Water Color Etiquette vs. Gouache.

[thebryce]

What is the consensus of watered down Gouache on a watercolor painting?  Lately I have been on a Gouache kick and notice it has a quality that allows it to be watered down to a rich stain. It seems that it can be both transparent and opaque if needed. Please advise.....

[dennis]

There is no specific rule about watering down gouache. Gouache is actually an opaque watercolour medium as opposed to straight watercolours which is transparent and uses the white of the paper as "white paint". Gouache is more granular than normal watercolours. There is nothing stopping you combining watercolours and          gouache together on the same painting. If you belong to a watercolour society then, unless it is a mixed media competition, then using gouache is a No No. For normal use - no problem.

Just remember there is a lot of Chinese White in Gouache.

Professional Designers use straight gouache for their  illustrations.

[thebryce]

I have been having fun with mixing the two recently. I don't have to use masking fluid and am able to fix my errors. I know I need to improve on the WC only techniques but the Guasche has saved me time and paper. I have gotten prety good at wc wash for backgrounds however.

[Alice L Lemke]

I haven't bought a set of Gouache yet, don't tempt me! I use Copic white watersoluble ink that can be mixed with any color to be used like Gouache, but is not sedimentary.

[MaryAnne Long]

I bought a set of Gouache paints (Winsor Newton Designer Gouache), but have not used them yet. 
 
You know how I love to experiment, so you can bet that I will be trying them soon.

Hey, Alice, glad to see you back.  Miss your beautiful work.

Miss your brother-in-law Steven, too.  Please tell him to stop by and say hi.

aloha

mea

[thebryce]

Has anyone tried out  their [size=0px]Gouache paints yet?[/size]

[MaryAnne Long]

Yes, Bryce.  I have been using gouache paints for about a year.

http://www.paintbasket.com/members/index.php?topic=12934.msg205881#msg205881

and

http://www.paintbasket.com/members/index.php?topic=12944.msg211469#msg211469

All I know about gouache or have painted using it is there in those two links.

It has limited uses - like when you want a matte look.

aloha

mea

[Johnniez]

HI all

Never tried Gouache, don't have any.

I use Chinese white or Titanium white.. They both work fine.

and also Rules are made to be broken..

Was a time when white was frowned on.. Not any more . Castagenet and Zbuvick both use it.. So why not.. Does not seem to be frowned on anymore..

Paint is paint and do whatever works for 'you' !!

Johnnie

[Val]

    Johnnie! I'm with you 100% on that.     First we learn the 'rules', and then we learn how to break' them.      

[BeaSue]

I am glad to see this post bumped up. Johnnie, I agree with you. I do try diligently to "preserve the white of the paper," but it doesn't always work out as well as I had hoped. When necessary, there are 2 products I have used. One is Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed-proof White. The other is Creative Mark's Aquacover Liquid Watercolor Paper. It comes in a variety of shades designed to match the paper you are using. For Example, I use the variety designed to cover Arches natural White. I say--do what works!