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Rachel Pasch Grossman

WS10 – Got Gouache?

Rachel Grossman made the poor decision in college to major in what was hard (philosophy) instead of what she enjoyed (art). It took many years to undo that mistake, during which time she took art classes on the weekend, made posters for anyone who needed one, volunteered as an art parent at her childrens’ schools, quilted, knit, took photographs, and wished she was painting. About six years ago, she started sketching with a friend, and since then she has completed four years of daily sketching and is now half-way through her fifth. (Full disclosure: she did miss one day during the second year.) Daily sketching, much of it urban sketching, has become a joyful addition to her life.

Urban sketchers often use watercolor to add color to their sketches. Rachel tried, but never felt fully comfortable with watercolors. Gouache, on the other hand, felt much more intuitive: you could work from dark to light, without “reserving the white”, and the colors stayed where you put them instead of floating off to other parts of the paper behind your back. Since diving into gouache, Rachel has experimented with materials (substrates, brushes, and brands of paint), in addition to different ways of making gouache portable. She hopes that some of what she’s learned about gouache’s personality quirks will be useful to gouache newcomers.

Find Rachel online at:
Facebook: Rachel Pasch Grossman
Instagram: @paschpaint