WIP gouache portrait painting

I’ve said it a million times in the past few months, but I LOVE painting with gouache. I have no idea why it took me so long to fall in love with it. I mean, what’s there not to love about it? 

My hands, and clothes stay so much cleaner than when I’m working with acrylics. When I get gouache on my hands, I can easily wipe it off with a paper towel, and keep painting. Try doing this with acrylics, and it smudges all over the place, sticks to my hands, and leaves behind paint smears on everything I touch. 

Acrylics usually don’t come off until I give my hands a good scrub under running water, and even then it’s difficult to wash off. I don’t miss walking around with paint stuck to my nails or skin for days because I can’t get it washed off without rubbing my skin raw.

I also haven’t had to throw a paint brush away since I started painting with gouache. If I forget to clean a brush, it’s no big deal. A little swirl in water, and I’m back in business. 

Speaking of brushes, gouache isn’t nearly as hard on brushes as acrylics or oils. The bristles don’t get little bits of dried paint on them, making it difficult to use.

I’ve been using the same brushes every night for months, and they look like I’ve just taken them out of the package. My old paint brushes have dried acrylic paint all over the handles. I didn’t notice this before, but I definitely do now. 

Clean up is faster, too. I just quickly rinse the brushes off in the sink when I’m finished painting, and leave them bristle side up to dry in my emptied water container. The bristles don’t get all wonky shaped. 

I also never have to change into paint clothes before I paint anymore. Acrylics don’t wash out of clothes, and for years, I walked around looking like a splattered paint mess every day. I now can wear brand new clothes when I’m painting, and don’t have any worries about accidentally dropping a blob of paint on my pants. If I do, it will wash out easily enough. 

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been showing more work in progress shots here on my blog. It’s all thanks to gouache. I no longer have to be so careful about handling my phone when I’m painting. If I do happen to get gouache on my phone case or screen, it easily wipes off. 

I also don’t think I’ll ever get tired of being able to mix up a tray of gouache, and not have to constantly think about using it all up in one sitting, like I do with acrylics.

All I have to do is re-wet my gouache palette, and continue where I left off last time. There is no waste, no scraping dried paint off my palette or tabletop. I have thrown away/wasted so much acrylic & oil paint in the past. After years of putting up with the inconvenience of using acrylics, it’s no surprise to me that gouache is my favorite to paint with these days. 

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