Gouache is a water-medium paint similar to watercolor, but rather than being transparent like watercolor, its strength is that it is opaque. Another benefit of the gouache I use is that it is considered an “open” paint (sometimes called designers gouache), which means it can be re-wet and worked with even after it’s dry. This gives designers gouache much flexibility in the painting process.
A drawback to gouache is that the color/value shifts as it dries. Light colors tend to dry darker and the dark colors tend to dry lighter. This creates a bit of a wrestling match between me and gouache, but I still enjoy the medium. I will create a relatively quick painting in gouache to “test the waters” of my idea… will the composition I have in mind be strong, will the color palette work well with the subject, and are the values a good match for what I want to say…gouache is great for working through these always present issues.
I have only recently started using Gouache but believe it to be a huge benefit in the learning process.
