White Gouache

Pigment number: PW4 or PW6

You can use Titanium White or Chinese White or any White Gouache paint for Anna's tutorials.

White Gouache tends to be more opaque than white watercolour paint so is great to use for painting pale feather markings or fine hairs on certain types of leaves, which need to be added at the end of a painting. You can get some hue variation by adding a touch of colour to it and this can be really helpful when trying to paint hairy texture.

It's less useful for painting highlights. Highlights are always more successful when you allow the white of the paper to be visible through very pale watery paint. But in situations where you've accidentally painted over a highlight and can't lift that colour off with damp kitchen roll, it's worth applying some white gouache to the highlight area to lighten it.

Anna used to use standard watercolour paint such as the below, but it's just not as thick, so white Gouache is recommended as you don't have to use as many layers of it to create those hair effects.

Recommended Substitutes

The Daniel Smith alternatives are Titanium White or Chinese White.