A Note on the Use of Gouache

I have been using tube watercolors for a few of my prints and have some gouache left over from a class a few years ago. The gouache is a more opaque type of watercolor, and is usually not used with much water. I figured I would try a print with gouache to see how it worked out. It didn't seem to make too much of a difference in terms of color, but I did find out that the brush strokes were more visible than I would have liked, leaving the image choppier than desired. Nice effect, but not what I was looking for....

 You can see the brush stokes well with the light behind the plate, and these transfered.

 You can also see how opaque the paint is if you change the lighting.


Batfish

The product after the printing, but I may end up changing it some by working over top.


Batfish (ghost)

Ghost print still has the brush strokes, but it still looks too choppy.