GUIDE TO

GOUACHE
LENARIVO.COM
Hi, I am Lena Rivo! I am a professional painter who teaches
enthusiastic artists how to capture the beauty of the subjects that
inspire them.

I help my students convey the illusion of light and atmosphere in their

paintings and get the most from the colors on their palette. The
fundamental principles that I teach are universal and can be applied
to any painting medium be it oil, acrylics, soft pastels, watercolor or
gouache.

Having used gouache for several years now, it has gradually

become my favorite painting medium. Its vibrant, deep and solid
colors give me full freedom to capture the beauty of nature.
Even though I often paint with oils and acrylics, gouache is definitely my favorite medium
because it embodies the most powerful characteristics of other painting mediums. For
example, it has the opaque qualities of oils, but it can easily be
cleaned up and stored away. It allows you to paint in layers like acryl-
ics, but it doesn't dry permanently, so you can make changes in your
painting at any time. It dries to a matte, velvety finish with the bril-
liance and opacity of soft pastels. You can just as easily travel and
setup gouache as with watercolors, without such a strong need to
plan and reserve whites. To manipulate the consistency of gouache,
you only need water, so it is ideal for working outdoors or in a studio,
and from quick sketches to finished paintings.

Gouache is one of the most versatile and probably underrated mediums in the painting
world. Professional gouache colors are so opaque and vibrant because they have the high-
est pigment load of any other painting medium. With gouache, you
can make edges soft to create depth and mood in your paintings
and it also gives you the possibility to paint in a full tonal range,
making the darks really dark and the lights truly bright in your
paintings. Thanks to the matte finish of gouache, you can see
the colors without glare on the painting’s surface. Gouache
is a medium every artist should explore because it can
expand your understanding of color and open new
possibilities that other painting mediums are lacking.
I OFTEN GET ASKED ABOUT MY
COLOR PALETTE, BRUSHES AND
THE OTHER EQUIPMENT I USE
WITH GOUACHE.
I know it's not always easy to decide
what you really need for a better painting
experience, so in this article, I will try to
help you make your decisions easier and
tell you what works for me and why.

Art supply stores are filled with dozens, if not hun-

dreds, of paint tubes with beautiful colors, so how do

MY you decide which ones you really need? The answer is

pretty simple - you can mix all those beautiful colors if
you pick the right pigments that will allow you to mix

COLOR any color you see, no matter what the subject is.

PALETTE
My gouache palette consists of 22 colors. All the
colors in my palette are lighter or darker versions of
the primary and secondary colors. Each color has a
specific purpose and together they not only allow me
to mix colors fast, but also keep the colors in my paint-
ings bright and clean. I love my palette and find it
extremely convenient to use, but if I had to limit my
palette to the maximum, these would be the pigments
I would pick:
 Cadmium Yellow
Lemon (Cool Primary Yellow)

Cadmium Yellow
Light (Warm Primary Yellow)

Cadmium Scarlet
(Warm Primary Red)
or Cadmium Red Light

Permanent
Alizarin Crimson

A nice muted transparent dark red. This is a beautiful color which is great for neutralizing and balancing
greens. I mix it with Permanent Green for shadows while painting trees or other plants. Original Alizarin
Crimson isn't permanent and being an organic pigment, it will fade with time if exposed to light. This
permanent version is a chemical substitution for the original pigment.

Permanent Magenta
(Cool Primary Red)
or Quinacridone Rose

Ultramarine Blue
(Warm Primary Blue)

Phthalo Blue
(Cool Primary Blue)
I do not include this color into my main palette but in a limited palette it allows you to mix
all kinds of cool blues and turquoise colors (when you mix it with a bit of Cadmium Lemon).

Permanent Deep Green

(phthalo green)

Cool, dark, transparent green, a time saver. You can mix many different greens with a limited palette, but
having a ready to go green on the palette is convenient. You only need to modify it with bits of other
colors, making it cooler or warmer, lighter or grayer. In other mediums, I usually use viridian as my dark
green, but in gouache form viridian dries immediately, so I use phthalo green instead.

