using it!
- Acrylic paint washwater creates microplastics which are difficult to keep out of the environment
Buy Your Paint
There are a lot of gouache options out there to choose from. However, many of them are student-grade crafting products or created for designers and illustrators making work for reproduction – not made for creating lasting fine art. You’ll need to be careful to avoid fugitive (non-lightfast) pigments, especially in reds, pinks, and purples. Even reliable brands, such as Holbein and Windsor and Newton, have many non-lightfast colors in their gouache lines. Also, their standard for what is “excellent lightfastness” might be different for gouache than for watercolor. Read the labels and look for the same reliable pigments you use in watercolors, such as Pyrroles and Quinacridones. These pigments are usually more expensive, and I’ve been unable to find any starter sets of gouache that include them. If you’re interested in creating lasting work, you’ll need to plan on supplementing your starter set with an additional tube or two. As with watercolors, having too many colors to choose from will just make it more difficult to learn to mix colors and create a cohesive painting. Look for 12 color sets – that’s plenty!
Acrylic Gouache Options
If you’ve decided to go with acrylic gouache, Turner Acryl Gouache is a great buy. A set of 12 11ml tubes is just $15 on Amazon or go all-in with a set of huge 40ml tubes for just $27. You can supplement with a tube of Cadmium-free Red and Mixing Magenta to make a lightfast set.
Other options:
- Holbein Acrylic Gouache handles the same as Turner, but is more expensive. However, the two brands work well together if you are looking to supplement your set.
- Golden SoFlat and Liquitex Acrylic Gouache are also good quality paints, though they are also more expensive, and I find that because they come in jars, it’s more messy to set up my palette.
- Jo Sonja is an inexpensive acrylic favored by toll and folk art painters – I haven’t tried it yet, but they use reliable pigments and online reviews are good.
Traditional Gouache Options
If you’re going the traditional gouache route, Shinhan Professional Designer Gouache is a solid 12 tube, 15ml set ($38 on Amazon) and has the fewest fugitive pigments of any starter set I’ve found.
Other good options:
- Holbein is a quality option at reasonable prices
- Windsor and Newton Designer’s Gouache, Daniel Smith and M. Graham are great paint, but expensive
- Turner’s traditional gouache is fine but not as good a value as their acryl gouache, and not quite as pigmented as the options above.
Paint to avoid:
- Davinci, a paint brand I enjoy in watercolor, is not a good gouache choice – the paint dries to a weirdly shiny finish that looks odd with paint from other brands and when mixed with watercolor.
- Windsor and Newton has a student-grade, less-pigmented, 12 tube set labeled simply “Windsor and Newton Gouache” and sold for $15-$20. This is not the same stuff as Windsor and Newton Designer’s Gouache, and is not nearly as good.
- Utrecht gouache is terrible – the pigment separates from the binder.
- Lukas gouache is underpigmented and not as opaque as better brands.
- Himi gouache is used by a lot of You Tubers, so you’re likely to see it mentioned. It’s a bit gimmicky, with loads of color choices in each set all in tiny boxes or jars – not conducive to learning to mix colors. Reviewers often note the superior quality when they switch to another brand.
Other Supplies You’ll Need:
Besides your paint, you may need to pick up a few other items.
- You’re going to need some kind of palette for mixing. A ceramic dinner plate works well, or a butcher tray palette, or many folks prefer a wet palette that will keep the paint workable longer. Masterson’s StaWet palettes work great, or you can make a DIY version using a “Swedish dishcloth” thin sponge and a plastic take-out box or tupperware container, and possibly one of the Masterson StaWet paper membranes if you’re having trouble with the paint sticking to the sponge. If you’re using acrylic gouache, be aware that the paint may not come off of some plastic palettes designed for watercolor.
- A spray bottle is invaluable for keeping everything moist while you work.
- For brushes, you want something synthetic and stiff/snappy. Don’t use your good sable brushes – the paint will be very difficult to wash out of the absorbent hairs and they will be softer than you want anyway. Water capacity isn’t important here – you’re just using the brush to spatula the paint onto your paper. I like these inexpensive DuraHandle brushes from Creative Inspirations available on Amazon and from Jerry’s Artarama, but any cheap synthetic will be fine.
- Although traditional gouache can be re-activated with water, the texture changes and it’s never quite the same. It doesn’t work to pour pans of gouache and let them dry (they’ll crack and crumble, and be very difficult to re-wet – it’s just not made for that) If you like having a portable box of paint so you don’t have to keep reaching for your tubes, a little plastic box with a silicone seal like this is your answer. These boxes keep acrylic and traditional gouache moist for months (years?). Just spray with water before closing the lid. This was a game-changer for me!
- Finally, you need something to paint on! If you’re using acrylic gouache, this can literally be almost anything. Acrylic gouache will bond to paper, hardboard, canvas, and more. For traditional gouache, it’s good to paint on something that’s slightly absorbent so the paint will adhere (paper is great) but it needs to be thick enough that it won’t bend easily, as this can crack the gouache. 300lb watercolor paper works well, as do products such as Crescent Illustration Board. Alternatively, you can paint on thinner paper and then mount the finished art to gator board or illustration board before framing or selling it (a cheaper option, especially if you’re just getting started). I like painting on a smooth surface with gouache, so I use hot press watercolor paper, bristol, multimedia paper, or (for acrylic gouache) hardboard coated with a few layers of gesso. The paper quality won’t affect your work like it will for watercolors, so there’s no need to spend on 100% cotton paper. Just go for something acid-free if you want your work to last. I’ve found gouache paintings are a good way to use up paper that I didn’t like for watercolor.
Next week we’ll go over some tips and tutorials to get you started with your new toys! Be sure to subscribe so you’ll get a reminder when I post. In the meantime, join the conversation in the chat. Have you tried gouache? What did you learn?
Carrie Glessner 