Basic Painting Techniques - Gouache

Lady Cinara beguy Urdina.

A.S. 39. 2004, Shire of Cae Mor

Supplies –
Gouache paint
Paint brush (es)
Palette
Water and containers
Something to paint
Eyedropper or medicine syringe

GOUACHE is a heavy, opaque watercolor paint, sometimes referred to as body color.

When applied correctly its finish can be almost velvety in appearance. It is commonly
found in tube form today, however dried or tablet forms are still available.
Gouache is easily reconstituted once it dries out, and truly a little goes a long way.

There are many different makers or brands of gouache paint and you will have to
try them out yourself to see what you prefer. Every artist’s personal taste is unique and
what may be the perfect brand for one may not be for another. In today’s class we will be
using Reeves student quality gouache. Not necessarily because I like it, but rather it is
very inexpensive. My personal preference when it comes to gouache is Windsor and
Newton Designer gouache.

There is a big difference between student quality and artists quality gouache. The
main difference is how much pigment is actually in the paint itself. Obviously the more
pigment that is ground in the more opaque and even the final appearance will be. It is
easier with artist’s quality to lay a “flat” background, and uses much less medium as there
is more pigment. It can be done with the student gouache, and if you can master the
technique with inferior paint, imagine how great you’ll be with the good stuff.

Period painting was not done in a “flat” manner, and had beautiful shadings and
highlights. Some of this was done with watering down the paint to almost translucent
and some was done with the layering of paint colors. We will be learning and practicing
the latter today.

BEFORE YOU PAINT

Before you start painting make sure you have your anticipated supplies handy.
That includes your paints, brushes, palette, paper, a knife for mixing paints, eyedropper
or syringe, clean water and a cloth. Keep you work surface clean and clear of any and
all potential hazards! No coffee, drinks or snacks. Put them on a separate table nearby if
you need them. You wouldn’t want to put hours of effort into a beautiful charter or scroll
and spill coffee and make the paint run. Try and paint away from distractions such as
running kids, pets etc. Ideally your work surface would be at chest level to avoid
straining your neck muscles. A slant board is great for this. If you are working on a flat
surface (as I often end up) make sure that you do a few stretches before you start. And at
least every half an hour or so. Get up and move around at least once an hour even if it is
only to refill the coffee pot. Do try and avoid painting marathons if possible.

Laying the Base Color

Now that you are ready to start painting get your palette ready and your project.
You will need to have a small container of clean water for cleaning your brushes
and another small container with clean water for adding to your paint. Choose your
color, shake the tube gently, give it a light massage/ knead and add a SMALL amount to
your palette, no larger than pea sized. You will note that it is pretty thick at this point and
may even have what looks like an oily residue. The “oil” is gum Arabic or what ever
binding medium the company has used to make the paint adhere to the paper. If there is a
lot of it you can soak up some of it with a q-tip or just mix it in, and all will be well. The
more gum Arabic to paint ratio results in a shinier finish.
Next take your eyedropper or syringe and fill it with a bit of water and add one or
two drops to your pea-sized paint. Take your knife and mix it well. It should be neither
runny nor very thick; I like the consistency of egg yolk best.
We will be trying out a couple different techniques with laying flat color and you
can choose what works best for you.

Technique 1:
We will call this the Capillary Action technique…if there is a technical term for
it, I do not know it at this time. In a second part of your palette you will add one or two
drops of water and a very small amount of your already mixed paint, and add one more
drop of water to the EDGE of your mixed paint. Do not mix this in. So now you will have
one thicker paint and one very, very thin paint. Get some of the thin paint on your brush
and begin to fill in an area on your paper. Do NOT soak the paper, just a very light, thin
coat. Before that paint dries load your brush with the thicker paint from the EDGE where
you have added the water. Apply this to the damp area on your paper with dabbing
movements, not brush strokes. The capillary action of the paper should help distribute
the paint in an even manner. You can continue with this until your area is completely
filled in. The key to this technique is to work in small areas at time, and not letting the
first layer to dry before adding the second. Balance is key here, too much water in the
first layer and your paper will buckle, and not enough and it will dry too fast. I find this
technique works best with the artist’s quality gouaches.

Technique 2:
This one we will call the puddle pull method. This is my favorite for large areas.
Add one or two more drops of water to your paint, it still shouldn’t be too runny or thin.
About the consistency of a thin pancake mix. Now load your brush and put a “puddle”
on the area to be painted. Using the tip of your brush “pull” the paint to the edges of your
area using small strokes. The trick here is to not put too much paint down at a time or
your paper will buckle, keep your strokes even and pull to the edge. I find this gives a
beautiful “velvety” effect on a large flat area. I have even used it for smaller areas as
well.
Shading and Highlighting

As I mentioned earlier, painting in manuscripts was not done “flat”, but rather was
beautifully highlighted and shaded. Again some times translucent washes were used to
create this effect (much like watercolor today) and more often it was done using layers of
paint to build up areas. I prefer to start with the shading and then add the highlights.

In another area of your palette take some of your already mixed paint and a small
amount of a lighter shade, usually white. By a small amount, I mean miniscule. Mix this
in well. Determine where on your project the light falls and carefully stroke on your
shading. Keep the inner folds of robes darker for a more dimensional effect. Once this
new layer is completely dry we will add more white (or lighter shade) and repeat this
time making the area slightly small where applied. Again let it dry. Now on your
palette put a small amount of white and mix it with a bit of water. This needs to be
slightly viscose, but not runny. If it is too thin then the color will bleed through, too thick
and you will have trouble laying it down. With the very tip of your brush pick up some
white and proceed to put the finishing highlights on your project. Long smooth strokes
will look better than short choppy ones. Try using your pinky finger for balance if you
need. I have also seen rulers used for long lines.

Mixing colors

You can mix your existing gouache to make different colors and shades of colors. Just
mix using a little color at a time until you reach the desired intensity. The only color you
won’t be able to mix is purple. Due to the light refraction within gouache and in
particular red and blue, when these two colors are mixed together they make a lovely
mud.

Metallic colors

Not everything in period was gilded. In fact a large number of manuscripts used shell
gold and shell silver and silver composites for paint. Essentially gold “findings” were
milled into a find powder and then mixed with gum ammoniac and or gum Arabic. They
were then used to lay in gold or silver on the project. If the shell gold was a good one,
they could even be burnished to a shine. To simulate shell gold and or silver I
recommend “Pebeo” metallic gouache. This is the one I personally have had the most
success with. There are others out there that may be just as good; I may not have had a
chance to try them yet. Please note that metals are generally laid down before any other
color.
Supply Sources

Curry’s art store online - www.currys.com

This has a wide variety of art supplies and is very reasonably priced.
Opus Art supplies – found usually in major cities
Your local office supply store, just be wary of their prices if they need to special order
something.
Most local craft stores have brushes and papers etc.

Bibliography

Calligraphy and Illumination, A history and practical guide, Patricia Lovett

© 2000, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York

Paint Your Own Illuminated Letters, Stephan Oliver

©1998 Quantum Books, Ltd., London UK

Intro to SCA Scribal Arts Workshop, Senhora Rafaella d’Allemtejo,

Class handout. © 2002