One of the best things about gouache is that it’s re-wettable. Each new layer of gouache can completely cover the layer below it, just like acrylic paint. It’s not necessary to work from light to dark as with watercolours, and you don’t need to worry about preserving the white. The opaque nature of gouache means that you can paint in layers from dark to light. This flat finish makes gouache easy to scan/photograph and reproduce. Gouache paint sits on the surface of the paper instead of soaking in, and it dries quickly with a flawless, matte finish. Gouache has a much higher pigment-to-binder ratio though, which means that the gouache is really vibrant and little bit goes a long way. In addition to pigment and binder, many brands of gouache also contains an opaque white pigment or chalk which makes it thicker and more opaque. Just like watercolour paint, gouache paint is made up of pigment and a water soluble binder like gum arabic. As the medium reaches a wider audience, it’s starting to get the recognition it deserves!įollow on Instagram, for inspiring examples of how you can use gouache paint! Gouache Properties Today, modern gouache is gaining more popularity, as illustrators and fine artists share their work online. In the 20th century gouache was commonly used by commercial designers and animators requiring a quick drying, solid colour with matte finish. In the 19th Century, the portability of gouache made it a great choice for Impressionist painters, painting outside ‘plein air’ and it started to gain popularity. Gouache is one of the oldest mediums known to the Western art word, but it’s always been a somewhat undiscovered medium and hasn’t always been widely regarded as an ideal medium for fine artists. In the Middle Ages, gouache was used to illuminate manuscripts before early European painters began to use it as a painting medium. Egg yolk, glue or honey was used to bind the pigments. Gouache has a long history of use! The earliest gouache-like paints were called tempura, and were used in ancient Greece and Egypt. It’s the best of both worlds – gouache has the portability and convenience of watercolours, as well as the vibrant, opaque layering capabilities of acrylic paint! A brief history lesson This means that gouache be also be used similarly to acrylic or oil paint as well – in bold, matte layers.

Gouache is a medium that’s really worth exploring though, because it’s such a versatile and ‘forgiving’ medium which makes it a winner for beginners! Gouache is a water-based paint so it’s a lot like watercolour paint, however it’s thicker, heavier and much more opaque than watercolour. Gouache (pronounced “gwaaash”) is a really misunderstood painting medium. It’s very underrated in the art world and often gets labeled as ‘weird’.