Make sure to purchase a white pastel at an art supply store. You can paint with gouache on a variety of different surfaces. Many artists use watercolor paper because it is inexpensive and portable. You can also use illustration board or watermedia canvas, which is an especially absorbent canvas designed for gouaches and watercolors. Keep a spray bottle of water and a roll of paper towels at your workstation. Use a disposable cup or a cup that you don’t drink out of for holding your water. You will be cleaning your brushes in the cup so you don’t want to use one that you drink from.
Keep experimenting with adding water to the paint. Make washes of colors by squeezing color into a compartment of your palette, then dipping the brush into water and swirling the brush around in the color, releasing the water and mixing it with the paint on the palette. When mixing water with gouache on your palette, always start with the gouache, then add water with your brush. Dilute the paint gradually. It’s better to add too little water than all at once, because you can always add more.
You can mix paint by squeezing two colors into the same compartment of your palette and mixing with a brush. You can also mix colors by scooping up some paint on the brush, depositing it in a clean compartment of your palette, then cleaning your brush and dipping it into another color. Transfer the other color into the compartment and mix the colors together with the brush. You should be able to make all the colors you need just by using red, blue, yellow and white.
Coloring with white oil pastel is not the only way to have white in your design. You can also use white gouache paint to add areas of white. However, if you are painting a very light and delicate design, you may not want to add a heavy layer of white paint to your painting. This is why some prefer to use white oil pastel instead of white gouache. If you do not plan on having white in your painting, you can skip this step.
For instance, if you are painting a tree, fill the trunk with brown and the leaves with green. Paint large areas first before adding in details. [7] X Expert Source Kathy LeaderArtist Expert Interview. 13 February 2022. Some artists only choose to use one or two watered-down layers in their work to create a sheer, watercolor-like effect. Others prefer to use many layers to add detail and dimensions to their designs. Although gouache can be built up, be careful not to apply it too thickly, as gouache has the tendency to crack when it is laid on very thick. When gouache dries, it makes darker colors appear lighter and lighter colors to appear darker. Take that into consideration when painting. [8] X Expert Source Kathy LeaderArtist Expert Interview. 13 February 2022.
Though some artists have mastered blending gouache painting while both colors are wet, it’s a good idea when you’re just beginning to paint with gouache to let the layers dry completely. If your colors do begin to bleed, stop painting and let them dry, then paint over the blended area with the desired color. If you notice that some of your paints are drying on the palette, spray them with the spray bottle of water to keep them wet.
One way that you can add shade is to paint a series of lines of color laid next to each other in a gradient that goes from light to dark. For instance, if you are painting an apple, start with a line of pure red, then a line of slightly grayer red, and then add more gray until the last line is the darkest shade of your shadow. After you lay down all the lines, soften the transition of color by dipping your brush in water, removing excess water using a paper towel, then gently scrubbing the dampened brush across the lines of color to blend the colors. You can also shade by adding translucent layers of paint in progressively darker colors. Finally, you can crosshatch or stipple to achieve shading. You can soften the stippling or crosshatching by using a slightly dampened brush to rub the area of the painting to blend it.
For instance, if you are painting a strawberry, you may go in with white paint and draw in the seeds of the berry. Then you might use a thin brush to define the leaves of the berry, and then finish by outlining the berry in black pen.
Mounting prevents the painting from being directly against the glass, which can cause condensation and mold-growth, especially in humid environments. Don’t varnish your gouache painting. Although varnish is a great way to protect other mediums, varnish will alter and darken the colors of your gouache painting. [11] X Research source