Yellow Ochre
(muted yellow)

Zinc White Titanium White (the white I

(mixing white) use for highlights)

With these colors from the above list you can mix any color you need, but a few other colors
can make your color mixing faster which is especially important when you paint outdoors
where the light changes quickly, so the faster you make your color choices the more accu-
rately you will be able to capture the natural conditions. These additional colors are:
 Marigold Yellow Cobalt Blue
or Cadmium Orange (medium tone cool blue)

Secondary orange. Not a must at all. Cerulean Blue

You can mix it with Cadmium Yellow (light cool blue)
and Cadmium Red. or Phthalo blue light

Cadmium Red Deep

(dark warm red)

Dioxidine violet

Secondary Purple. You can mix it with

Ultramarine Blue and Permanent Rose.

Cobalt Turquoise Light

It is such a beautiful color. Seeing it on my palette makes me want to look for similar
colors in the landscape or seascape I am painting so that I can use it. As all cobalts, this
pigment is pricey, but you can mix a very similar color with Phthalo Blue and Yellow
Lemon.

Cyprus Green

Dark Turquoise Green. You can mix it with Phthalo Blue and Cadmium Lemon.

Chromium Oxide Green

Cool, slightly neutral middle value green. I use it for trees and other greens.
 Sap Green

Warm mid value green. It is handy for painting

warm tones in a foliage.

Burnt Sienna - neutral Red

Burnt Umber - dark neutral Brown

Red Ochre

Perylene Violet

Lamp Black

I use this black only for truly black objects. I don't use it for mixing grays. I mix grays
using complementary colors.
 When mixing a color, it is very important for me to be able to control it 100%: its hue, value and satu-
ration. I never use approximate colors in painting. It means that most of the time I have to modify the
colors from my palette, making them warmer, cooler, darker, lighter or grayer in order to get exactly
the same color I see in the subject. So answering a question I get from time to time, “Do you use-
colors straight from the tubes?” I can say - only when the color from the tube is exactly what I need.
Otherwise, I don't.

An important thing to keep in mind when buying paints is how permanent the pigments are. Many of
the beautiful colors, especially pinks, lilac colors and violets aren’t lightfast and will fade quickly if
you decide to frame your painting. If you store your sketches and paintings in your albums, you don’t
need to worry about how permanent the pigments you use are. “Weak” colors will fade only if the
painting is exposed to natural light for a long time.

I have tried some of these colors, so I will name them here:

Opera Pink

Opera Pink is an astonishingly beautiful, vivid magenta with a bright rose color. This color is amazing. It
is made of a fluorescent pigment that you can't really mix using non-fluorescent pigments. That extra
glow in fluorescent colors comes from the energy we humans don't see, called ultraviolet light.

As you can see, Opera Pink is literally glowing in this detail:

If I was an illustrator and only needed to digitize my paintings, I would use fluorescent
colors with great pleasure. However, they fade over time and should not be used for work
intended to be permanent. These colors from Winsor and Newton brand all belong to the
same family of fluorescent colors:

Opera Rose Brilliant Violet Bengal Rose Brilliant Purple

Important Note: Artists' pigments should be handled with care, as some of them are
toxic and can have serious negative health effects on the painter. As much as possi-
ble, painters should try to keep paints away from their skin.
The permanence of a colour is described by
Winsor & Newton using the system of AA, A, B
and C. The colors marked with AA are extremely
permanent and those marked with C are “fugi-
tive”, where fugitive means ‘transient’. Some
fugitive colors may fade within months.

For permanent paintings, it is recommended that

only AA and A colours are used as these are not
expected to fade. Because I sell my paintings
and hang them on the walls, I only use colors
from these two groups.

So, if you are going to purchase a set of gouache

paints, I would recommend starting with a limit-
ed palette first, and then expand it with a few
other premixed colors.

This is basically all I can tell you about my

color palette. As for my favorite brands of
gouache, I use traditional gouache from
Winsor & Newton and Holbein brands.

They share the same pigments and the quality

of gouache of these two brands is excellent.
They both don’t use opacifiers, chalks or fillers.
It means that their gouache is made up solely
of pure concentrated pigment and gum arabic.

Some pigments are opaque and others are

transparent, so if some of your gouache colors
are transparent, it doesn't mean they are of a
low quality.

