GOUACHE

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

In watercolor there is not a white transparent pigment, so artists either preserve the white of the paper or add gouache. You can mask an area of a painting to preserve it from the staining of pigments, but I find this approach frustrating.

Gouache is an opaque paint that cleans up like watercolor. It comes in a range of colors from the primary colors--red, blue and yellow--to other pigments such as green, black and white. Illustrators have long used gouache to convey their stories. Some artists do quick studies or even drawings in gouache. I even use the same brushes for gouache as I do for watercolor.

When there are white areas in a painting such as the white caps in an ocean swell, a buoy or white beads on a women's necklace, white gouache can come in handy. By identifying a few specific areas in a painting, you don't have to plan every detail in advance, knowing you can add a few touches of white at the end.

In a late summer painting of a lobster boat I used a razor blade to remove the paint to create the effect of sunlight reflecting off the water. You have to scratch the paper as if drawing, to enhance the perspective with greater marks in the foreground and smaller less frequent touches in the distance.