PRACTICAL GOUACHE
As a painting medium gouache is not at the forefront of everyone's mind and many people are unaware of exactly what it is. It is a rather forgotten medium, but one with endless possibilities. Different forms of opaque water-based paint have been in use for longer than people realise, and the process of adding various forms of gum to pigments so that they adhere to different surfaces is ancient. It has been in use for centuries and experienced something of a revival in the 20th century when artists such as John Singer Sargent used gouache in conjunction with watercolour in many of his paintings. It was also favoured by other artists including Marc Chagall, Pablo Picaso, and Paul Klee.
The best gouache available today is usually termed Designers’ or Artists’ gouache, an artists’ quality medium with a similar structure to watercolour. A finely ground pigment is suspended in gum Arabic but with the addition of inert chalk-like materials to make it opaque. Because of its ‘designers’ labelling it is often dismissed as a medium that should only be used by designers and illustrators, but this is not the case.
So, why choose gouache?
Gouache can be considered as having some of the painting processes used in both watercolourthat of a watercolour painting and initial washes can be applied with the paint thinned to a pale consistency without worrying too much about any small blemishes. Subsequent applications of paint containing more pigment and less water can be tackled in a way similar to oil painting, slowly adjusting the tonal intensity as the painting progresses.
