Members learnt that the history of gouache dates back to the 16th century, although it wasn't until the 20th century it became available in tubes.
It is a water based medium made up of water, pigment and either gum arabic, dextrin or
chalk.
Unlike watercolour, gouache is opaque. This means light colours can be painted over dark. The other advantages are it is fast drying, has a matt finish and can be reworked when wetted.
Although it can be bought in pans, for the workshop everyone used the same colours from tubes, mixing it to the consistency of single cream. The subject was a echinacea flower, from a photograph taken by Frank.As always time seemed short and the members had to work hard to complete the painting of the flower, but almost every picture was finished by the deadline.
Although the same basic colours were used, it was interesting to see the differences between the paintings, from the light and delicate to the bright and bold.
Text by Lynda Talbott, photos by Jane Palmer
