Leisure Painter Magazine - Gouache Review

Gouache is an opaque form of watercolour and gouache colours are made paler by the addition of white instead of diluting them with water, as with the transparent medium. I chose four colours at random from the 12 and mixed in increasing proportions of white to produce ever paler versions of the original colours.

I then applied them to my watercolour paper in a series of limited washes and allowed them to dry. They produced a satisfactory smooth, even and vibrant coverage of the paper. I then prepared several mixtures of the two basic colours to produce secondaries.

Once again the results were excellent smooth, even and glowing. My next test was the preparation of several tertiary colours, blending three of the basic colours in varying proportions.

Experience and knowledge of colour theory will help in the choice of basic colours and the
proportions in which they are blended, but the less experienced will find useful advice in the Colour Mixing Swatch Book. It is worth noting that any mixture in which two complementary colours predominate in roughly equal proportions will turn out dull and muddy.

I finally applied a number of pale colours and colour mixtures over areas of deeptoned underpainting to test the covering capacity of the paint. Once again, the result was entirely satisfactory, with complete coverage of the dark background.

I found the paints handled well and were pleasant to use. They are completely compatible with watercolour with which gouache is often used. They are clearly manufactured to a high standard, with finely ground pigments and top-quality binders.


Review by Ray Campbell Smith
FRSA, FBSP, BWS, Editorial Consultant Leisure Painter Magazine

Ray is a well known and prolific professional artist and teacher whose work is represented in collections world wide. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Founding Fellow of the British Society of Painters, and an Associate of the British Watercolour Society.