With a blank canvas before them, an artist has a very important decision to make. What medium will best convey the image in their mind? This article will discuss four painting mediums: watercolor, gouache, oil, and acrylic. We’ll examine the pros and cons an artist may consider in choosing a medium for their work.

Watercolor and gouache are water-soluble, quick-drying, easy to clean, and can look similar to a viewer. To an artist, however, they offer distinct characteristics, largely in how each is applied.

Gouache is an opaque watercolor. It has a high concentration of original pigment with a white pigment (such as chalk) added to give it a very vibrant and solid color. This allows for versatility. Artists can paint in layers, covering previous layers easily. Working in detail can be easier in gouache as it allows for broader and more expressive strokes. Some of the most notable artists who have used gouache in their works include Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and Marc Chagall.

Watercolor is more transparent. Pigments are mixed with water and then applied to paper. The primary characteristic of a watercolor painting is its translucency, allowing the base color of the paper to shine through, giving a luminous and delicate appearance. Watercolor is done exclusively on watercolor paper, whereas gouache can be used on illustration boards or mixed-media surfaces such as canvas. Artists well-known for their watercolors include Georgia O’Keefe, Winslow Homer, and J.M.W. Turner.

Local artist Teri Gammalo enjoys working with both mediums.

“I like the spontaneity of gouache. It is easier to use and requires less colors. It’s a good tool to use for study drawings. Sometimes, I’ll come back to my studio and create the same image using watercolor or a combination of both,” says Gammalo.

The remaining two mediums are acrylic and oil. Artists often turn to one of these for larger pieces and also find them more marketable to collectors. Artist Leslie Lambert, who is a watercolorist, uses oils with larger canvases.

“All these mediums have the very same pigments; they just use a different binder, which causes the paint to move in a distinctive way,” says Lambert. “Oils are less fickle than watercolors, which can require just the right temperature and humidity when painting. I don’t like acrylics, which are made with polymer and feel like plastic to me. With oils, I love the luminosity and transparency.”

Lambert uses water-soluble oils, solving one con of working with this substance, which is the need for proper ventilation because of solvents. The wide range of textures, rich and vibrant colors that stay true when dried, and the slow drying nature of oils add to its advantages for some artists since they allow time for blending and reworking. Most of the painting masters used oils. (Acrylics weren’t developed yet.) Famous oil painters include Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, and Edvard Munch.

The newest of these four mediums is acrylic paint. Brought to the forefront in the 1940s, acrylic has some attractive attributes over oils: it’s fast drying, less expensive, and less toxic to use.

Abstract artist Bob Hogue loves working with acrylics specifically for these reasons. “Acrylics dry fast. I don’t like to stop and wait when creating what is in my mind,” says Hogue. “I can layer my colors with another full-bodied color or something more transparent and immediately see the result.” David Hockney was one of the first painters to embrace acrylics; other painters who used this medium included Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, and Helen Frankenthaler.

In summary, although artists may prefer a particular medium, most will explore other mediums as well. The choice could be based on a particular project, the mood they want to convey, or what has a commercial value. Deciding on a painting medium is the jumping-off point for the creation of any work, and its use will be a factor in expressing the artist’s final vision.

Over the Moon Gallery is an online art gallery featuring works from a variety of artists. Their mission is to showcase and provide opportunities for local artists and to make collecting original art available to all art lovers. http://www.overthemoongallery.com