What primer to use with gouache?
Water resistance can be achieved by adding small amounts of Acrylic Matt Medium to your Designers Gouache colour. It is also possible to use Acrylic Gesso Primer with Designers Gouache. This will ensure the absorbency and film stability expected for permanent works of art.
Paper or other surface to paint: Gouache works well on watercolor paper, but you could also use some thick drawing paper. While you can use canvas, that's typically better suited for acrylic. Overall, your best option is paper for gouache.
Paper for painting with gouache should be at least 140 lb/300 gsm. You don't want your paper to buckle when you start laying down your gouache. High quality watercolor paper is often gelatine sized, which makes it resistant to layering and wiping.
Use a primed canvas for gouache painting.
A good quality priming is critical; if it's not done right, your painting won't stick and could be damaged later. You can also prime the canvas with acrylic paint or add acrylic paint to the gesso to tone it. You can use a variety of different brushes for gouache painting.
Avoid applying gouache too thickly or in too many layers as you work so that you can avoid cracking and peeling once dry. Consider practicing with gouache before committing to a serious piece. Allow yourself time to get comfortable with the medium.
The difference between gouache and gesso is that gesso, once dry, can be worked over, whereas gouache remains forever soluble so, once dry, it has to be left as is. For that reason, it's best to add gouache at the end of the painting, while gesso can be added at any time during your process.
With gesso-primed canvases, the gouache paint will easily adhere to the surface; just remember to avoid painting in high humidity or over-stretching the canvas since although gouache is more robust than watercolour paints, it is of course still less so than oil paints.
Seal watercolors or gouache with several light coats of spray varnish (or fixative), being careful to spray outdoors during warmer months or in a well ventilated and heated area during colder times of the year. We recommend the Krylon® UV Archival varnishes.
Surface – There are a few different surfaces you can work with when it comes to working with gouache. Watercolour paper is always a good option, and whilst you can use canvas, this will always work better with acrylic or oil mediums.
While you can blend gouache paint, it's not quite as effortless as the process is with watercolor. Unlike with watercolors, colors of gouache don't simply bleed when they touch.
Does gouache bleed through paper?
Gouache doesn't bleed (unless it's too wet), so you can paint next to wet areas without problems. Gouache can be painted on top of watercolor. (I used white gouache to create stars on my galaxy painting.) If your painting looks too flat, try adding layers to create highlights and shadows.
You want the first layer to be very liquid, like watercolor. The second layer should be slightly thicker than the first but still liquid. The third layer should be slightly thicker again and so on until you get to the final layer. This will help keep your colors separate when they dry.
“Gouache paper” doesn't exist, so you have two options when it comes to paper. You can use a watercolor paper, or a mixed media paper. By using either, you can ensure your paper doesn't wave when applying lots of water with your gouache.
If the canvas is poorly primed when using oil colour, the oil may sink into the canvas, leaving dull patches on the surface of your painting. Priming also gives the canvas a smoother surface, allowing your brush to flow much better.
Many artists use both traditional and acrylic gouache in one project, starting with acrylic gouache as the base and layering with traditional gouache on top. Since acrylic gouache is permanent and traditional is not, the drying time is not so intense when you layer the two types.
Canvas that is not “gessoed” is very absorbent. Thus, if you were to paint on that surface, the paint would just soak in and not glide easily.
Varnishing a gouache painting should be avoided, because the varnish drastically affects the depth, darkness and finish of the work. And should anyone want to retouch the painting again at some point in the future, perhaps for restoration purposes, the varnish will not come off.
- USE BIG BRUSHES.
- LIMIT YOUR PALETTE.
- KEEP YOUR PAINTS MOIST.
- USE PLENTY OF PAINT.
- PREPARE THE SURFACE.
- BE WILLING TO COVER UP YOUR DRAWING.
- PAINT FROM BACKGROUND TO FOREGROUND.
- THINK FIRST, THEN PLACE A STROKE.
Because gouache will easily cover up watercolor, but not the other way around, it's essential to plan out which areas to paint in with each medium. Gouache is the most dominant of the two and you want to make sure that it doesn't overtake the areas painted with watercolor.
Gouache paint (pronounced gw-ash) is similar to both watercolour and acrylic paint mediums. Much like watercolour, it's a pigment that has to be mixed with water to allow it to spread across paper, canvas or any other surface.
Which is better for beginners gouache or acrylic?
While gouache is well known for keeping school children busy in art class, acrylic is a paint of choice for fine art students and the most prestigious academies. Both are appropriate for beginners who would like to start painting at home.
Professional artists favor gouache for its versatility. It can mimic the look and feel of acrylic, watercolor, and even oil paints!
Gesso prepares (or "primes") the surface for painting, making the surface slightly textured and ready to accept acrylic paint. Without gesso, the paint would soak into the weave of the canvas. The word gesso is a noun, but many artists also use it as a verb.
In conclusion, the gouache underpainting works if you are trying to achieve a shade between two colors. The gouache layer reactivates when wet and mixes with each layer above it. This can cause you to get muddy colors if the wrong color is applied above it.
The second rule is to work from your darkest shades, into the lighter shades. This is how to get the smoothest blending, without reactivating your layers. Since gouache dries so quickly, you'll want to work fast, and working dark to light helps with that.
What is Traditional Gouache? Gouache is a non-permanent, water-based paint that contains large pigment particles. Once dry, this paint is easy to reactivate if you want to make touch ups and changes.
Both gouache and watercolor paints are water-based and dry quickly. If you already work in watercolor and are curious about gouache, buy gouache in primary colors and start experimenting with it both by itself and with your collection of watercolor paints.
If gouache paint becomes moist, it will return to its original paint state. So, to best care for your finished gouache masterpieces you will need to waterproof them. This is easy, just take a small brush and seal your works with an enamel varnish or a linseed oil-based varnish.
