This is a great point - and something that is less commonly talked about with gouache within the industry. Do you have your test results posted somewhere like a blog or video?

Um this information confuses me which shows I'm not ready to use this median...lol baby steps first as I'm in my secondary of learning watercolor info some times I get info overload

@@nattyw495 the short explanation of this is..... anything that is sold and labeled as Designers gouache usually isn't lightfast because it is made for people in the design industry that only need to copy and scan their artwork, they don't need to worry about any lightfast supplies at all ( except the ink they use to print their work out ) artists gouache is considered fine artist gouache and is meant to use for paintings to sell or hang on a wall to display, it will be sold and labeled as " Artist/ Artists gouache and is very lightfast. Hope that helps lol and have a great day

Your comment about W&N designers gouache puzzles me. I checked the lightfast ratings of all the W&N designers gouache I have..All have an excellent lightfast rating except for one which is rated as good, so none are in fact fugitive...so I would be interested in seeing your test results disputing their ratings. Do you have them shown anywhere on the internet???

@@kazfarndon4990 sir, iam a full time professional artist and Bookbinder. I have my own line of handmade goatskin leather sketchbooks, with options of all the top brands of 100% cotton paper...Arches, Saunders Waterford, Fabriano Artistico. I also make my own hand marbled papers for my endpapers for the watercolor sketchbooks. I am all local buisness for now and I also teach private art lessons... and bookbinding lessons. Iam not an art youtuber, but also make alittle money of the side with helping out some people with products, because Iam friends with MANY in the industry. I test all my supplies that I use in any artwork that goes to the gallery, and I don't have time to do all that I just said, and post stuff for you personally. Do your own work if you wish to know or don't believe me.... everyone these days, wants instant gratification, information and for someone else to do the work. Its 3:47am and I am still in my studio working on a painting for a customer. I take a break to see this comment... Winsor and newton have recently reformulated ALOT of their designer gouche colors to be more lightfast, to compete with the lightfast artists gouche brands. But even doing so, the still have bugs in their formulations.... look at many of their tubes and most will only have their house performance rating of AA, A or B. This means they weren't tested using the Bluetooth or Astm. Winsor and newton are known in the industry for copy and pastiing pigment lightfast ratings from their other paints like oil... and applying that to an untested new formula. Tons of companies do this and even brands like Caran D'ache Luminance that are supposed to be all lightfast colored pencils.... I've had some colors fade in a personal test. This happens with every brand, that's why I test all my supplies. Do it yourself, it's extremely easy... paint 2 seperate swatches, put 1 in a draw and 1 in a window facing the sun with the most light. Let sit for 3 months and check from time to time. Compare the 2 matching swatches at the end and you have your answers. I use uv lights indoors, because I already had them in my studio.... but the sun works just as good, it just takes longer. Just because a brand says it's lightfast, doesn't mean you trust it from their word 100%, and that goes for any brand! Daniel smith says Moonglow, shadow violet, Mayan blue etc etc... are lightfast, AND THEY AREN'T. Lol that's a trusted brand ( well until lately) iam sorry if you are a Winsor and newton fanboy and I hurt your feelings... but Winsor and Newton have ridden their name alone for so many years... and now they are behind most companies that continuously evolve and think bigger and better. Now they are scrambling to play catch up and shorts are a norm. I have to get to bed now, so I hope you take my advice on not taking every word a company prints on a tube as 100% true... and that you have a great day

Yessss I love swatch sheets, I have all of mine hanging on my wall :D

Same.I make little cards with the brand, color name, and pigments it has and I make a black line with a waterproof marker to test opacity and then make a swatch. With transparent mediums like watercolor I make a gradient and then a layering swatch. With more opaque mediums I make a saturated swatch and then a mixed with white swatch. I just love it so much. And it comes in handy when choosing colors and organizing palettes as well

You are so welcome! If you check out the supply link in my description it will take you there :) it's a random generic brand, if you search for "watercolor box" or "sealable palette box" you should be able to find the same thing.