You can use their transparency as an advan-

tage because the contrast between transpar-
ent and opaque brushstrokes is one of the
most beautiful contrasts used in painting. I use
this type of contrast with oils and acrylics all
the time, too. Thick opaque brushstrokes over
transparent washes create depth and vibran-
cy in a painting.
 I painted the shadow area under this umbrella using mostly transparent pigments.
Everything illuminated by the sun was painted with opaque colors.

The sky and some other areas in the painting below were painted with transparent pigments.
I then overlaid them with some bold brushstrokes using opaque colors.

There are no bold brushstrokes here, except for the lights on the ship.
The washed and translucent colorssuggestthatnightis approaching.
CONSISTENCY they come out of the tubes and they require only
a tiny bit of water to be easily spread out on the

OF GOUACHE
Now let’s talk about the consistency of gouache.
Gouache is designed to be opaque and provide
good coverage to make it possible for us to
create ideal solid shapes of color, so in order to
get the best results, it should be used in a con-
sistency that preserves its opacity. Some
gouache colors are already pretty fluid when
paper. Other colors come out of the tubes in a
thicker consistency and they require a bit more
water to become manageable, but in general
gouache is a medium that doesn't need to be
diluted much. You do need to add a bit of water
to your gouache paints in most cases; your paint
should be fluid enough for you to easily spread it
out on the paper, but it shouldn’t be diluted to a
transparent wash because you want your colors
to stay opaque.

Some painters use gouache working from the

thin consistency of semi-transparent washes up
to the thicker consistency of cream, layering the
paint until it becomes opaque. So this method
works for some artists. I prefer using a more
direct painting method and apply gouache in
relatively thick layers, adding just the right
amount of water to the paints for them to flow
nicely and at the same time stay opaque and
provide good coverage. This way, once all the
main shapes in my painting are blocked in with
color the painting looks almost finished and
requires only some small adjustments and a few
details. When I paint with gouache, I try to apply
as few layers of paint as possible so that my
colors stay clean and vibrant.

When working in this painting technique you need to make sure that you mix
enough paint for each shape in your painting. If you run out of a color in the
middle of a shape, it will be harder to match the color later. Remember that
gouache changes value when it dries. Light colors tend to darken and dark
colors become slightly lighter. When you need to match a color and you are
not sure if the value of the color you have mixed is correct you can test the
color on the paper by making a brushstroke next to a shape that has already
been painted. It will take only a few seconds for the brushstroke to start drying
and you will be able to see if you need to make the color lighter or darker, or
if it looks right.
When painting with gouache you need to load your brush
with the pigment just like you would do if you painted
with oil or acrylic.

Gouache allows you to layer colors easily and create interest-

ing textures on the painting surface using a combination of wet
and dry brushstrokes, but you need to make sure that the pre-
vious paint layer has dried before applying a new one on top.
Keep in mind that if your color contains too much water it can
dissolve and blend with the previous layer, producing a muddy
color, so you need to make sure that your paint is not too runny
when you apply gouache in layers. Also, avoid applying
gouache in too many layers because the dry coats underneath
can draw moisture from the fresher coats, causing them to
crack. The fewer layers your painting has, the better.
Gouache paint has excellent coverage. It allows you to paint
the background first, let it dry and then paint other shapes on
top of it, or you can make a nice painting in just one layer by
blocking in the shapes in a puzzle-like manner. Small details
can be added on top when the painting is almost finished. You
can layer light colors on top of dark or vice versa.
 This is how I organize my gouache tubes.

12 ml Paint Tube Holder on Amazon: https://amzn.to/301uHu2

I store my squeezed
gouache colors in an
airtight storage palette,
which prevents the colors
from fast drying. I mist the
paints with water once a
week to keep them moist. I
treat my gouache as a
precious animal and
always have a spray bottle
of water for it.

You can get this palette box on Amazon: I would like to address a
https://amzn.to/3sxq6gZ
concern many artists who
are new to gouache have. If you fear your gouache might get moldy, I have to tell you that
gouache is not prone to molding like watercolor. The only color that can get moldy if you
haven’t opened and sprayed your palette for a couple of months is Quinacridone Rose
(Permanent Rose/Magenta). And this is not a big deal. If that happens, you just need to
clean that color off your palette and fill in fresh paint. Quinacridone rose is the only color
of all the colors I use that has some organic components. The other colors aren’t prone to
getting moldy. With the right care, they can stay in perfect condition for years.

