Art Supplies Gouache

Gouache Paints | Art

Gouache Paints

There are many watercolor painting supplies available to choose from.  To really master this art medium, it’s important to understand the history of watercolor painting, what Watercolor Paints are made of, and how they are used.  This will make shopping for your watercolor supplies much easier.

It’s unknown when people first began using watercolor painting.  This form of art is linked to art created as far back as the ancient world.  Early watercolor painting supplies were made from water and natural pigments.  They were used sparingly because artists had to make their own watercolors, which involved a large amount of time and many necessary steps.  After William Reeves developed ready-made watercolors, this art medium became much more widespread and used by millions throughout the world.

Watercolor paints are made out of color pigments suspended in a medium such as gum arabic, which has binding properties.  Glycerin is often used to soften gum arabic and humectants are added to help keep the paint moist.  Watercolor paints are then added to water to produce different shades of color that are used to create paintings.

There are two different types of watercolor paints.  One is tempera, and it uses egg yolk or glue as binding agents in place of gum arabic.  Another is gouache, which has a more opaque effect due to larger pigment particles.  Tempera helps paintings retain their colors longer while gouache dries quicker.  Choose your watercolor supplies based on your personal preference.

Watercolor paints can be used in different ways depending on what effect you want to achieve.  The layers of paint you apply to paper are called washes.  Flat means a single level of transparency.  Graded means different transparency levels of the same color.  There are also many other ways you can use watercolor painting supplies to add depth and transparency to your work.  The best way to find what works for you is to experiment as much as you can.

Remember to clean your brush.  You can accidentally mix unwanted shades when you are keeping a few different colors in your pan.  Another reason to keep your brush clean is that when you don’t, the paint dries out much quicker, so you’d need to moisten the repeatedly.  You can also get watercolors in a tube to avoid cross-contamination altogether.  These can be more expensive, but they are easier to work with than paints in a pan.  If you choose to use paint tubes, make sure you carefully measure out exactly how much paint you will need.  There is always a risk of squeezing out too much and wasting it.

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