Picture gouache. How to draw gouache? Some features and tips for beginners

Many people like to visit art galleries and exhibitions, get acquainted with works of art on the Internet. Most of them do not even dream of learning how to draw the same way. Others allow themselves not only to dream about it, but also take the first steps to mastering the initial skills. For artists of our time there is a huge number of different materials. Today we will talk about gouaches.

These days this paint is often perceived only as a material for children's creativity or decor. However, professional artists create beautiful and unique pictures of gouache. Landscapes, especially in the twilight and at dawn, are magnificent.

If you want to learn how to draw, and you have some free time, start training in a private art school. Gouache drawing lessons can also be found in the global network, many professionals and amateurs share their experience on the Internet. This article is intended for beginning artists, it will give a general idea of gouache, drawing techniques and paint work features.

What is gouache?

The composition of this paint includes mashed pigments, water-based adhesive and white. The picture of gouache can be written on paper, plywood, glass, fabric - on these materials the paint is perfectly placed. Working with gouache is convenient because there is no need to purchase various auxiliaries: special diluents, accelerators or retarders of drying. In addition, it does not have a specific odor, you do not need to use a solvent when working, and changes in the picture are possible even after some time.

The main difference between gouache and watercolors is that watercolors are usually superimposed in several layers, so you can play with the final result. With gouache, overlapping several layers of paint does not make sense, because the human eye in the picture will see only the layer of gouache, deposited on top of the others.

Lessons of drawing gouache. How to choose gouache?

There are the following types of gouache:

1. Artistic gouache, for work with which uncoated cardboard, watercolor and toned paper are suitable. Paint is a grinded pigment with the addition of water, white and gum arabic.
2. Poster gouache is different in that it produces kaolin instead of white. This makes the paint denser, and the colors applied are brighter.
3. Special gouache for children's creativity in the composition has PVA glue, which replaces the more expensive gum arabic. This composition allows the paint to dry faster, less crumbling and abrasion. With the help of children's gouache can draw on paper and plywood, on ceramic products and canvas without soil.
4. Acrylic gouache is used to paint all possible surfaces, but after drying it is not washed off with water.

Secrets of working with gouache

In order to make the picture gouache as good as the picture painted in watercolor, you must follow certain rules:

1. You need to write from dark to light, that is, first apply dark colors of paint and only then are drawn light glare and color accents are placed.
2. Mixing colors and shades will help a special color circle used by most artists. The colors adjacent to the sectors, when mixed, give a color without dirt. To draw shadows, the color from the opposite sector is best suited. You can use green, blue and purple colors to depict the shadows, but black is not suitable for this purpose. Also, this color is absolutely not suitable for obtaining a darker shade, since in this case the gouache painting will look dirty.
3. If you accept a blot, you can fix it only after the gouache is completely dry, otherwise you will get a dirty stain. To correct the error, the brush is wetted in warm, clean water and slightly wiped. Then you can gently erase it with extra paint or shade a too sharp contour of the object.
4. The gouache on lightening becomes lighter, so when choosing a color, give preference to a brighter one to eventually get the result that was planned.

Choosing a brush for drawing with gouache

To work with gouache badly fit too soft brushes. For feathering, backgrounds and fills when working with a wet brush, the columns, goat and synthetics are perfect. For objects with a textured surface and when working with a 3D image, it is best to use a dry brush with pig bristles.

To display a complex structure, you can also use a foam rubber sponge, special rollers and plain paper napkins instead of a brush. With their help you can achieve maximum realism by drawing roughness of ceramic products or drawing a still life.

How to create a background for gouache?

Two methods are used for drawing a background:

1. The artist sketches the pencil, then paints the outlines, beginning with the dark elements. The contour is filled without pressure from the edge to the center, then from the center to the other edge. The basis for determining the desired density of paint can serve as a consistency of a thin cream. This method is suitable for working with a small pattern.
2. If the surface is large, it is better to use the fill method when the background is first written, and only then the details are drawn. Most often the background consists of two or three colors. For the landscape, for example, the color of the sky at the top of the picture is used, the color of the earth is at the bottom, and the lightest strip is applied in the middle. Then, before the paint dries, the background is smoothed out by a wide wet brush from left to right, moving from the bottom of the picture to the top. After that, the brush is again moistened and smoothed out the paints, moving from top to bottom along the vertical. This method may seem quite complicated, but only so the gouache picture will have a smooth and beautiful background. Further details of the landscape (for example, hills) are drawn on the still not dried background, and after drying of the paint, vegetation, clouds and other conceived elements of the composition are written. For convenience, the paper should be well fixed on the tablet.

Techniques of Gouache Painting

You can use different methods of painting, painting gouache paintings. For beginners the following techniques are suitable:

1. Glaze. With this method, semitransparent layers of other shades are applied over the main color, which results in a new deeper color. Transparency is achieved by diluting the ink with water. This technique is great for the image of fog.
2. Pastose technique. This method consists in applying a dense undiluted gouache on the surface. In this style, it is most convenient to work with children's and acrylic gouache, since they do not crack or crumble.
3. Sgraffito is the technique of gouache, in which a light paint is first applied to the surface, and after drying, a thick layer of gouache of a dark shade is applied. When it dries, with the help of a drawing pen, a stylus and a thick needle, a pattern is created by removing the top dry, but still fresh layer of dark paint.
4. A mixed technique, in which the background, for example, is written with gouache, and the elements of the composition are painted with acrylic paint.

Step by step gouache painting

We will analyze on a simple example how to draw gouache paintings. Step by step we will perform one step after another in order to draw a tree:

1. Since we are planning to draw a tree on a winter day, then for a start
   Write a background of snow and sky. In the place where you plan to draw a tree, we advise you to highlight the sky with a brighter color, as against its background should be clearly visible snow-powdered white branches.
2. After drying the background with a simple pencil or just paint a dark hue, draw a tree with branches.
3. We continue to work on the tree: we draw brown branches near the trunk and white thin twigs at the ends.
4. After that it is necessary to detail the tree itself and the white branches.
5. Since the background of the sky and snow itself looks dull, we introduce additional colors. You can, for example, add a little light pink, lilac or peach shade to the background. This will revive our drawing and make it more interesting.

As you can see, it's not a very experienced artist who can write such a simple picture. You just need to have ink, a piece of paper, a brush, water and, of course, a strong desire to learn how to draw.