Gouache paints come in many colors and are usually mixed with water to achieve the desired working properties and to control the opacity when dry.Jacob Philipp Hackert,Lago d'Averno, 1794
Gouache (/ɡuˈɑːʃ,ɡwɑːʃ/;French:[ɡwaʃ]),body color,[a] oropaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting ofnatural pigment, water, a binding agent (usuallygum arabic ordextrin),[1] and sometimes additionalinert material. Gouache is designed to beopaque. Gouache has a long history, having been used for at least twelve centuries. It is used most consistently bycommercial artists for posters, illustrations,comics, and other design work.
Gouache is similar towatercolor in that it can be rewetted and dried to a matte finish, and the paint can become infused into its paper support. It is similar toacrylic oroil paints in that it is normally used in an opaque painting style and it can form a superficial layer. Many manufacturers of watercolor paints also produce gouache, and the two can easily be used together.
Gouache paint is similar towatercolor, but it is modified to make itopaque. Just as in watercolor, the binding agent has traditionally beengum arabic but since the late nineteenth century cheaper varieties useyellow dextrin. When the paint is sold as a paste, e.g. in tubes, the dextrin has usually been mixed with an equal volume of water.[1] To improve the adhesive andhygroscopic qualities of the paint, as well as the flexibility of the rather brittle paint layer after drying,propylene glycol is often added.[1] Gouache differs from watercolor in that the particles are typically larger, the ratio of pigment to binder is much higher, and an additional white filler such as chalk—a "body"—may be part of the paint. This makes gouache heavier and more opaque than watercolor, and endows it with greater reflective qualities.[2]
Gouache generally dries to avalue that differs from the one it has when wet (lighter tones generally dry darker and darker tones tend to dry lighter), which can make it difficult to match colors over multiple painting sessions. Its quick coverage and totalhiding power mean that gouache lends itself to moredirect painting techniques than watercolor.[3] "En plein air" paintings take advantage of this, as do the works ofJ. M. W. Turner.
Gouache is today much used by commercial artists for works such as posters, illustrations, comics, and for other design work. Most 20th-centuryanimations used it to create an opaque color on acel with watercolor paint used for the backgrounds. Using gouache as "poster paint" is desirable for its speed as the paint layer dries completely by the relatively quick evaporation of the water.
The use of gouache is not restricted to the basic opaque painting techniques using a brush andwatercolor paper. It is often applied with anairbrush. As with all types of paint, gouache has been used on unusual surfaces from Braille paper[4] tocardboard. A variation of traditional application is the method used in thegouachesdécoupées (cut collages) created byHenri Matisse. HisBlue Nudes series is a good example of the technique. A new variation in the formula of the paint isacrylic gouache.
A form of gouache, with honey ortragacanth gum as a binder, was used inAncient Egyptian painting. It was also used in Europeanilluminated manuscripts,[5] as well asPersian miniatures. Although they are often described as "watercolor", Persian miniatures andMughal miniatures are predominantly examples of gouache.[6] The term gouache, derived from the Italianguazzo, also refers to paintings using this opaque method. "Guazzo", Italian for "mud", was originally a term applied to the early 16th-century practice of applyingoil paint over atempera base,[7] which could give a matted effect. In the 18th century inFrance, the termgouache was applied to opaque watermedia.
During the eighteenth century gouache was often used in a mixed technique, for adding fine details inpastel paintings. Gouache was typically made by mixing watercolours based on gum arabic with an opaque white pigment. In the nineteenth century, watercolours began to be industrially produced in tubes and a "Chinese white" tube was added to boxes for this purpose. Gouache tends to be used in conjunction with watercolor, and often ink or pencil, in 19th-century paintings.
Later that century, for decorative uses "poster paint" (as it is known in the U.S.), was mass-produced, based on the much cheaper dextrin binder. It was sold in cans or as a powder to be mixed with water. The dextrin replaced older paint types based onhide glue orsize. During the twentieth century, gouache began to be specially manufactured in tubes for more refined artistic purposes. Initially, gum arabic was used as a binder but soon cheaper brands were based on dextrin, as is most paint for children.
Asphodelus ramosus by Hans Simon Holtzbecker, 1649–1659, gouache onparchment, 50.5 cm × 38.5 cm (20 in × 15+1⁄4 in)
Exeter and the Canal Basin byJohn Gendall between 1835 and 1840; watercolour and gouache on paper
A relatively new variation in the formula of the paint isacrylic gouache. Its highly concentrated pigment is similar to traditional gouache, but it is mixed with an acrylic-based binder, unlike traditional gouache, which is mixed with gum arabic. It is water-soluble when wet and dries to a matte, opaque, and water-resistant surface when dry. Acrylic gouache differs fromacrylic paint because it contains additives to ensure the matte finish.[8]
^Mayer, Ralph.The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, Viking Adult; 5th revised and updated edition, 1991.ISBN0-670-83701-6
^Buchman, Bill (2010).Expressive Figure Drawing: New Materials, Concepts, and Techniques. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 50.ISBN9780823033140.
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