Product review: My First Go With Gouache Paints!

This week on our Youtube channel I posted a brand new video – My First Go With Gouache Paints! Product Review.
This video is a product review of a 24 set of Himi Gouache Jelly pots and brushes. I’ve never painted with Gouache before so this video was a take on my experience painting with this medium. To watch the tutorial please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nWOZkvvxes

Gouache Paints Product Review

I’ve never painted with Gouache paints before so when I had the opportunity to review this beautiful set I was elated. Painting with Gouache is similar to watercolour but it is slightly more opaque and the way you work with light and dark is different.

To test the paint I created a swatch sheet. I drew the sheet myself and added dark black lines so that I could see how opaque the gouache paints really were. I also used new brushes from Himi and for the swatches, I chose a size 10. (The palette also comes with a set of brushes)

Colour review of the gouache paints

Once I filled up my swatch sheet, the difference between the colours and opaqueness was apparent. There was a huge range of differences and this swatch allowed me to differentiate between the colours before I started to paint an image.

I found it fascinating how some of the darker colours didn’t hide the black mark but the light pastel colours had a great coverage so I suggest having a play around with what colours you want to use before jumping ahead.

Painting a flower using gouache paints

I was very excited to paint a foxglove flower using gouache. I wanted to experiment with painting in a background before the flower, which I shy away from when using watercolour. For my floral piece, I decided to use hot press paper as it gives a smooth effect that I love.

Similarly to watercolour, I found that diluting the gouache paint first was the best way to work and as the paint is quite thick I think painting straight onto the paper would cause issues when painting on top.

After waiting for my vibrant background to dry (which took around 10 minutes) I started to paint the beautiful foxglove on top. I would usually start my watercolour painting with light colours, working my way up to dark but with gouache, it works slightly differently and I started at a mid-level colour so that I could go darker or lighter.

In Summary

I loved using a new type of paint in this video and it was great to learn a new skill. If I had to take anything away from using gouache paints, it is slightly more labour intensive than watercolours as the paint sticks to the brush more, meaning it takes more time to wash it off the bristles each time. They don’t blend in the same way as a watercolour but the result of pushing the paints around to blend was just as beautiful. As soon as came to terms with the process being opposite to watercolour I embraced the gouache paints and thoroughly enjoyed painting.

Let me know how you found this video – My First Go With Gouache! Product Review. I’d know your thoughts on these paints, have you tried them before?

You can comment on our youtube video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nWOZkvvxes or follow us on Instagram – @dewintonpaperco. 

The materials used in this tutorial were:

Brushes https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIMI-Profess…

Gouache https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIMI-Gouache…

Paper I used: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winsor-Newto…

You will also need some kitchen roll.