Gouache 101 · Tips and Techniques + Paper, Brushes and Cheap vs. Expensive · SemiSkimmedMin

Alright you lot, welcome back to my channel. So you know I've been talking about making a new everything you need to know about gouache type video for a while now, and funnily enough, the other day Strathmore Artist Papers approached me asking if I would make a series of short gouache 101 videos for their YouTube channel. So they now have three of my videos on their channel but what I've done here for you guys is just combine all the stuff from those three videos into one video that's slightly more concise but also includes a couple of bits and bobs that I didn't get round to mentioning in those videos. So obviously you can go and check out those videos on their channel, I would recommend checking out their channel anyway because they've got some really useful videos on there, just stay and watch this one first. Right so to start off with, let's get to know this medium a bit better. Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based paint. It's often referred to as opaque watercolour as it performs quite similarly but has a heavier density and a much higher level of pigment which it can be layered and it also packs an impressive colour payoff. Other notable features of this paint are its velvety matte finish, fast drying time and its ability to be reactivated with water once dry, which is pretty handy if, like me, you have a habit of letting your paints dry on the mixing palette or if you want to rework a particular section of a finished painting. It's a medium that can be used for lots of different things. It's bold, flat, poster colour finish makes it ideal for use in illustration and its versatility means it's also a popular fine art medium, as well as a favourite for calligraphers. If you've been using watercolour paints, you probably have the right tools already. With gouache, brushes typically used for watercolour will do just fine, and obviously the brushes you choose could depend on the finish you're after but most of the time, anything that's smooth to give you a streak-free finish and something flexible but sturdy enough to handle the weight of the paint will do. For paper, again, watercolour paper is your best bet as, unlike sketching and drawing papers, they're manufactured to handle wet application. Here I'm using Strathmore's 400 series 300gsm paper, and this paper and mixed media papers too are made with sizing, or the right additives, so the sheet reacts well to water. And you'll ideally want to go 300gsm or higher, since a heavier paper is going to be strong enough to avoid warping or buckling when wet. And whether you go hot-pressed or cold-pressed is really up to your personal preference. Like most mediums, gouache is manufactured by several brands who will come with their own varying price points and I get asked a lot whether it's worth dishing out on the pricier ones or if the cheap ones can perform just as well. So to get right to the point, yes you will see a difference in quality between the cheaper ones and the more expensive ones. I personally use a combination of a few brands at a couple of different tiers of quality. The cheaper ones, like Reeves, do perform okay. Like most affordable paints, you get the overall look and feel that you're going for, just not to its full potential and with a few minor inconveniences. With cheaper gouache, some problems that you might run into will be an increased streakiness to the finish, a more difficult time getting the right consistency and a painting with less of the colour brilliance you might be hoping for. A favourite brand of many gouache artists that I've seen is Windsor and Newton, which is a great place to start with gouache I think. You'll be paying a little bit more for fewer paints than if you were to buy a cheaper set, but the quality of the paint really speaks for itself. If you want a true gouache experience and you don't want to spend a lot of money, I would really just recommend sticking to fewer, higher quality paints to start with, maybe bulking out your collection with cheaper paints when necessary, but having those better quality paints as your base will give you the finish and the lovely pigment that gouache is known for. Today I'm using Royal Talens gouache, which is in the same sort of price bracket as Windsor and Newton, though I did realise it's slightly cheaper, and you get bigger tubes. Now I have to say, I received this paint to consider for use in this video and I actually made no promises to even mention it at all, but yeah I actually really like it, I'm so glad I found it. And they're a great option for people at any skill level with gouache as they offer a few different sets to suit your needs or your budget. And that's really all you need to know about gouache paint itself, now I'm going to get into a few tips to get started with it and some general tips and techniques for when you're using it. So to begin with your gouache painting, all you'll need is a sheet of paper, a selection of paintbrushes and water to clean your brushes. You might also want a separate cup for the water that you'll be adding to dilute the paint to keep your colours clean, somewhere to mix your paint and obviously you'll need the paint itself. You'll want to