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{{Short description|Type of paint}}
{{for-multi|the jazz album|Gouache (album){{!}}''Gouache'' (album)|the French wine grape|Gouache (grape)}}
[[File:Gouache.jpg|thumb|Gouache paints come in many colors and are usually mixed with water to achieve the desired working properties and to control the opacity when dry.]]
[[File:Jacob Philipp Hackert - Lago d'Averno - WGA11023.jpg|thumb|[[Jacob Philipp Hackert]], ''[[Lago d'Averno]]'', 1794]]

'''Gouache''' ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|u|ˈ|A:|ʃ|,_|ɡ|w|A:|ʃ}}; {{IPA|fr|ɡwaʃ|lang}}), '''body color''',{{efn|name=p|The alternative term "body color" is sometimes one word "bodycolor".}} or '''opaque watercolor''' is a water-medium paint consisting of [[Pigment|natural pigment]], water, a binding agent (usually [[gum arabic]] or [[dextrin]]),<ref name="Doerner1977">{{cite book|last1=Doerner|first1=Max |date=1977 |publisher=Gaade |location=Amerongen|isbn=9060178289 |title=Schilderkunst — materiaal en techniek |page= 113 }}</ref> and sometimes additional [[Chemically inert|inert material]]. Gouache is designed to be [[Opacity (optics)|opaque]]. Gouache has a long history, having been used for at least twelve centuries. It is used most consistently by [[commercial art]]ists for posters, illustrations, [[comics]], and other design work.

Gouache is similar to [[watercolor]] in that it can be rewetted and dried to a matte finish, and the paint can become infused into its paper support. It is similar to [[Acrylic paint|acrylic]] or [[oil paint]]s in that it is normally used in an opaque painting style and it can form a superficial layer. Many manufacturers of watercolor paints also produce gouache, and the two can easily be used together.

== Description ==
Gouache paint is similar to [[watercolor]], but it is modified to make it [[Opacity (optics)|opaque]]. Just as in watercolor, the binding agent has traditionally been [[gum arabic]] but since the late nineteenth century cheaper varieties use [[dextrin|yellow dextrin]]. When the paint is sold as a paste, e.g. in tubes, the dextrin has usually been mixed with an equal volume of water.<ref name="Doerner1977"/> To improve the adhesive and [[hygroscopic]] qualities of the paint, as well as the flexibility of the rather brittle paint layer after drying, [[propylene glycol]] is often added.<ref name="Doerner1977"/> Gouache differs from watercolor in that the particles are typically larger, the ratio of pigment to binder is much higher, and an additional white filler such as chalk—a "body"—may be part of the paint. This makes gouache heavier and more opaque than watercolor, and endows it with greater reflective qualities.<ref name="wash_gou">{{cite book|last1=Cohn|first1=Marjorie|title=Wash and Gouache|date=1977|publisher=Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Fogg Art Museum|location=Cambridge|isbn=0916724069|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/washgouachestud00cohn}}</ref>

Gouache generally dries to a [[Lightness|value]] that differs from the one it has when wet (lighter tones generally dry darker and darker tones tend to dry lighter), which can make it difficult to match colors over multiple painting sessions. Its quick coverage and total [[hiding power]] mean that gouache lends itself to more [[direct painting]] techniques than watercolor.<ref name="imed_tech">{{cite book |first=Adolf |last=Dehn |title=Water Color, Gouache, and Casein Painting |publisher=Studio |place=New York |date=1955 |oclc=1192031}}</ref> "[[En plein air]]" paintings take advantage of this, as do the works of [[J. M. W. Turner]].

Gouache is today much used by commercial artists for works such as posters, illustrations, comics, and for other design work. Most 20th-century [[animation]]s used it to create an opaque color on a [[cel]] with watercolor paint used for the backgrounds. Using gouache as "[[poster paint]]" is desirable for its speed as the paint layer dries completely by the relatively quick evaporation of the water.

The use of gouache is not restricted to the basic opaque painting techniques using a brush and [[watercolor paper]]. It is often applied with an [[airbrush]]. As with all types of paint, gouache has been used on unusual surfaces from Braille paper<ref>Vienna Parreno has painted on Braille paper. {{cite web|title=Beyond Retinal Titillation: Seeing Red: Blog: Vienna Parreno|url=http://viennaparreno.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/beyond-retinal-titillation/|access-date=2008-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801090654/http://viennaparreno.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/beyond-retinal-titillation/|archive-date=2008-08-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> to [[cardboard]]. A variation of traditional application is the method used in the ''gouaches [[decoupage|découpées]]'' (cut collages) created by [[Henri Matisse]]. His ''[[Blue Nude II|Blue Nudes]]'' series is a good example of the technique. A new variation in the formula of the paint is ''acrylic gouache''.

