Several of our Watermill painting tutors offer instruction and advice about painting in gouache, but I know that many of you have never experimented with this medium.
If you join Pamme Turner for her course this summer you will be able to give it a go, as well as painting in watercolours. (Details and a link below.)
I must confess that I’ve always been rather unsure myself just what gouache is, and I know others are too. A little light research suggests that gouache is simply opaque watercolour, instead of the traditional transparent watercolour that most people use. It is made by combining a pigment with water and a binding agent, traditionally gum arabic, Gouache is like watercolour in that it can be re-wetted and that it dries to a matte finish. It’s been used for at least 12 centuries and is very popular for use in posters.
Another similar painting medium that Pamme uses is egg tempera, made of coloured pigments and a water-soluble binder of egg yolk. This was the primary method of painting until the 1500s, when oils took over.
Pamme likes to create images using both gouache and egg tempera. She says: “I attempt to create a visual palette for the senses through hand-made colour and the physical layering of transparent and opaque paints. In many of these paintings, my raw first studies and painted sketches in the studio and on location transform themselves into these finished, formalized artworks which are icon-like, emblematic or what I have named my “iconic†visions.â€
Come and experiment with Pamme and add a new dimension to your watercolour painting. She will be with us from Saturday 9 July to Saturday, 16 July 2022. Pamme’s course is called a Plein Air Essentials workshop (for watercolor and gouache).
We won’t neglect your watercolours, of course, and under Pamme’s guidance, paint the glorious scenery surroundings in watercolour too, as well as enjoying warm hospitality, delicious food and the convivial company of other guests on your relaxing and inspiring week.
And don’t forget that, as well as experimenting with new materials, you will also be Cool and Green: all our public rooms, including the studio, and all our bedrooms are air-conditioned powered by electricity from our hidden array of photovoltaic cells, which make us self-sufficient in electricity.
Pamme Turner – two or three places left
9 – 16 July 2022
Watercolour and gouache en plein air
To learn more about Pamme and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.