Painting in Gouache - a complete guide

Let's start by using gouache in a way that will be familiar to most of us - let's use it thinned down like watercolour.

Gouache is normally used as an opaque medium, so let's use it really thick and creamy this time so that we get a flat matt finish! Download the original photo and a copy of my painting in the Resources section accompanying this video.

Gouache is a very forgiving medium, so let's see how we can make changes to a painting. In this lesson we will see how we can create sunbeams by wiping away dry paint. This technique can also be used for wiping out mistakes and starting over.

Continuing our theme of making changes, let's learn how to cover up our mistakes or improve things in our paintings!

Allowing thin paint to mingle wet into wet will give us a great base on which to work with opaque color. Let's see how this works in a painting of a boat and its reflections.

Dripping is one of my favourite techniques for applying gouache. It's great for trees, waves on the sea and anything where we want a bit of loose detail.

Drybrush adds even more texture - use it for getting sparkle and complex colours.

Create wonderful random organic spots, and create a sense of distance with these simple techniques.

Let's learn how to blend colours together to make a seamless transition perfect for sunsets and still life.

Different types of brushes make different types of marks, so let's capitalize on this to bring more interest to our pictures.

The painting isn't necessarily finished when you put down your brush. Let's add extra marks and details with pastels and coloured pencils.

Gouache is a great medium for painting and sketching outdoors. As we have seen you can create beautiful small pictures quickly, with the advantage that you do not have to carry much equipment with you. Gouache dries fast and so is easily portable.

In this lesson I will show you my outdoor sketching kit and you can download the instructions and make your own box like mine if you would like to!