Gouache!

There were a few questions and comments about gouache the other day, so as per Janice's request, I thought I would write a little something about the medium.

Gouache is a lot like a water color paint, but has a much more opaque quality to it.

If you are really interested in painting with gouache I would recommend getting a few of the basic colors:

Jet Black
Permanent White
Parma Violet
Mistletoe Green
Primary Yellow
Marigold Yellow
Flame Red
Primary Red
and
Primary Blue.

If you just want to practice with the gouache I think investing in just the primary colors plus white and black would be fine.

Next you need something to mix your paint on. I love my butcher tablet, but you can use just about anything plastic. I would recommend something that is pretty big because then you have a lot of room to mix your colors.

You also need water and a nice brush.
The Raphael brush size 8 is an excellent brush. You can paint rather wide lines, as well as pretty narrow areas.

I also like to have a paper towel roll really close by. this way if I have to much paint, or water, on my brush I can just dab it on the roll easily.

So now were are ready to paint!

First you squeeze out your paint, or paints, depending on whether or not your mixing colors. Next dip your brush in some water. I find that the amount of water that your brush holds is just enough water to mix with the gouache. Unless you have a lot of gouache on your palette.
Keep in mind that a little gouache can go a long way most of the time. If you are painting a large surface, of course you are going to need more...

Then mix the water and the gouache together. You want to achieve a mayonnaise like consistency. Also, remember that you can always add more water, but most of the time adding more paint can be a waste. If you are mixing colors, make sure they are really well mixed. Otherwise you can get streaking.

Now you're ready to paint your surface.
You want to make long broad strokes. I would try small areas to paint first before I paint larger areas. Getting a consistent look can take some practice.

You can paint on just about anything with gouache. I like any printmaking paper, or water color paper. You can also paint on wood and I suppose you could try fabric too.

Hope this made sense to everyone.
I don't really know how to upload my videos to blogger so I hope you can understand this with writing and pictures. If you have questions, please ask :)