In the studio, keep your paint tubes in big glass jars so that they won’t dry out. Gouache tubes stay fresh longer if you keep them in sealed jars. Good color comes from what you leave out of the gamut. The fewer colors you use, the more harmonious the picture will be. You can paint almost any picture with six colors or fewer. When you’re ready to move beyond grisaille, focus on a simple warm-cool palette, such as Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Burnt Sienna, black and white. It removes chroma and hue from the equation, so you can focus on the tonal values and behavior of the paint. If you’re new to gouache, try painting with just black and white.

As you go along, you can use smaller brushes, but always use the biggest brush possible for any given passage. I also bring along a couple of round brushes for small details. When painting in a 5-by-8-inch watercolor sketchbook, I prefer synthetic flat brushes (3 ⁄ 4-inch and 1 ⁄ 2-inch) because they have plenty of spring, and have sharp edges that can get into small spaces. Some of my favorite brushes came from a cheap set I bought in a big-box craft store. But it can be tricky to work with, unless you keep in mind these pointers. You can take gouache anywhere, including outdoors. Are you thinking about using gouache? Then this blog is for you! Featured artist James Gurney shares 10 success strategies for painting with gouache on location in the latest Pentalic blog.īy James Gurney is a versatile and responsive medium for the on-the-spot painter.

Color in practice james gurney