Gouache and Watercolor Compare

Gouache and Watercolor

Gouache and Watercolor have the same binder, which is gum arabic in most cases. Gouache, however, is more opaque, and light can be painted over darks. 

First thing we did was do a side by side comparison of watercolor (on the left) and gouache on the right. We tested out wet into wet, blending, and lifting. Discovered that:

 Watercolor dries lighter, and requires more layers to darken.

Gouache lifts very easily, which makes it difficult to blend.

Gouache can be done wet into wet, but the paint doesn't move the same as watercolor. 

Here are a few practices. A peach on the left, first wet into wet, then wet on dry paper.

Then some practice with brush strokes. 

More practices. These were testing the opacity of gouache and the lifting techniques. 

Tried some blending with the flowers and portrait and sunset. Notice the intensity of some of the colors. People tend to equate gouache with a chalky-ness, and that is true of lighter values, which must be mixed with white to get lighter values. But straight from the tube, the colors are beautiful. 

Finally testing painting on a black surface. 

If you have white gouache only, you can make a variety of pastel looking gouache by combining your watercolor pigments with the white gouache. Many watercolor artists keep white gouache handy for recovering small whites or spattering snow. 

Below is a link to my original blog from June of 2022. In it you will find step by step instructions to paint a toucan with water color, then gouache. It also includes a chart that compares the two.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/1559740055234291428