Gouache vs Watercolor: Which is Best For Beginners?

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Two of the most popular types of water-soluble paints are gouache and watercolor paints. But, which one is best for beginners?

There are a lot of similarities between these two types of artist paint. At the same time, there are also many differences between gouache and watercolor paints.

Oddly enough, even though gouache has been used for hundreds of years, it doesn’t seem to be as popular or well-known as watercolors, even though many art projects involve using both types of paint together.

Today we are going to take a look at the differences between gouache and watercolors. You will get a better idea of what each type of paint is and how they are used, and be able to decide which is the best choice for you to start using.

Keep reading to learn more.

Watercolors and Gouache Comparison

What is Gouache Paint?

Gouache is paint that, like acrylics and oils, comes in tubes. It is mixed in a palette, and it has some very interesting qualities.

This paint is mixed on your palette, and it has a matte finish that is quite lovely. The colors are very opaque and very vibrant.

One of the things I like the most about gouache paints is that if you make a mistake, correcting it is as easy as correcting a mistake with acrylic paints. It isn’t quite as easy to fix mistakes when you use watercolors.

Another great thing about gouache is that you don’t necessarily need to use a canvas or heavy paper. You can paint on thinner papers and still get great results. It can even be used on colored papers, which is not so easy to do when you are working with watercolors.

With watercolor paints, you need to paint from light to dark. The order in which you paint doesn’t matter as much when you work with gouache paints.

Unfortunately, there are also some downsides to working with gouache paints. For instance, it is much more difficult to learn how to use these paints. Blending can be difficult, depending on the brand of paint you are using, and if you apply the paint too quickly it can crack.

Here is something neat about gouache paints. When you add water, they become translucent, much like watercolors. They are a bit more opaque than watercolors, which is why they are often referred to as “opaque watercolors”.

So, you have a couple of options to play around with. You can add more water to make the paint more translucent, or you can keep it the way it is and have a thicker consistency.

Watercolors and gouache paints are often made with the same pigments, although gouache tends to have higher levels of pigmentation. The pigment particles are larger, which lends to the opacity of this paint.

Gouache paint dries quickly, and you are left with a painting that has a matte finish. Lightfastness can range from transient to very permanent.

You will have a lot of flexibility when working with this paint. As long as the paper or canvas you are working on is strong, you can work in layers, thin out the paint, lift the paint, and even scrub it out if you make mistakes.

The biggest drawback to working with gouache is that it can be difficult to work with, at least for beginners. I don’t recommend using cheap paints, because this will make it even more difficult. Use the best paints you can afford for the best results and to shorten the learning curve.

Pros and Cons of Gouache

Pros

• Work from light to dark or dark to light
• Great for layering
• Dries quickly
• Translucent or opaque, depending on the amount of water you use
• Easy to fix mistakes

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Blending can be difficult
• Cheap paints are more difficult to learn how to use, so you have to spend more

What is Watercolor Paint?

Most of us have used watercolor paints at one time or another. Chances are, you often used it as a kid, both at home and in art classes at school. Watercolor pan paints are often the first paints anyone uses.

Watercolor is a very popular medium, for several reasons. First and foremost, it is inexpensive, with a decent set of 12 colors costing as little as $10.

You can create some pretty interesting paintings when using watercolors. This type of paint is easier to blend than it is to blend gouache paints, and it is easier for beginners, with the learning curve being much less steep.

While blending colors is easier with watercolors than it is with gouache paints, it does take longer. This is because to achieve vibrant colors, you need to paint many layers.

Watercolors are often used by artists who enjoy painting landscapes and still life. They can easily be used with other mediums, including graphite pencils, colored pencils, and ink, making them ideal for mixed media art.

Watercolors aren’t as opaque as gouache paints. You will notice that watercolors are much more transparent. The level of transparency often depends on the type of watercolor paint you are using, and it will take some time to get just the right water-to-paint ratio to achieve certain levels of transparency or opacity.

Another big difference between watercolors and gouache paints is that the pigmentation in watercolors is much different. There is more transparency with watercolors because the pigmentation isn’t as compact as gouache and the pigment particles are smaller.

When it comes to drying time, even though watercolors dry quickly they do not dry as quickly as gouache paints. Each layer does dry quickly, but as I mentioned, to achieve vibrant colors you will need to use many layers, with at least a 10-minute drying time per layer.

There are three types of watercolor paints you can use. You are probably used to seeing pan watercolors, but you can also get these paints in tubes, and liquid watercolors are also available. The liquid watercolors do not need any water added, because they come ready to use right out of the bottle.

The lightfastness of watercolors can vary depending on the pigments used to create the paints. The cheaper the paints, the less lightfast they will be. Also, cheap watercolors tend to fade quickly, so your paintings may not stand the test of time. I recommend buying a quality set of watercolor paints, such as those produced by Meeden.

One of the things I love the most about working with watercolors is that unlike with other paints, you don’t have to worry if your watercolors dry out in the pan. It only takes a little bit of water to reactivate the paint so you can continue using it.

The thing I dislike the most about using watercolors is that it is difficult to correct mistakes. Yes, you can lift colors off the paper with a clean, wet paintbrush, but only while the colors are still wet.

Once the paint is dry, it is next to impossible to make any corrections.

Pros and Cons of Watercolors

Pros

• Easier for beginners than gouache
• Easy to correct mistakes while the paint is still wet
• Watercolors are less expensive than other types of paint
• Dry paints can be reactivated with water
• Great for mixed media projects
• Three types of paint to work with, pans, tubes, and liquid

Cons

• Cheap watercolors fade quickly
• Drying time is slow if you are painting many layers
• Less pigmentation than gouache paints
• Difficult to make corrections after the paint has dried

Conclusion

So, which type of paint is better for beginners, watercolors or gouache? Both are great mediums for beginners, and there is more room for errors than there is when using acrylics and oils.

Both types of paint have their strengths and weaknesses. If you haven’t done much painting and you are a beginner, I recommend starting with watercolors, as they are more affordable.

If you have been using watercolor for a little while and you want to try something different but aren’t ready to dive into acrylic and oil painting, gouache is an excellent option, especially if you want a matte finish for your paintings.

In the end, the decision will come down to your skill level, the finish you are looking for, and personal preference.

Sari Green

Sari Green is a semi-professional artist and professional writer. She has been hosting paint & sip parties for the past couple of years, and truly enjoys helping other people to create their very own masterpieces. She loves to create, and you never know what she’s going to come up with next!