Gouache Ink Resist Technique
Steps 4 and 5
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Step 4
Put some ink into a container wide enough to accommodate the brush you will use and squirt in a couple
sprays of water. All the demo's I've seen or read say to dilute the ink...I suppose that way you are sure the ink
absorbs into the paper rather than sitting on top. It's more economical too...but I have forgotten to dilute it and
it worked fine
With a very light touch (a soft flat brush works best here…but not one of your best watercolor brushes….it is
waterproof ink) softly lay on the ink….trying not to disturb the gouache layer.
I was thinking (this morning when I got a striped looking black area ) that putting the ink into a fine mist bottle
might actually be even better than a soft brush....I'll try it and let you know....or you try it and let me know....
whichever comes first
I put the ink on like a flat wash…holding the piece tipped up…starting at the top and keeping a bead of ink at
the bottom of each light horizontal stroke of ink…
You will have a black painting at this point...though you can see the ghost of your image within the ink layer...I
forgot to take a photo of this example at the all black point...but here is another painting with the ink on it...you
get the idea, right?
Let the ink dry completely…completely….completely…..this is the stage you do NOT want to rush….if the ink
isn’t completely dry, you’ll wash some of it off along with the gouache in the next step…your black won’t be so
black…I speak from experience! (this could work well for further experimentation... a different softer look…..but
we are working with sharp edges and extreme values in this demo)
Letting it dry overnight might be a good idea
Step 5
Now comes the fun part! It's like being a kid and revealing secret agent code...
Take your black painting to the sink…and run a stream of water on it….soon you’ll see the white parts appear
as the ink washes off the shapes that were covered in gouache…..
I wish I had a video of the process....and also a clone to take the video or pictures
This step needs some finesse….
You don’t necessarily want all of the inked over gouache shapes completely washed off….
I try to go slowly …you can always go back to the stream of water…but once it’s washed off…it’s gone down
the sink!...the completely cleaned and scrubbed paintings look different than the ones that were washed off
with a softer touch….
It’s really a give and take here…to completely wash off the gouache reveals more of the watercolored
underpainting…..but you run the risk of losing some of the interesting textures that appear with less
aggressive washing off. (You can always go back in with watercolor or ink after the wash off)
Here's the first example...after the wash off...
I chose to go back in with gouache, and green-gold and some ink....
Well, that's it! I hope you try this fun technique. If this demo inspired you to try one of your own...please
email me with your results!
Happy Experimenting!
Lauren