John Damico - Enjoy Everyday with Gouache - Happy Painting: An Inspiring and Practical Guide to Painting Things Around You in Gouache: Gift Ideas for Holiday

Because of its diverse nature, using this paint has become very popular with watercolor and acrylic painters, illustrators, graphic designers, fine artists, and urban sketchers. Whether using it outdoors or in the studio, quality gouache paints have the flexibility to meet the needs of every artist. As you will see as we go through some popular techniques, there are many ways to utilize the diversity of gouache to create your own unique style.

Glazing

Gouache dries very fast and has the ability to become transparent enough to be used in a technique called glazing. By thinning the paint with water, you can layer it on top of painted areas that are dry to enrich an existing color or create a new one. Glazing can create dark shadows and deep atmospheric effects. To do this, gradually mix water to your paint and experiment with different levels of transparency, as we have done here.

Mixing Media

Gouache works well when used in combination with other art media. You can add interest, new colors, or intricate details to your works when you use watercolor pencils, charcoal, markers, or colored pencils, as weve done here, along with gouache.

Reworking Dry Areas

Because gouache dries fast, one of the best features of gouache is its ability to be reworked once it has dried. To try this, paint a solid rectangular area and allow it to dry. Using a paintbrush dipped in water, paint along the edges of the rectangle. As the paint rehydrates, it softens into a liquid again and you are able to blur the edges.

Dry Brushing

This technique involves putting paint on your brush and then rubbing most of it off. This is known as dry brushing and can achieve multi-tonal effects as well as creating the look of a textured surface. Simply dip your brush in the paint and then rub it a little on a palette or a paper towel. Now take the small amount thats left on the brush and apply it to your paper or canvas. See how it adds dark and light values of your color? It goes from a very solid color, to more transparent so you can see the texture of the paper underneath. Use this technique in your paintings to create textures, highlights, or backgrounds.