If you use the same pigments that I use and a quality airtight palette, your gouache paints
will remain moist and they won’t get moldy. Just do not forget to spray your gouache with
distilled water once a week. If you use your gouache rarely, avoid squeezing Quinacridone
Rose into your storage palette and instead, use it in small bits, squeezing it directly
on the mixing tray when you need it. Quinacridone Rose is a wonderful, high-quality
pigment so don't be afraid to use it.
Under normal, mild conditions,
the quick-drying quality of
gouache is what makes this
medium easier to use than, for
WHAT TO DO
example, oils because, unlike
oils, gouache can be layered
IF YOUR
easily. Once one layer has dried,
you can apply another layer on
GOUACHE PAINTS
top of it without the need to worry
that the colors will blend and
DRY TOO FAST
create a muddy mixture. Because
of the high covering power of
gouache, when you apply one color on top of another it covers the layer underneath it completely
without showing it. This allows gouache painters to work faster and keep the shapes and colors in
their paintings clean. However, in dry climates and well-heated rooms, the quick-drying quality of
gouache can work against us. When the ambient air is very dry, gouache can dry so fast that it can
make it difficult to apply colors because in such conditions they can dry right on the mixing tray and
on the brush even before you apply them to the paper. Artists who live in well-heated homes and
desert areas, where the air is hot and dry several months a year, might have encountered this chal-
lenge and it might have discouraged them from using gouache.

If you have this problem

you can use a medium
that preserves the mois-
ture in gouache paints
and prevents them from
drying too fast. It is a
product called Winsor
& Newton Watercolor
Blending Medium. I’ve
tested it thoroughly and
have gotten excellent
results with it.

If your gouache colors dry too fast in your stor-

age palette you can add the medium directly
to each one of the colors in your palette.

The drier the ambient air is, the more medium

you will need to add to your paints. I’ve noticed
that adding 1 part medium to approximately 4
or 5 parts gouache has had the best effect on
the drying time of my gouache paints. To add
the medium to the paints in your storage pal-
ette you can either use a single dropper or you can pour the medium into a dropper bottle. You don’t
need to be very precise about the proportion of the medium to the paint. I usually add about 10 to 15
drops of the medium into every well of my palette box. Then I stir the paints well, using a clean
toothpick for each color. Note that most of the wells of my palette box are about ⅔ full of paint. If you
have only a little bit of paint in each of the wells of your palette box you will need to add only two or
three drops of the medium to each of your colors.
 You can also add this medium to your white paint. This will help a
lot in keeping your color mixes moist longer. To add the medium to
my whites I use these twist-top dropper bottles. They are great
because they allow you to squeeze liquids out in small amounts
and they also prevent the liquid inside them from evaporating. It’s
very easy to twist them open and close them. I usually add 1 part
medium to 4 parts white paint. This medium doesn’t create any kind
of film in a painting, so you will be able to reactivate your colors with
water after they have dried if you need to. The medium acts just like
water with the only difference being that it evaporates at a much
slower rate.
If you want to learn more about how to use this medium I have a
detailed tutorial on this tiopic on my YouTube channel here.

If your gouache paints dry at a com-

fortable speed you don’t need to
use this medium, but if you paint in a
very dry and warm area it will make
a huge difference for you.

My friend, Jean, has successfully

used her gouache paints with the
medium added to them to paint on
location in the Arizona desert. So, in
extremely dry climates this medium
can be a great solution for keeping
your gouache paints moist and
manageable.
 THE I use two whites with
WHITES gouache: Zinc White, also
known as Chinese White as
I USE a mixing white and Titanium
White, called Permanent
White in gouache for high-
lights and really light areas.
Titanium White is a bright white that has excellent opacity and high tinting
strength. When mixed with another color, it rapidly lightens the color. The draw-
back of Titanium White is that it can immediately change your color to a pastel
shade. I use Titanium white only when I need to mix light value colors and for
bright highlights.

When I need to lighten the value of a color a bit and not greatly change the color
I use Zinc White. Zinc white is very transparent and it has low tinting strength. I
have more control when I add Zinc White, therefore I use it as my mixing white in
most cases. This makes it easier for me to preserve the vibrancy of my colors.

