What is Gouache Relief?

Gouache relief is a process of painting that can create an effect similar to wood-block prints.  But unlike wood or linoleum prints, you will not need fancy inks or a printing press.  You will need several materials that you can pick up at the local art or craft store.

• Water color paper
• Gouache paint (A range of colors is needed for Process 1, only Zinc White or Permanent White is needed for Process 2)
• Black India Ink
• Paint brushes for Gouache and Ink (I use small round brushes for my gouache, and larger, soft brushes, like Japanese calligraphy brushes, for the ink)
• Watercolor (Process 2 only)
• Paper towels
• Two boards of wood (Bigger than your piece of paper)
• Heavy things to stack on top of the wood

There are two methods to create a gouache relief.  Process 1 has fewer steps.  You will paint all of your colors in gouache, and then create the relief.  This can make it very exciting to see the final product, and a little less predictable.  The downside is that you get less control of the final colors in your painting.  In Process 2, you use white gouache and black ink to create a relief, and then color it in with watercolors.  I suggest that you read through and try both methods, and see which you like best.

Process 1

1: Create your design.  This is my drawing for a bifrost project called the "The Mad Hatter's Parade".  Notice that it is not a very complicated design.  You want to stay away from small detail, because that will drive you crazy and may be lost in the final relief.  I traced this design on to my water color paper in pencil and am now ready to begin.

2: I painted all of the spots with gouache, except those that I want to be black.  I left a blank outline around each shape to ensure the block-print feeling.  Leave anything that you want to be black, like the Mad Hatter’s hat, blank.  You want to make your coats of paint relatively opaque and thick so that they will reject the ink.  You only get one chance with each layer of paint.  I painted Alice’s face, and then I tried to add rosy cheeks.  You will see that the red cheeks do not remain after I have done the relief.  If I still wanted the cheeks, I could add them back in with water color at the very end.

Do not forget to paint anything you want to be white with white gouache paint, such as her petticoat, the rabbit’s face, and the flower boarder.

Leave anything that you want to be black, like the Mad Hatter’s hat, blank.

3: Once the paint was completely dry, I painted a layer of India ink across the whole surface.  This is the scary part.  Be brave, all of your hard work is under there somewhere!

4: When the India ink dries, it is time to wash it off.  Turn on the kitchen or bathtub spigot so that the water is cool and the pressure is not too strong.  Most of the ink with flake off under the running water, revealing your image.  If there are parts where the ink is sticking, then use your finger to rub it very gently, or finger nail to scrape it.  Caution: Rubbing or scraping too hard will rub the ink into the painting, and it will not come off!

Do not worry about every last spec of black.  The charm of this process is that it looks home printed.

The ink stuck to the brown on the trees and I was able to scrape off only portions of the bark, creating a nice, woody effect.

Notice that some of the colors changed.  The colors I painted on were thick, opaque, and darker.  Once I’ve rinsed the relief, only stains are left, so the colors are brighter.

5.  Place some paper towels on your board of wood, place your wet painting on top of it, then more paper towels, another board of wood and several heavy objects.  This will help your painting dry without warping.  Leave it alone for at least 24 hours or until it is completely dry.

Process 2

This is almost exactly the same as process one except it contains an extra step at the end. 

1. I traced my drawing, this time of the mystical Resplendent Quetzal. 

2.  Instead of using all the colors I wanted in the final painting, I simply used white gouache. Everywhere I want to be black, is left plain and everything I want to be white or colored I painted white.  It is best to use slightly off-white paper so you to note go crazy figuring out where you have laid your paint.

It is best to use slightly off-white paper so you to note go crazy figuring out where you have laid your paint.

Follow steps 3-5, allowing the paint to dry, painting on the India ink, washing the relief, pressing it and drying it.

You now have a black and white image.  If this is what you would like, you can stop here, but quetzals are such beautiful birds, I wanted more color.

6: I taped down the paper (to keep it form re-warping) and painted it using water colors.  You could use thinned gouache here too.  It is a little like coloring in your own hand-made coloring book.  Unlike in Process 1, you can do shading and texture to your colored areas. 

Some End Notes:

This is not a process for perfectionists. I love the hand-made feeling that the specks of black create.  It is also genuinely suspenseful to wash off the India ink to see your image magically appear. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  I look forward to seeing more gouache reliefs up on Elfwood sometime soon!  Also, feel free to stop by my gallery to see other examples of gouache relief.