The difference between watercolor and gouache. Gouache

28.02.2019

11.10.2017 19:17 3422

Many of you love to paint. Someone like watercolor paints, someone - gouache. What is the difference between gouache and watercolor? Let's find out.

Watercolor has a watery base. Therefore, the word "aqua" appears in the name of this paint, which means water. When dried, watercolor retains its color. It gives the drawings softer and more transparent tones. If such paint is applied to slightly wet sheet paper, it will spread and mix in colors. You can get an unusual and spectacular pattern.

Gouache has a denser texture. Unlike watercolor, it does not spread and the drawings are clear. When it dries, it becomes matte and its shade brightens, since gouache contains white. Thanks to this feature on gouache, you can correct the mistake by applying a lighter color to a dark color. You can't do that with watercolors.
From this comparison, we can conclude that gouache is better suited for creating big posters or posters, and watercolor for creative work.

It should be remembered that if gouache is applied in a very thick layer, then a crack may appear on it when it dries.

Another interesting difference is that there is no white in watercolor, but there is in gouache. Therefore, to give the picture White color in watercolor, the artists simply leave an unpainted spot on the white paper.


In the section on the question What is the difference between watercolor and gouache? given by the author stand apart the best answer is depending on what, watercolor gives soft pastel tones. Gouache usually gives sharp poster shades.
depending on what you need paint for!
if we say a poster to draw, then gouache, acrylic, gel with sparkles ....
if something is painted over (depending on what) ..maybe a flomik will come up ... (there are those .. who draw on everything)
if you just draw something ... then you can use watercolor pencils instead of watercolors .. or draw with pastels ... or something else ....

Answer from electric welding[newbie]
Watercolor has more pastel, delicate or soft tones. Gouache is harder, richer, and the colors are mostly dark.
Gouache is cracking.
Thanks to watercolor, you can achieve any saturation of the shade. As far as I know, you won't do it in gouache.
Well, already according to a personal feeling, What is more convenient to draw))


Answer from User deleted[active]
The gouache is thick, and the watercolor blurs. Better gouache


Answer from European[guru]
It all depends on what you need to draw. If a poster, you can’t do without gouache, if a drawing, it’s better to use watercolor.


Answer from Stas Babush[master]
In fact, gouache is considered not very useful.
And the difference when drawing is that gouache lays down in a rather dense layer, that is, the top layer sets the color of the picture. When painting with watercolor, the drawing is more airy, but each superimposed layer sets its own hue.
I advise you to try it anyway and decide for yourself.
Personally, I prefer watercolor.



Answer from Jana[newbie]
What's the best? Depends on a person. Watercolor produces lighter, transparent and blurry pictures, while gouache produces richer and darker ones.

Children love to draw. Many kids show their artistic talent from childhood. The task of parents is to contribute in every possible way to its development. To learn how to draw beautifully, you should not only attend several lessons and master classes, but also choose the perfect colors for the first time. Since it is on them that the result of the work largely depends, and therefore whether it will disappear or vice versa - an even greater desire to draw will appear. Let's figure it out, what is the difference between such well-known watercolors and gouache, acrylic and oil paints, as well as what are paints for body art - face painting.

Watercolor not just the name of paints, but also the name of the drawing method of the same name. Great for little kids and beginner artists. These paints are made on the basis of water ("aqua"). The beauty of watercolor is that the shade, whatever it is, can be changed by diluting it to the ground with plain water. If you wipe a piece of paper with a damp cotton swab, watercolor paints will lay down better. Watercolor works best on grainy paper.

Gouache differs from watercolors and other paints in its dense and opaque texture. Gouache is better to start drawing at the next stage of improving your skills. Such paints are quite saturated, suitable not only for drawing on paper, and of any density, they can be used in any hand-made, drawing on fabric. It is enzymes such as kaolin and white that make gouache dense and saturated, which distinguishes it from watercolors and other paints. If a child makes a mistake when working with gouache, you can easily correct the drawing by applying over light tone darker. Gouache brightens after drying.

oil paints are produced, as the name implies, from oils, natural, vegetable oils. It is thanks to their composition that the color of the paints is more than saturated, and the texture is dense and viscous. Most often, oil paints work only professional artists, because thanks to the composition, the paints dry very quickly, creating unique paintings, painted, in most cases, without the help of a brush used by a beginner. It is impossible to correct the picture if you made a mistake in technique, since the paints cannot be blurred, diluted, while not spoiling the general background.

Acrylic paints, unlike oil, are made on the basis of acrylic and resin. Thanks to this, the colors dissolve well in water, paint residues that accidentally go beyond the pattern can be easily removed, and they dry just as quickly. The main difference between acrylic paint and all the others is their ability to retain color, not fade or crumble over time, neither from paper nor from canvas. Acrylic paints lay down very evenly, as if covering the paper with a thin film. Suitable for creating patterns on glass, wood, metal and fabric. At the same time, acrylic paints can also be used for drawings in the watercolor style. Acrylic paints become darker after drying.

face painting- paints designed specifically for drawing on the skin, even the most sensitive and childish. Face painting paints were invented by cosmetic companies, they also developed them. They are hypoallergenic, do not bake, do not crumble, do not spoil the skin, while retaining their color perfectly and are unusually easy to lay on the surface of the skin. The main difference between face painting and other paints is their ability to create extraordinary masterpieces on the skin, and not on paper.