Both of these whites are great to have on hand , but if I had to choose only one of
them I would probably choose Titanium White for its excellent opacity.

Now let's talk about the

paper. If you have been
following me on social THE PAPER
media for some time, you
probably know that my
favorite paper for paint-
ing with gouache is Saun-
ders Waterford 140lb
cold-pressed paper.
I can't say it is the best
paper in the world (even
though I am pretty sure it
is) because I haven't tried
many. I just can say that it
has a beautiful texture
and I really love how it
feels. It exists in two
colors: White and High
White. The White is actu-
ally an ivory toned paper,
while the High White is an
absolutely white paper. I
love them both.
 The White paper
in a spiral pad.

This is the High White paper in a

glued pad. I hope you can see how
beautiful and soft its texture is.
 These two paintings are done on Saunders Waterford High White 140 lb.
cold-pressed watercolor paper which is perfect for gouache.

If you are looking for an album for gouache painting, many watercolor papers will do the
job. However, the weight of the paper matters. Paper for painting with gouache should be
at least 140 lb/300 gsm. You don't want your paper to buckle when you start laying down
your gouache. High quality watercolor paper is often gelatine sized, which makes it resistant
to layering and wiping.

Having said that, I sometimes use a Moleskine watercolor notebook in size Large with
gouache. It's paper weight is 200 gsm, but it holds gouache very well and doesn't buckle.

Moleskine Watercolor Notebook on Amazon:

https://amzn.to/2AvkUCT
I also make my own Illustration
boards for gouache. I have used
different kinds of paper to make
them namely: Fabriano colored
paper, Canson Mi-Teintes Earth
Tones paper for pastels and Strath-
more Toned Tan/Toned Gray paper
for mixed media. They all take
gouache very well. Papers intended
for pastels and pencils are not as
resistant as gelatine sized papers
like Arches or Saunders Waterford.
They still hold gouache very well,
but do not take much punishment.

To make these boards, I glue a paper onto thin cardboard using a soft gel medium for acrylics.
It is acid free and doesn't cause the board to bend. I then put the boards under a pile of books
to dry for a day.

Painting with gouache on a gray surface is a certain pleasure as the colors seem brighter on it. I
often leave the gouache paintings that I have done on gray boards unfinished.

For these boards below, I used Canson Mi-Teintes Earth Tones paper. Its nice, velvet-like sur-
face takes gouache very well, although some layering is required.

Canson Mi-Teintes Earth Tones paper:

https://amzn.to/2Lj5EOi
Another great paper for painting with gouache is Strathmore Toned paper for mixed media (140
lbs/300 gsm). It exists in warm and cool versions which are called Toned Tan and Toned Gray.
Warm subjects look better on the cool surface of the Toned Gray paper, while cool subjects feel
more vibrant on the Toned Tan paper. This paper is very strong and it feels almost like card-
board and never buckles.

Strathmore Toned Gray Mixed Media Pad: Strathmore Toned Tan Mixed Media Pad:
https://amzn.to/32wps5E https://amzn.to/32wpOJw

If you like to paint in sketchbooks, Etchr sells affordable

sketchbooks with high-quality cold and hot pressed
watercolor paper in different sizes that are excellent for
outdoor painting with gouache.
 I enjoy painting with gouache on hot-pressed
watercolor paper. Gouache spreads wonder-
fully on its smooth surface, and the texture of
the paper doesn’t dominate the texture of the
painting. If you are only starting with gouache,
I would probably recommend that you try to
paint on hot pressed watercolor paper first,
because it doesn’t absorb the water from the
paints as fast as cold pressed paper, and you
only need to add a small amount of water, if
any at all to your colors while painting. I use
Arches 140 lbs hot-pressed watercolor paper.

These are the different kinds of paper I am

using with gouache. I love them all and it is
always hard to decide which of them to use.

Arches 140 lbs HP watercolor paper:

https://amzn.to/2Y5jrto
As for the brushes, I have found that most of the synthetic
brushes for acrylic paints work well with gouache too. Water-
color brushes might be too soft for it because gouache is usu-
ally used in a consistency that is much thicker than that of
watercolor. To me gouache feels very similar to oils and acryl- THE
ics, so I find that stiffer brushes are easier to use with it. My
brushes are mostly synthetic short handle brushes - flats for BRUSHES
larger shapes and small round brushes for details. My favorite
brushes are Raphael Precision 8534 in sizes 6 and 10, and 8524
in sizes 4, 2 and 0.

