The earliest paints used by man were water based paints. From pigments found on cave walls to hieroglyphics found inside the tombs we know as the Egyptian pyramids. Water based paints were the paints used for illuminating manuscripts in early books compiled by scribes before the invention of the printing press. Today they are still in use in various forms for differing reasons. The two dominant branches of water based paints are Gouache and Watercolor.
The early use of these pigments were of an opaque variety. The ability to cover surfaces with color was the dominant need of the medium at the time. Transparency was considered a weakness in the paint. Surfaces like stone and wood required a paint that would stay on the surface and cover what what was beneath it. Prior to the invention of paper, papyrus was the most common surface used by scribes. A fine opaque paint was desired to add color to manuscripts for the purpose of illumination.
Albrecht Durer was probably the first artist to use transparent washes of color in the sense that we recognize watercolors today. He needed a flexible medium that could be used to indicate color yet dry quickly while traveling. From that time the water based system we know as watercolors has surpassed the opaque variety of water based paints we know as gouache. The transparent capabilities of water color is highly desired and fine paper for the exclusive use of watercolor pigments is the desired canvas of choice.
The primary difference between the two type of paint is the opaque quality of gouache and the translucent quality of watercolors. Both can be used on various types of paper but you will find most watercolors applied by artist today are done so on the aforementioned watercolor paper. While gouache is most often applied to a thick sturdy paper surface like hot press or cold press paper. While watercolors tend to have a sort of staining effect on the type of paper it uses. Gouache rests on the surface of the paper and dries in a solid film. This dried paint can be easily cracked due to its inflexibility. Therefore the sturdy paper stocks are chosen since they will not easily allow bending and flexing of the surface.
Both types of paint can be applied with pen nibs, ruling pens, airbrushes or natural hair brushes. Synthetic bristle brushes do exist for use with this medium but most artist tend to prefer the natural hair brush like the sable, for its flexible characteristics and the memory flex in its individual bristles that allow it to reform to a point when moistened. The natural bristles also hold more pigment when loaded with color compared to their synthetic counterparts. Unlike oil or acrylic paints, clean-up after using either gouache or watercolors is much simpler and allows your natural hair brushes to be reused multiple times if taken care of. Many commercial products exist to clean the pigment from the brush fibers but simple cleaners like common shampoo works well and is more cost effective for brush care using either type of paint.
The two mediums find different audiences both in terms of artist who use the materials and collectors who purchase works of art. Fine artist tend to use watercolors when working with a water based paint. The artist who consider themselves purist in this field do not use the pigment that is commonly referred to as white. Instead they let the white of the paper show through in parts of the painting that require white areas. Special frisket films or masking techniques are often employed to keep these areas of the paper free of color so that the white area stays pure. While users of gouache freely use white pigment as they are building up their color in a fashion that covers the canvas completely. The watercolor papers used by these artist tend to have a watermark embossed into the paper, placed there by the paper manufacturer. In commercial illustration this watermark would need to be cut from the working surface of the paper so that it would not reproduce in print. In the fine art world the watermark is left in place in the painting and is considered a mark of quality as well as providing a unique identifier in the original work.
Working with the two mediums requires two different approaches. Gouache being an opaque paint works in a similar fashion to other opaque media like acrylic and oil paints. Or like another water based paint known as tempera. The method involves building up the colors working from dark to light. Watercolors on the other hand like translucent inks and dyes have to be worked from the opposite approach. When working with transparent color the pigment must be worked from light to dark keeping the light areas of the paper color exposed while allowing pigment to build up in layers in the darker areas.
Gouache paints are most often used by illustrators and graphic designers though the usage of any hand made works of art in the graphic design world continues to shrink each year as computer aided design is now the common working method for items going to print. Illustrators and designers like the bright pigments and swift drying time gouache provides since meeting deadlines is usually of paramount importance in their deadline laden market. In working with these paints, artist have a clear choice when a project needs to meet certain criteria. These different systems although closely related provide variety and characteristics that are unique to each color system. And while the popularity of their roles have changed over the centuries, these reliable pigments are still staples in the modern artist's tool chest.
Johansen, Tony. “Watercolor And Gouache Paint Characteristics”. 1 Feb. 2009
http://www.paintmaking.com/watercolor_and_gouache.htm
Reuel's Distribution. “Winsor & Newton - Designer Gouache Colour”. 1 Feb. 2009
http://www.reuels.com/reuels/Winsor_Newton_Designer_Gouache_Colour.html
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