What is the difference between watercolor and gouache, and what is the difference between watercolor

The biggest difference between gouache and watercolor is that gouache is opaque and watercolor is transparent.

1. Gouache is a pigment with a higher consistency than watercolor, and the effect of the two is transparent and bright compared with watercolor, while gouache is more vivid and heavy.

2. A large amount of white powder is added to the gouache pigment in the production, which has a strong covering power and is very suitable for covering with very thick pigments; Watercolor paints are relatively pure, except for a few pigments, rarely mixed with white powder, so it has no covering power, it is very transparent, and can only be layered with very thin colors when painting.

3. The painting procedure is different, and the procedure of gouache painting is basically to paint dark colors first, and then light colors. The brighter and whiter the color, the more important it is to be portrayed at the end. Watercolor, on the other hand, paints light colors first, then dark colors, and the brighter the one, the better it must be depicted first.

Watercolor, high transparency, when painting overlapping colors, the color below will pass through, and the effect is very good when painting light gauze thin shirts. It is not easy to change color even if it is stored for a long time.

Gouache, which is opaque, is used for thicker coloring, and does not appear uneven when coloring large areas.

1. First of all, let's talk about the production of pigments

1) Gouache and watercolor are water-based paints.

Water-based paint is a coating mixed with water-based solvent and toner, and water-based solvents generally include gum arabic, bovine bile, honey, etc.

2) Watercolor and gouache: Watercolor and gouache are both water-based solvents, their difference is that the proportion of solvent is different and the size of toner particles is different, watercolor particles are smaller, while gouache particles are large. This determines that the watercolor is very transparent and can express some refreshing and transparent effect, while the gouache is heavy or can make some natural precipitation effect.

2. Painting materials supporting pigments:

1) Gouache is generally gouache brush, the brush bristles are softer than oil brushes, but harder than watercolor brushes, gouache painting uses less water than watercolor wet painting, the paper used is watercolor paper, generally wood pulp, the pigment is thicker, the painting method is more thick, and the drying speed is fast.

2) Watercolor watercolor brush, due to the variety of watercolor forms, brushes are also diverse, generally pay attention to the pen letter water degree and the suppleness of the brush hair, poly peak, etc., watercolor paper is divided into wood pulp paper and cotton pulp paper and mixed pulp paper, according to different painting methods and preferences to choose, the painting hair has dry painting and wet painting, generally no thick coating, can do special effects, such as salt sprinkling, water splash, sprinkling wine, washing color, etc.

3. Characteristics of painting species:

1) GouacheIn fact, some people classify it as "opaque watercolor", and the performance of gouache painting is characterized by being between opaque and translucent. The color coverage is strong, the particles are coarse, the expression form is thick, and there is no three-dimensional sense of oil painting.

2) Watercolor has high transparency, when the colors overlap, the following colors will pass through, watercolor plays with water, paying attention to transparency, superimposed color mixing, diffusion and other characteristics.

Watercolor: The pigment is modulated with glue, soluble in water, using this characteristic of the pigment, the infiltration effect of water and the background color of the paper, easy to produce a sense of transparency and light, moist artistic effect. There are different drawing methods such as dry, wet, thick brush, and fine brush.

Gouache: It can be used for thicker coloring, and there will be no unevenness when coloring large areas. Although it is also an opaque watercolor pigment, gouache is generally cheaper than acrylic; However, it is slightly inferior to acrylic in terms of coloring, number of colors, and preservation.

It should be used selectively according to different uses.

To put it simply, watercolor is transparent, and gouache is opaque.

When painting gouache, try to use a relatively smooth paper that does not penetrate water (easy to cover), and try to use paper with a little water penetration when painting watercolor (so that it is easy to make the picture layered).

1. The pigments are different.

Watercolor paints have a certain covering ability, but when painting watercolors, you need to paint from light to dark, because light watercolor paints cannot cover dark pigments well. Gouache paint is very suitable for color beginners, because it has a strong covering power, suitable for layer by layer covering and modifying colors, beginners can rest assured that they can boldly color, and do not have to worry about drawing mistakes and cannot be modified.

2. The brushes are different.

Painting watercolor with watercolor pen, watercolor pen is particularly absorbent, long similar to a brush, but slightly harder than a brush in hardness, the tip of the pen is generally made of natural hair and nylon round-tip pen. Painting gouache with chalk, gouache elasticity, flexibility is very strong, has a certain degree of water absorption, the tip of the pen is generally made of wool and chemical fiber made of flat pen.

Watercolor. 3. The painting steps are different.

Watercolor is painted from light to deep, and gouache is depicted from dark to shallow.

4. The painting effect is different.

Watercolor uses more water and less pigment, and the combination of pigment and water blends the picture, which does not require a lot of color grading, and the picture is transparent and clean. The superposition of gouache layer by layer requires a lot of color grading, and a variety of similar and contrasting colors are brought out to enrich the picture, commonly known as impasto.