Strathmore Toned Gray paper.

Synthetic brushes wear out

fast, but that's okay because
you can continue using them
to paint large shapes. Howev-
er, you need sharp brushes to
paint tiny details. This is why I
replace my small brushes
much more often than my
large and medium-sized
brushes.

I also often use Da Vinci Junior flat synthetic brushes. However, gouache is so versatile that you
can use almost any acrylic brush to paint with it.

As for how I use my brushes, the larger the shape that I need to paint
is, the larger my brush has to be. If my painting consists mostly of
small shapes I typically use only one small brush for the entire
painting. If there are large shapes in the painting, like the sky or
the surface of the water then, in that case, I use larger brushes.
 I mix my colors on this plastic mixing tray. You can use
any mixing tray with gouache. However, I wouldn't
recommend buying the ones with very deep divi-

THE
sions/wells. They might be useful for watercolors,
but with gouache, when you mix it on a flat surface, it

MIXING
allows you to judge the colors better and also gradu-
ally move from one color to another, using the previ-

PALETTE
ous colors for mixing the new ones.

Gouache dries very fast on a mixing sur-

face as well as in a paint box, so when
I’m painting, I keep spraying my mixing
tray and the paint in the box with water
so that the paints stay moist. You might
need to do this as often as every 5 min-
utes when the air is dry.
Martin Universal Palette:
https://amzn.to/2Erh5x3

I use different kinds of masking tapes for painting

with gouache, but in general any low-tack masking
tape will do the job. I wouldn't use blue masking tape
though, because its intense color may affect your
color perception. I like to use light colored masking
tapes that seem invisible on the paper.

One of my favorite tools for painting is a

mirror. Old masters have used mirrors to
spot errors and unbalanced areas in
their paintings for centuries. When you
look at a painting in a mirror, you see it as
if it were a completely different piece
and every mistake and inaccuracy in
proportions or perspective become
evident. A mirror also allows you to judge
whether your painting is finished or not.
Every time I look at my painting in the mirror and notice something that needs to be adjusted
in the painting, I take my brush and correct the mistake. When I eventually look in the mirror and
don’t notice any mistakes popping up from my painting, I consider the painting finished. This
mirror is like an extra pair of eyes for me. I have used this mirror for oil painting for many years,
this is why it is so dirty.
 FRAMING
AND
VARNISHING

When it comes to framing gouache paintings, once your painting

is finished you can frame it with a mat under glass like a watercolor
painting or you can varnish it and frame it without glass just like an
oil or acrylic painting. I frame my paintings using both of these
methods. Using a mat (a mount) when framing unvarnished
gouache paintings is crucial because your painting shouldn’t
touch the glass. If you want to float your gouache painting on top
of a mat board or frame it without a mat, you should put spacers in
the corners under the frame so that there is an air space between
the artwork and the glass.

I like to use dark grey mats for

low-key paintings and off-white
mats for high-key and colorful
paintings.

To frame a gouache painting without glass you will need to varnish it. There are several varnishes on
the market that are suitable for varnishing gouache paintings. Golden Archival Spray Varnish and
Krylon Kamar Varnish are probably the most popular of them. I use Daler Rowney brushed watercolour
varnish, but it seems to be available only in the UK. Any varnish makes colors in gouache paintings
look more vibrant, but it also deepens dark values which results in a higher contrast. The colors in
your painting will look like they did when you first applied them. Make sure to test your varnish
before applying it to a finished piece. If you want to learn more about my varnishing process I have a
detailed tutorial on this topic on my YouTube channel here:
How to Varnish Gouache Paintings for Framing without Glass
Now, for those of you who enjoy plein air painting
or are considering trying it, I will show you my plein
air setup for gouache. You can find most of the
products in my setup online and some of them you

MY
can even make yourself.