WOW that's so awesome to hear!! Thank you for taking time to tell me. I'm so happy my videos are helpful and encouraging.😊

Totally agree! In my recent videos you can see I have more "convenience" colors in my travel palette

wow thank you!

Thank you so much!! It's definitely so different to oil, but in some ways similar! I love it so much, it's great for traveling too.

Glad it was helpful!

They play very well together, and I think knowing watercolor gives you an advantage. Have fun!

Thanks so much 😊 I LOVE gouache!

That's awesome to hear! To me gouache is just so fun and relaxing

I’m so glad! I should probably make an updated version with stuff I’ve learned since then :)

@@SarahBurnsStudio That would be marvellous. XXXX

I hope you find the rest of my tutorials helpful too!

You are so welcome!

Thank you and welcome!

Noted!

Good thinking!

1. When using gouache, you introduce a bit of water in micro amounts over and over. Over time the ratio of water to pigment/binder gets thrown off, and by the time the gouache dries out/gets crumbly, you have less binder. When reactivating, people only add water, which lowers the ratio of binder even more, and the pigment is not dispersed nor adhered properly. Some brands, like Winsor and Newton, get rock hard when they are at the crumble stage, and damn near impossible to reactive like "normal." It acts more like watercolor at that point, but sometimes stays chunky. You'd have to grind the dry pigment, add appropriate ratio of binder/water to make them come back to life completely. My schmincke gouache stays moist longer therefore I need less water to reactive it if it gets a little dry. 2. Yes. And M. Graham is a very popular brand, very high quality, yet multiple people have reported it gets moldy faster than any other brand, unfortunately. You have to experiment with different brands to find what suits your needs.

That's a bummer!

Thank you so much!! If you keep going, you will get exactly where you want to be

Well it worked very well using the sponge and paper in the gouache palette. Gave me some confidence using this medium outside.

Colour swatches are like scales in music...at first you don't want to do them and find them tricky, but with practice, you soon build up muscle memory, knowledge and pattern recognition. Practice your colour swatches and you will soon be able to mix any colour from the paint you have to hand ( as long as you have the primaries) in no time at all and with accuracy. On top of that you will warm up your creative muscles at the same time as your physical ones...and you never know where that will lead you. Great Video with loads of great advice...wish I had had something like this when I was starting out ❤

My pleasure!

Hey there! Welcome!

I feel like I need to do a video all about mixing charts. I have lots of individual ones, but maybe one big video explaining the differences and types and methods?

@@SarahBurnsStudio I think that’s a great idea.

@@SarahBurnsStudio and maybe please the differing uses of each that you find valuable? I mean, I’m basic…I find them all visually appealing and that’s great! But how do we USE each type will be the gold nugget 😊 [I’m back to watch this again too]

@@templemoore3799 yea, understandable. I typically use them in 2 ways. First, it’s the memorisation of what colors do together. That comes with repetition. Secondly when I sit down to paint a scene, I think about what mood I want to convey. Say it’s a muted forest scene - I’ll look through my charts to find muted earthy greens, blues, browns, and select colors that appeal. Then I know what colors to use to mix those …hope this makes sense!

@@SarahBurnsStudio yes, thank you. It’s a long term goal to swatch my gouache paints using the value scale for tints & tones, but I really need to do the same for color mixes…I’ll use your swatch strips as inspiration. Hope you all are well..take care

Interesting idea!

Yea it's odd! There could be so many factors....I hope the clove bud oil helps!

I usually use A5 size, great for quick studies and carrying outside! I sometimes use tape, but prefer 3M blue painters tape

Thanks for the tip!

That is possible but rare, it would only happen if you paint REALLY thick which is not typically how it’s used. You wouldn’t want it to build up on the surface of the paper like acrylic for instance. But once you start painting with it you will start to get a feel for it.

