158 Advanced | TECHNIQUES
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
This painting combines both media,
with watercolor providing a light,
translucent setting of sea and sky,
against which the strong opaque
mixes solidify the boat with texture
and bold color.
Effects with gouache
ADDING OPAQUE COLOR AND SURFACE TEXTURE
Combining gouache with watercolor can be very liberating, allowing you
to paint light passages over your darks and adding another surface layer of
opacity. Pure gouache contains much more pigment than pure watercolor—
used on its own it has a powerful impact, but by mixing it in watercolor
washes you can merge seamlessly between the two media.
Lifeboat
1 in (25 mm) synthetic at brush
No. 12 and no. 8 soft-hair round brushes
11 x 14 in (28 x 35 cm) cold press
140 lb (300 gsm) watercolor paper
You will need
1
Bold washes
Loosely sketch the scene. Next, ll
the paper with a continuous wash of
cerulean sky merging with an ocher
harbor wall. Apply a cobalt and French
ultramarine blend in the foreground.
Paint around the top of the boat where
you will apply an orange wash later.
2
Ignore highlights
When using gouache, you don’t need
to plan ahead for highlights; lay a at
wash at once across all the elements.
The small boat and gure here will be
worked on later.
Cerulean blue
French
ultramarine
Cadmium red
Cobalt blue
Viridian
Burnt sienna
Cerulean blue
Cadmium red
French
ultramarine
Yellow ocher
Indigo
Yellow ocher
Gouache
Watercolor
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159 Effects with gouache
Benets of opaque paint
Employ gouache to bring body and texture
to your paintings. Its opacity and high
pigment content add strength to lighter
colors, creating better coverage with a
chalkiness that can be used in contrast to
transparent washes. Working light over dark
means you don’t have to plan for highlights,
adding lights and whites with control at the
end. Gouache is naturally thick and works
well as an impasto texture, too.
3
Contrasting washes
Paint the deck with mixes of red
and orange, laying in the main shapes
and avoiding detail. Orange instantly
appears bolder against the blue.
5
Assess your painting
After building watercolor darks,
stop to assess if you can continue
to inject color without muddying the
mixes. At this point, introduce gouache
to strengthen your colors.
4
Watercolor darks
Use a dark orange for the shadowed
shapes, letting it blend slightly. Apply
the darkest darks with a mix of indigo
and ultramarine on the boats and water.
Adding body
Chinese white leaves a
semi-opaque, mixed tone
compared to the matte
effect of gouache.
Adding color
The rich pigment in pure
gouache leaves fresh,
bold marks that retain
their shape.
Adding texture
Use undiluted gouache
to create texture through
impasto effects or with
dry-brush techniques.
Chinese white
White gouache
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160 Advanced | TECHNIQUES
“The opaque qualities of gouache
will enhance your watercolors
with added body and light.”
6
Mix lights
and brights
Enhance the bright
colors using pure red
and orange gouache to
bring light back to the
boat’s upper levels.
The opaque orange mix
stands out clearly over
the darker undertones.
Applied thickly, it adds
surface texture, too.
7
Shadow highlights
Use a pale blue
gouache mix to bring
light and life back to the
ripples of water behind
both boats, adding
strokes over the dark
shadow wash beneath.
Use pale opaque blue as
a gray for the off-white
shadow areas on the
main boat.
8
Detail highlights
Use dabs of pure
white gouache for the
bright highlights on the
boat and sherman, and
the lightest reections in
the water. Mix a range of
blue tones in gouache
to add light over dark.
Pure cadmium red
watercolor
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161 Effects with gouache
9
White over dark
Use pure white gouache to draw in the ne lines of the boat
rails and steps, over the dark underlayers. A broken stroke is all
that is needed to suggest the tethering rope to the buoy.
Orange gouache mixed
with white
Pure orange gouache
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