add a little bit of water to your paint at a time, experimenting with different ratios of water to paint to see what works best. You're looking for a creamy consistency that flows easily on the paper without leaving streaks, and you'll generally be able to feel and see when the paint consistency isn't quite right. Gouache blends evenly together on the palette with mixed colours often ending up even more vivid than those straight out of the tube. It can be tempting to keep adding water as you add colour but remember to only add a little at a time. You might also want to bear in mind that colours dry to a slightly different shade to when they're wet, so usually with lights drying darker and darks drying lighter. There are plenty of ways to blend colours together but my favourite way to approach it is to get the two colours that I want to mix together and mix up one or two shades in between. Lay those colours down in stripes in a gradient from one to the next and blend the gaps in between. Now it depends on what sort of look you're going for but for me it's really best to be blending paint in paint rather than in water. When applied carefully it's possible to layer different colours on top of each other without disturbing and mixing with the one below. This is great with the paint in its opaque state as you can cover mistakes or add entirely new elements to your painting. It can also be effective with washes to add different tonal values or change the mood of your painting completely. Just remember to make sure that the layer of paint that you're painting on is completely dry before you go on top of it. Because gouache is so versatile there are many different ways to use it depending on your style. Experiment with how you mix, blend and layer the paints to find a finish that suits you. Putting it all together and revising all the points we've covered, I'm going to do a quick gouache painting to demonstrate how I use it and to put all those techniques into practice. To start off with, I have all the tools I'll need laid out in front of me. For this painting I'm going to be using Strathmore's 500 series watercolour paper and Royal Talens gouache. Next I'm going to start mixing up my first colour. I plan on starting my painting with a wash of pink in the background so I'm adding quite a bit of water to my paint at this stage. I'm creating a smooth wash of colour around my subject, adding more water as I get closer to the edge of my painting to create a gradient that softens or fades out slightly. Then I deepen that colour on my palette, adding blue and more of that magenta with a bit less water so my paint is a little more opaque as I build towards the foreground. Because gouache dries so quickly, I never really have to wait too long between each layer. Most of the time, by the time I've finished on one side of the painting, the previous layer on the other side of the painting is dry enough to paint over without worrying about smudging or blending. So with my next layer, now that we're getting to the foreground, I'm adding almost no water to my paint at all to give this part the most opaque finish. I also add some small extra details with an almost dry brush to give a textured look to the bark of the tree. And so already so far in this painting, you can really see the versatility of gouache paint, from light gradients to solid colour to textured lines. So a simple way that I've found to keep a sense of cohesion across the colours in my painting is to create new colours while still incorporating the shades that I've already been using on my palette. So here I'm mixing up a brown using the purple that I've used so far with the addition of yellow. And to give this part more texture, I'm also smudging in a few darker areas here and there. Now when I'm making this green, again I'm mixing it in with some of the other colours I have on my palette and then I'm just layering it on thickly on top of the existing parts of the painting that I want to cover. I also use my favourite blending technique of gradually adding intermingling strips from one colour to another. Then it's my favourite part for my particular style of painting which is adding some linework. What I love about gouache, and something that this brand in particular is great at, is how far you can stretch a small amount of paint. It applies smoothly and consistently to create bold, crisp lines without needing to reapply paint to your brush too often. So I carry on like that for the remainder of the painting. I'm also adding some outline details to the bushes in the foreground. Then for some finishing touches, I actually use water to reactivate and smudge out some of the dried outlines on the face to darken up some areas that I want to bring out a bit more. Then it's just a case of adding some white highlights and I'm all done. And there you have it, a confused bear in the woods. And that's really all there is to it. I really tried to cover all the questions and things that you lot have brought up in the past but of course if I've missed anything, you can always leave a comment or question below and I'll do my very best to get back to you. Other than that, I hope you all just have fun with it. Keep creating beautiful things and keep being beautiful things. I'll see you next time. Bye!