PLEIN AIR
The pochade box is the most important part of my
plein air setup. It is made by a US company called
Guerrilla Painter. Actually, I use two of these boxes:
9x12” and 8x10”. I usually prefer the bigger one as
it can hold everything I need for painting and it’s
SETUP
better balanced because of the deeper and heavier
bottom part, but the small one is very light and
compact, and it can be easily fit into any backpack.

Guerrilla Painter 8x10 Box on Amazon: This is how they look side by side.
https://amzn.to/3cNd7xP
Guerrilla Painter 9x12 Box on Amazon:
https://amzn.to/2ArP36x
In the photo above, I am using the 9x12” In this photo, I am using the same box with-
pochade box with a tripod. You can't tell by out the tripod. I am sitting under a cream
looking at the photo, but I am sitting on a beach umbrella which creates perfect con-
folding stool here. ditions for painting outdoors because it
By the way, I do not recommend placing defuses the sunlight and makes it easier to
your paper in direct sunlight while painting judge the colors. Be aware that colored um-
outdoors because the extremely bright sur- brellas cast colorful shadows, which might
face of the paper won't let you judge the affect your color perception. White or cream
colors accurately. You will have to compen- umbrellas are perfect for painting on a
sate for the brightness of the sunlight with- sunny day.
out even realizing it and will end up by
mixing darker colors than you actually need.
The day this photo was taken was quite
windy, so I couldn't set up my umbrella and
there also was no shade on the pier, so I
didn't have a choice and had to set up my
easel in sunlight.

Both of the boxes have small rubber legs and a tripod mount. I usually use them with
tripods, except for when I’m at the beach where I feel comfortable painting while sitting
on the sand.

I use two different Slik tripods with these boxes:

A stronger one with the 9x12 pochade box: https://amzn.to/3ByWy5F
and a lightweight tripod with my 8x10 cigar box: https://amzn.to/3vAPOEw

These pochade boxes are great and relatively cheap when compared with other plein air
easels on the market, but in the end they are just boxes with lids. If you enjoy making stuff,
you can build a very similar box by yourself. There are lots of videos on YouTube that show
you how to build your own pochade box. You can even get an empty cigar box on Ebay and
use it as your plein air easel. The lack of professional equipment shouldn't hold you back
from going to paint outdoors. Before I came up with the solution for plein air painting with
gouache, I had done many gouache paintings while sitting on grass or sand with my legs
crossed and my sketchbook lying on the ground.
I always have one con-
tainer for water and
another for paper towels
in my setup. Each time I
clean my brush, I dip it
into a pile of paper
towels to get rid of the
excess water from the
brush. Then, I begin
mixing a new color.
When the paper towels
in that second container
get soaking wet, you
have to change them,
otherwise you will be
taking too much water
on the brush to your
mixing tray and it will
become difficult to con-
trol the consistency of
your gouache, which has
to be creamy and not
watery like watercolors.

This is a closer look at the setup with the 9x12” box.

I made this brush case

using two plastic cups,
one of which had to be
cut to fit into the other.
This case protects my
brushes while traveling.

As for that metal thing

that holds my brush cup
attached to the box, I
bought it years ago with
onehttps:/
of my/bit.ly/2LB36ua
easels here. It
was designed to hold a
glass of wine, but
because I don't drink
wine while painting, I
hadn't used it until This is how I transport my brushes.
recently when I needed
to find a solution to keep
my brushes close to my
painting hand while
painting.
You could use an Ikea storage unit called
Sunnersta for storing your brushes. This cup
attaches easily to Guerilla boxes and is
perfect for storing short handle brushes

I usually attach this cup to the left side of

my pochade box and use it to store my
spray bottle, the whites and the mirror.
Credit for the idea of using this cup with our
pochade boxes goes to my “Color Mastery”
student Peggy. Thank you, Peggy!
The white support which holds my watercolor pad in the photo is what my husband has made for
me by gluing two pieces of plastic together. You can make something like this by yourself. I attach
it to the box using velcro. It is very stable and I like that it lifts my watercolor pad a bit from the mixing
area.
So this all the equipment I use with gouache. I hope I didn't forget
anything. If I did, you can always ask me questions on social
media and I will be happy to answer them.

THANKS FOR READING

andHAPPY PAINTING!

YOU CAN FIND ME ON

Lena Rivo
Copyright © 2021 Lena Rivo. All rights reserved.