Painting · 10 min
Watercolor and gouache, side by side
Same pigments, different jobs. Use this when a wash needs to stay transparent and when a shape needs to stay opaque.
- 01
Watercolor is the light of the paper
You cannot paint a light over a dark in watercolor. Plan the lights by leaving them, or by lifting while the wash is still damp.
- 02
Gouache is paint you can put back
Gouache sits on top. A warm white or a tint can cover a mistake and stay matte. It will also reactivate if you scrub it, so lay it and leave it.
- 03
Do not mix the two in the same puddle
A little gouache in a watercolor wash clouds it. Keep two wells. Transparent for sky and distance; opaque for a roof, a highlight, a correction.