Both gouache and watercolor are very popular species paints, which are used by both professional artists and amateurs occasionally, in moments of creative inspiration, move a brush over paper. How, with a cursory glance at a picture, can you accurately determine what exactly was involved in its creation - gouache or watercolor? And how do these seemingly so familiar colors differ from each other? Let's try to figure it out.

Definition

Gouache- an adhesive-based paint that dissolves easily in water, dense and matte, as well as the name of the work made with this paint.

Watercolor- soft and transparent water-based paints, as well as painting techniques or individual work made with these colors.

Comparison

If we talk about gouache and watercolor as a type of paint, then first of all it is worth noting that the basis for both is vegetable glue, which is easily soluble in water. But in gouache this adhesive base, as well as coloring pigment, contains much more than in watercolor. Gouache is intended for the so-called pasty application, it is a covering (that is, almost opaque) paint: it makes it easy to correct flaws in the drawing. Thanks to this feature, gouache perfectly covers light areas with dark tones, and vice versa. Gouache is so dense that when applying several layers, only one, the top one, will be clearly visible. Watercolour, on the other hand, lays down on paper in watery, almost transparent layers, giving gentle tones. When working with it, the meaning is precisely in mixing several layers of paint, “flowing” them into each other. The uniformity of the layer in watercolor is quite difficult to achieve, while gouache practically does not spread and allows you to give the picture clarity.

Gouache

colored gouache very often mixed with white, also present in the kit, to achieve different effects. White gouache looks very interesting on tinted paper. Watercolor works mostly only on white paper. In watercolor sets, there is usually no white color: the place in the drawing where white is required is simply left unpainted.

Watercolor requires speed in work, because due to the high water content of paints, they almost instantly flow and mix with each other. Such quality of watercolor as transparency makes this paint indispensable for achieving lighting effects. Gouache, especially applied in several layers, perfectly conveys the texture of the depicted objects. Compared to watercolor, it is perhaps more versatile: it can be applied both in very thin and rather thick layers, quickly blurred with water, painting over involuntary mistakes. Since gouache is dense and opaque, matte and opaque, many more bases are suitable for it: paper, cardboard, fabric, canvas, plywood, bone, and even glass. The basis for watercolor is only paper, and of special quality.

Gouache gives the picture brightness, depth, saturation, texture, energy. Watercolor gives glare, radiance, sophistication, subtlety, tenderness, lightness, airiness.


Watercolor

Containers for watercolors are usually small in volume, because watercolors will still have to be heavily diluted with water during work, while gouache from large jars can be used without diluting, especially if the paints are fresh enough.

Findings site

  1. The main properties of watercolor are the softness and transparency of the paint layer, which allows you to emphasize the naturalness. color transitions, take advantage of all the variety of shades and midtones. Gouache is distinguished by density, haze and opacity, great for bright, rich, color-saturated drawings.
  2. Gouache does not spread on paper, it can make clear drawings. Painted in watercolor wet paper, which gives the picture a watery and vague.
  3. Watercolor is applied in several layers, flowing into each other. When painting with gouache, only the topmost layer is visible.
  4. Gouache perfectly emphasizes the texture, watercolor is indispensable in the transfer of light reflections.

Surely everyone, as a child, drew in kindergarten and at labor lessons with brushes on white sheet, because the words "gouache" and "watercolor" are familiar to absolutely everyone, regardless of the acquired profession in the future.

But before you find out how gouache differs from watercolor, it is worth understanding both concepts.

Who are they?

Gouache comes from the Italian word guazzo and means "water paint". It is one of the types of artificial paints, the ability of which lies in the ability to dissolve in water.

Watercolor means "watery" in French. It refers to adhesive (binding components - dextrin with gum arabic) paints, the solvent of which is water.

Differences

Perhaps the main difference is:

  • gouache has a denser, matte and total opaque layer;
  • watercolor is valued for its transparency, purity, softness and fineness of the layer.

In application:

  • watercolor is used only on paper;
  • for gouache, the basis is not only paper, but also harder surfaces, such as fabric, cardboard or salt dough crafts.

Properties:

  • watercolor is very practical and convenient in the workflow, because due to its peculiarity, you can safely correct and correct defects even with the help of a wet fleece;
  • gouache is much more difficult to remove because of the denser texture.

Structure:

  • When dried, the gouache does not become glossy, but on the contrary, with a matte tint and lighter than with the initial stroke. This process occurs due to the white included in the composition. And this is its huge plus: due to an error dark color can be corrected by applying the paint a few tones lighter.
  • With watercolor, this process is not possible. She either mixes both colors in herself, or overlaps one with the other.
  • in gouache with the help of white, you can create many shades;
  • in watercolor, white is absent, it is replaced by the paper itself, leaving a gap on it.

Worth knowing:

  • if you are just getting started with fine arts, then you should start with watercolor, as it is easier to manage and much easier to remove errors.

Acrylic

Acrylic paint contains acrylic and resins. They lay down fairly evenly and dry quickly.

How is gouache different from acrylic paints?

  • Acrylic does not fade and retains its original color perfectly.
  • Acrylic does not crumble after a while, either from paper or from other bases.
  • After drying, the paint darkens.
  • Acrylic is suitable for painting in a watercolor style.

Outcome

The choice for both beginners and professionals is very large.

Now you know how gouache differs from watercolors with acrylics, and with the help of which paints you can bring your inspiration into artistic light, it's up to you to decide.



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