== History ==
[[File:MET 24 DP238441r2 61E.jpg|thumb|12th-century Buddhist manuscript, India]]
A form of gouache, with honey or [[tragacanth]] gum as a binder, was used in [[Ancient Egyptian art|Ancient Egyptian painting]].  It was also used in European [[illuminated manuscript]]s,<ref>Osborne, Harold (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to Art'', p. 496, 1970, OUP, {{ISBN|019866107X}}</ref> as well as [[Persian miniature]]s. Although they are often described as "watercolor", Persian miniatures and [[Mughal miniature]]s are predominantly examples of gouache.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Minassian Collection of Persian, Mughal, and Indian Miniature Paintings|url=https://library.brown.edu/cds/minassian/essay_production.html#materials|access-date=2020-08-10|website=library.brown.edu}}</ref> The term gouache, derived from the Italian ''guazzo'', also refers to paintings using this opaque method. "Guazzo", Italian for "mud", was originally a term applied to the early 16th-century practice of applying [[oil paint]] over a [[tempera]] base,<ref name="hand_mat">Mayer, Ralph. ''The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques'', Viking Adult; 5th revised and updated edition, 1991. {{ISBN|0-670-83701-6}}</ref> which could give a matted effect. In the 18th century in [[France]], the term ''gouache'' was applied to opaque watermedia.

During the eighteenth century gouache was often used in a mixed technique, for adding fine details in [[pastel]] paintings. Gouache was typically made by mixing watercolours based on gum arabic with an opaque white pigment. In the nineteenth century, watercolours began to be industrially produced in tubes and a "[[Chinese white]]" tube was added to boxes for this purpose.  Gouache tends to be used in conjunction with watercolor, and often ink or pencil, in 19th-century paintings.

Later that century, for decorative uses "poster paint" (as it is known in the U.S.), was mass-produced, based on the much cheaper dextrin binder. It was sold in cans or as a powder to be mixed with water. The dextrin replaced older paint types based on [[hide glue]] or [[Sizing|size]]. During the twentieth century, gouache began to be specially manufactured in tubes for more refined artistic purposes. Initially, gum arabic was used as a binder but soon cheaper brands were based on dextrin, as is most paint for children.

<gallery class="center" widths="170" heights="170">
File:Johannes Simon Holtzbecker - Asphodelus ramosus - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Asphodelus ramosus]]'' by Hans Simon Holtzbecker, 1649–1659, gouache on [[parchment]], {{cvt|50.5|x|38.5|cm|in|frac=4}}
File:Exeter and the Canal Basin.jpg|''[[Exeter]] and the Canal Basin'' by [[John Gendall]] between 1835 and 1840; watercolour and gouache on paper
File:Honoré Daumier, Une cause célèbre, c.1862 (gouache).jpg|[[Honoré Daumier]], ''Une cause célèbre'', ca.1862
File:Sunset at Sea (1865-70) by Claude Monet - Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Claude Monet, ''Sunset at Sea'', 1865–70, [[Ashmolean Museum]], Oxford
File:Glenn O. Coleman - Battery Park - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Battery Park]]'' in New York by [[Glenn O. Coleman]] (1887–1932), {{cvt|12+1/4|x|16+1/2|in|cm|0|order=flip}}
File:Josep Mª Tamburini Dalmau - Young Girl with a Hat - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Josep Maria Tamburini]], ''Young Girl with a Hat'', 1909, {{cvt|38|x|25|cm|in|frac=4}}
File:1920er circa Léon Bénigni Gouache designed for the Cover of Femina magazine.jpg|[[Léon Benigni]], cover design for ''[[Femina (France)|Femina]]'' magazine, 1920s
File:Roman Nyman "Dekoratsioonikavand" (E. Hardti draamale "Narr tantsis"), 1923. Tartmus.tif|Roman Nyman,  stage design for a drama, 1923. [[Tartu Art Museum]], [[Estonia]]
</gallery>

== Acrylic gouache ==
A relatively new variation in the formula of the paint is ''acrylic gouache''. Its highly concentrated pigment is similar to traditional gouache, but it is mixed with an acrylic-based binder, unlike traditional gouache, which is mixed with gum arabic. It is water-soluble when wet and dries to a matte, opaque, and water-resistant surface when dry. Acrylic gouache differs from [[acrylic paint]] because it contains additives to ensure the matte finish.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Buchman|first1=Bill|title=Expressive Figure Drawing: New Materials, Concepts, and Techniques |date=2010|publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications|location=New York|isbn=9780823033140|page=50}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Decalcomania]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* "Bodycolor", thedrawingsite.com, 2009, web: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120227065551/http://www.thedrawingsite.com/dmdt/bodycolor.html TDS-bodycolor](archived 2012-02-27).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028082122/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578754/Gouache.html Gouache at MSN Encarta-8754] archived 2009-10-28
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Gouache}}
*[http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/gouache Gouache from the Tate]
*[http://www.members.tripod.com/krobbins4art/id7.htm Demo of technique]
*[http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/pigmt7.html Info & history]
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Gouache |short=x}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Painting materials]]
[[Category:Watercolor painting]]
[[Category:Watermedia]]