Blogmas Day 1: Why I work in Gouache

Welcome! I have some fun Blogmas content planned so I hope you enjoy the lead up to Christmas with me. I’m starting with a fairly easy one…

Why I work in Gouache

For my birthday in 2016, my son bought me some gouache paints, on the grounds that he couldn’t find any having rummaged through my art room beforehand. I had no idea how to use them, being very much a pencil kinda gal up until then. I had been following Fran Giffard on Instagram for a while and saw she used gouache, so decided to have a go with a Bullfinch. I really enjoyed the process of painting, as it’s opaque, a beautiful consistency (like single cream) and I loved how flat and matte the painting.

I tried painting a few more of my favourite garden birds, and again, I liked the look, as well as using the paper to create the white areas of the bird. My good friend–and accomplished artist–Iain, explained to me how gouache used to be used for touching up film as its opaque composition made it useful for alterations. With this in mind, I used MOO to make some stickers and was astonished at how good my paintings looked when both reproduced in digital form and reduced in size. That prompted me to create the birdwatching logbooks during Lockdown and the rest, as they say, is history.

Have you used gouache? It is much easier to use than watercolour, dries quickly, and has a versatility that makes it a really useful medium. It can be diluted down to create interesting washes, or used almost straight from the tube. The pigments are vibrant, and the finish means it scans beautifully. It can dry out, and if you are doing large pieces it can get quite expensive, but nothing like as pricey as oils, and the better quality paints re-wet happily, making them long-lasting if you’re using them frequently. The brand I use is Holbein or Schmincke; I have a discount code at Jackson’s Art if you want to try either of the brands.