I don’t have a video showing how I set it up, its just pouring paint in. But I have a detailed video about cleaning it and refreshing it after time has passed! That might be of use to you

@@SarahBurnsStudio Yes I watched the cleaning & refreshing the palette video which is awesome too. I am mainly trying to figure out how full to fill the wells.

@@colleenmcchesney1482 pour paint in at least halfway so they don’t dry out as fast. Save the rest in the tube.

Don’t over fill. The lid needs to close

@@sarahinscotland Thanks 😊 so much!! I really appreciate your channel and I am excited to start transitioning from watercolor to gouache!!

So tiny and scratchy!

Ahh I understand. Of all the paint, gouache is one of the MOST vibrant types of paint though, it’s practically pure pigment and since it dries matte there’s no reflection to distract. My AH-ha colors are lemon yellow, permanent alizarin crimson and Prussian blue. These are my favorite primaries and are so versatile! They create such strong mixes. Add white, black, and burnt umber to the palette for a huge variety of beautiful neutrals.

@@SarahBurnsStudio Thanks! I think I've got a very close equivalent to all of those luckily :)) Talens Prussian blue (pthalo), Carmine, and Lemon Yellow. They're gorgeous for sure, I've been abusing the former for shadows and the latter for light greens. Really excited about the greens I'll be getting from that turquoise though!!

You're welcome!

Lena Rivo

Lightfastness is only important for 2 scenarios: 1. Selling originals 2. If you hope it will be in a museum someday I mainly use gouache for sketching or my own stuff that might later become a print. I scan/photograph artwork when it's fresh and make digital copies for prints. If you plan on selling originals do extensive research on lightfast pigments.

I think it’s important that it’s acid free if you are focused on longevity

@@SarahBurnsStudio/ Thank you Sarah -- makes perfect sense. Wish I had a source for acid free black poster board. If anyone does please let me know. Thanks so much.

@@SarahBurnsStudio I found Legion Stonehenge aqua black 140 lb water color paper, acid free, lignin free and chlorine free. What do you think Sarah? Is this a good brand for professional use? Thank you. I appreciate your time. I actually ordered your brush set and looking forward to using them.

I share that in my recent video called "brush shapes"

To make gouache from old watercolor you’d have to use a binder like gum Arabic plus a whiting/filler agent. Otherwise it would just be watercolor. One of the reasons gouache is different is because the pigment particles are larger than watercolor, and used in higher concentrations

Well it kinda changes over time. But at the moment my favourites would be Quinacridone Magenta, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine, but I’d also add burnt umber and cobalt turquoise light for a well rounded limited palette (and obviously plus titanium white)

I just bought M Graham for the first time to test it so I cant comment on that. But I have mixed many other brands over the years in the same palette without issues.

I’ve used ink and coloured pencils on top

If you dont want your layers to blend together you might enjoy Acrylic gouache. But I have no experience using clear gesso so I can’t comment on that.

Nope you can mix brands freely just like watercolor!

I don't like those for gouache, it's too difficult to control the water

Yes absolutely - the beauty of a palette is that it’s your tool for helping your creativity flow. Customise it exactly to your needs. You can do anything you want!

@@SarahBurnsStudio Thank you! I needed the reassurance! ♥️

You are correct that is what he shows in his class. I do that often as well! It's It's lot of fun. There are any rules so just do what you enjoy

Yes there is acrylic gouache, which dries permanent

I mix the two all the time

I have a very different style of painting between watercolor/gouache which requires different shape brushes.

Be really careful with bleach and heavy chemicals, as it can literally bleach the pigment which in time will mean it is less saturated and fade

@Sarah Burns Studio ok thanks for sharing this. I didn't think about that

You can find a link to my supplies in the description. I just throw everything in a backpack.

Do that yes, sometimes

It totally depends. There are colors being sold that fade within weeks. Not months, or years. So if you sell an original with those colors, the buyer would be pissed if it fades on their wall

Wow thank you, that's so generous!!