How does watercolour work?
Available in cakes, pans and tubes, watercolour is a pressed pigment with a binder. Once this is activated with water, it becomes a colour. Watercolour is quite transparent so the white of the paper is used for luminous colours or used for the white features in the artwork.  

How does gouache work?
Gouache is a water-medium like watercolour but instead, it dries to an opaque, matte finish. Available in tubes too, it can be thinned with water or used alone for creating stronger colours than watercolour. 

Can you mix gouache and watercolour?
Of course you can! Watercolour is quite transparent, and gouache is opaquer. This means you can use a watercolour wash in your gouache works or strengthen your watercolours with gouache. 

How to use gouache with watercolour paint
Here’s three ways to use both mediums:
-Use watercolour as an underpainting for gouache. This is a great way to quickly tint your paper or background without using a harsh, solid colour in the back. 
- Use gouache as an accent! Looking to make certain areas stronger? Use the opacity of gouache to your advantage in your landscapes and make subjects, trees, animals or even the sun, the focal point. 
- Use gouache to build up colours: Because of its opaque, matte finish you can use it to easily build up your colours in a flash!

Most importantly, have fun! Use both mediums and see how you go. You might find you love using watercolour, gouache, or a combination of both! 

Looking for more? Sharpen your skills with this video on how to use gouache, read these answers to 10 common watercolour questions, or check out more of our handy how-to videos.