Saturday, December 24, 2016
Your Questions on Gouache
Your Questions on Gouache
A lot of you have asked me questions about gouache, so Ive gathered up the answers here for the benefit of everybody:
Carlos says, "After watching Gouache in the Wild, Im finally going to buy some gouache tubes. I was wondering if the same colors list you posted on the Watercolor in the Wild post serves as a guide to build my first set."
Carlos, those colors would serve you well. Basically a high-chroma yellow (such as a Permanent Arylide Yellow
), a bright red (such as Flame red
), and then earth color versions of yellow and red, such as yellow ochre and burnt sienna or Venetian red
.
Then youd want to get a couple of blues. I like cobalt, ultramarine, Prussian, and cerulean, but I rarely take more than two of them at a time into the field. I also like having Viridian and a brilliant purple. Again, these are mainly for limited palettes, or if for some reason I need high chroma (saturation). And of course youll need white. And black, especially if you ever want to paint in pure black/white grisaille.
Mary says, "I sketch in watercolor with a minimal kit (Marias tiny card-sized kit) and would love to be able to bypass colored pencils if possible. Do you think its possible to sketch as quickly and realistically without them?"
The answer is yes, definitely. Painting with pure watercolor is totally fine and you can get any effect you want with a brush alone. You might want to use the brush both wet and dry -- the drier brush, splayed out, will give you all the textural effects you might otherwise get with a pencil. The only problem with those extremely tiny kits is that you cant mix generous washes of either transparent or opaque watercolor for skies or other large areas.
Vodka Fashion says, "I just stared implementing gouache in my paintings. My question is, do you travel with the actual tubes, or have you made a gouache travel kit? I tried making a travel kit, but the paints dried out."
I travel with a small set of tubes in a plastic bag, anywhere from two tubes (black and white) to about eight or 10 tubes. Sometimes I carry just a limited palette of three colors plus white. That forces me to do what I can with those colors. Although you can squeeze them into a watercolor-type palette, in advance, let them dry, and then rewet them, they dont reconstitute into the smooth consistency that they had when they came out of the tube. And theres the problem of them breaking up. If you just want to solve that breakup problem, you can mix them with more of the water-soluble glue-like binder gum arabic
, which you can get in liquid or powdered form.
Suzy Powell says: "So you just rewet? Where I live we have 00000% humidity. Haha (West Texas)
No, I dont rewet dry gouache except as a last resort. Ive used gouache in low humidity and it does dry quickly. It can get very frustrating on a hot day in the sunshine in a desert, in which case oil would be a better medium. But for gouache, using a damp paper towel under the paint you squeeze from the tube will help it last longer. You can also extend the time by misting your palette with a little water from a spray bottle. But once its totally dry or used up its best to reset the palette by cleaning it off and starting with freshly squeezed paint. Dont keep dabbing at the spot where the paint used to be.
Matt Urbanowicz says: "I wanted to ask about the colours bleeding: I have a problem that while painting in gouache or poster colours when adding layers I tend to pick up and smudge the colours from the layer underneath, even when its dry. Am I doing something wrong?
), a bright red (such as Flame red), and then earth color versions of yellow and red, such as yellow ochre and burnt sienna or Venetian red.Then youd want to get a couple of blues. I like cobalt, ultramarine, Prussian, and cerulean, but I rarely take more than two of them at a time into the field. I also like having Viridian and a brilliant purple. Again, these are mainly for limited palettes, or if for some reason I need high chroma (saturation). And of course youll need white. And black, especially if you ever want to paint in pure black/white grisaille.
 |
| Concept sketches for Scientific American "Ascent of Mammals." Watercolor, gouache, and water-soluble colored pencils. |
The answer is yes, definitely. Painting with pure watercolor is totally fine and you can get any effect you want with a brush alone. You might want to use the brush both wet and dry -- the drier brush, splayed out, will give you all the textural effects you might otherwise get with a pencil. The only problem with those extremely tiny kits is that you cant mix generous washes of either transparent or opaque watercolor for skies or other large areas.
Vodka Fashion says, "I just stared implementing gouache in my paintings. My question is, do you travel with the actual tubes, or have you made a gouache travel kit? I tried making a travel kit, but the paints dried out."
I travel with a small set of tubes in a plastic bag, anywhere from two tubes (black and white) to about eight or 10 tubes. Sometimes I carry just a limited palette of three colors plus white. That forces me to do what I can with those colors. Although you can squeeze them into a watercolor-type palette, in advance, let them dry, and then rewet them, they dont reconstitute into the smooth consistency that they had when they came out of the tube. And theres the problem of them breaking up. If you just want to solve that breakup problem, you can mix them with more of the water-soluble glue-like binder gum arabic
, which you can get in liquid or powdered form.Suzy Powell says: "So you just rewet? Where I live we have 00000% humidity. Haha (West Texas)
No, I dont rewet dry gouache except as a last resort. Ive used gouache in low humidity and it does dry quickly. It can get very frustrating on a hot day in the sunshine in a desert, in which case oil would be a better medium. But for gouache, using a damp paper towel under the paint you squeeze from the tube will help it last longer. You can also extend the time by misting your palette with a little water from a spray bottle. But once its totally dry or used up its best to reset the palette by cleaning it off and starting with freshly squeezed paint. Dont keep dabbing at the spot where the paint used to be.
Matt Urbanowicz says: "I wanted to ask about the colours bleeding: I have a problem that while painting in gouache or poster colours when adding layers I tend to pick up and smudge the colours from the layer underneath, even when its dry. Am I doing something wrong?
Matt, yes, gouache will tend to pick up if you put a wet layer over a previous layer, especially if you work it with the brush at all. The fact that the surface can be reactivated can be a good thing if you want to soften edges after the fact. But if you dont want those previous layers to come up, there are two remedies. The first is to lay down every stroke quickly and without any extra brushing. Make it your motto to "Make every stroke count." Or "Think twice, touch once."
If that doesnt work, you can use Acryla Gouache
or Casein
, which have a closed surface when they dry.
If that doesnt work, you can use Acryla Gouache
or Casein, which have a closed surface when they dry.-----
Previous posts about gouache
Seven gouache hazards and how to avoid them
Gouache ingredients—info from manufacturers
Questions about gouache
Video tutorials
Gouache in the Wild
Seven gouache hazards and how to avoid them
Gouache ingredients—info from manufacturers
Questions about gouache
Video tutorials
Gouache in the Wild
The Mammal that Ate Dinosaurs
Watercolor in the Wild
Available link for download
