Gouache Paint Recipe
Here is a typical recipe to make gouache paint. Gouache consists of water, pigment, and gum binder, the same as watercolor paint. The difference is primarily the addition of a white extender, which creates an opaque water-based paint.
Recipe
| Part by Weight | Ingredients |
| 52 | Barite (baryte or blanc fixe) or chalk (calcium carbonate) |
| 24 | Pigment, dry powder (any color) |
| 12 | Gum arabic solution (30% by weight in water) |
| 5 | Glycerin |
Thoroughly mix the gum arabic and glycerin, and add to the powders dropwise. Grind the ingredients on a flat surface, such as a glass or marble slab. Grind all ingredients until a smooth consistency is obtained. Additional water may be added to the paint to vary the consistency.
George O’Hanlon is the technical director of Natural Pigments, and executive director of Iconofile, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting understanding of sacred art. George received his fine arts education and apprenticeship in Mexico. Upon return to the United States, he worked as creative director for advertising agencies in Silicon Valley, working on such major accounts as Sony, Hewlett-Packard, and Ricoh. He founded an agency later acquired by the chemical giant, Shin-Etsu. There he served as vice-president of U.S. marketing. In 1992, he studied traditional art techniques abroad. Then in 2001, co-founded Iconofile and in 2003 Natural Pigments to promote an understanding of these practices. Since that time he has formulated hundreds of artists’ paints and materials, including Ceracolors, a waterborne wax paint...
