Meaning & use
gouache
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Meanings
noununcountable
Water-based paint made opaque with a chalky additive, giving flat, matte, solid color.
Grammar: Used without an or a for the material: a tube of gouache.
Patterns
- paint in gouache
- a tube of gouache
She prefers gouache to watercolor because she can layer light colors over dark ones.
The illustrator mixed a tube of white gouache into the blue to make a sky tone.
Gouache dries quickly to a flat, velvety finish.
nouncountable
A painting made with this kind of paint.
Grammar: Has a regular plural: two gouaches hung side by side.
Patterns
- a gouache of something
- a gouache by someone
The museum acquired a small gouache of a harbor at dawn.
He sold three gouaches at the spring art fair.
The poster began as a gouache before being scanned for printing.
Word forms
| plural | gouaches |
|---|
Common combinations
- paint in gouache
- Many children's book artists paint in gouache.
- opaque gouache
- Opaque gouache covers mistakes better than transparent watercolor.
- gouache on paper
- The label read 'gouache on paper, 1962'.
- gouache and watercolor
- The exhibition mixed gouache and watercolor in the same landscapes.
- a gouache painting
- A gouache painting of the old bridge hangs in the hallway.
Synonyms and how they differ
- body color
- Body color is an older, more technical term for opaque water-based paint, whereas gouache is the common name used by artists today.
- watercolor
- Watercolor is usually transparent and lets the paper show through, while gouache is thick and covers what is beneath.
- tempera
- Tempera is paint bound with egg or similar material and dries harder, while gouache is bound with gum and stays re-wettable.
Word family
- gouaches noun
- the plural, meaning several paintings in this medium
- gouachist noun
- an artist who works mainly in gouache (rare)
Commonly confused: gouache or guache? gouache or gauche?
gouache vs guache
Guache is a common misspelling; the correct spelling is gouache, with the 'ou'. It is not related to 'gauche', which means socially awkward.
gouache vs gauche
Gauche /ɡəʊʃ/ means awkward in social situations, and it has an entirely different meaning from gouache.
Practice
An artist wants flat, opaque color that can be painted over a darker layer. Which medium should she choose?
Choose one answer.
Gouache is opaque water-based paint, so light colors can cover dark ones. Ink wash and glazes are transparent, and pencil is not a paint at all.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gouache”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.