# Gouache

> Dense matte color planes allow light over dark, while soft handmade edges and dry-brush marks create clear, delicate gouache texture.

[Web page](https://aistylebook.com/image/gouache/)

## About this style

Dense matte paint lets light cover dark, with bristle marks and irregular edges linking neighboring planes. Local dry brush reveals paper grain, keeping forms clear without mechanical surfaces.

Gouache's opacity supports matte color masses and light-over-dark revisions.

A cream roof edge painted over blue-gray, with occasional dry-brush gaps, can retain both clarity and surface life.

### How the style changes different subjects

- **Portrait**: Opaque color planes simplify face and clothing, with visible brush edges giving the portrait a painted quality.

- **Landscape**: Adjacent color masses build scenery, clarifying warm-cool relationships while simplifying detail.

- **Object**: A few bright shapes replace reflections; brush marks connect curved surfaces and shadows into a matte finish.

**Subjects**: Choose streets, fruit, flowers, colored vessels or clearly lit figures with well-separated color masses.

## Visual keywords

matte surface · opaque coverage · dry brush · color planes · bristle marks · paper grain

## Names and related terms

Gouache painting · Opaque watercolor

## Style examples

- [Portrait](https://img.aistylebook.com/reference-assets/20048-img_large.avif?v=bc78a60c9cd14066)

- [Landscape](https://img.aistylebook.com/reference-assets/20049-img_large.avif?v=d4fb182b921a583f)

- [Object](https://img.aistylebook.com/object-assets/80048-large.avif?v=b4e58595226375be)

## Reusable style prompt

```text
Paint the subject in matte opaque gouache. Use dense color shapes to organize structure and tone clearly, allowing light paint to genuinely cover dark layers. Preserve softly irregular hand-painted boundaries, local broken dry-brush marks, and moderate changes in paint thickness. Keep the surface quiet with delicate paper character. Build clear, harmonious layers through overlapping color blocks rather than transparent bleeding, wet oil gloss, or highly raised paint buildup.
```

## Photo creation and prompts

Photo generation requires an account and credits; the cost is shown before generation.

[Create with this style](https://aistylebook.com/photo.html?style=20048&lang=en#studio)

## Related styles

- [Dry-Brush Acrylic](https://aistylebook.com/image/dry-brush-acrylic/): Both use opaque coverage; the acrylic variant gives greater emphasis to bristle tracks, exposed undercolor and canvas weave.

- [Watercolor](https://aistylebook.com/image/watercolor/): Both are water-based paper media, while watercolor glows through paper white and thin washes.

- [Egg Tempera](https://aistylebook.com/image/egg-tempera/): Both have matte layers, while egg tempera builds gradients with finer, thinner strokes.

- [Painterly Travel Journal](https://aistylebook.com/image/painterly-travel-journal/): Both use opaque marks, while painterly travel journals favor layered warm orange and cyan-blue.

## References

- [National Gallery: Gouache](https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/gouache)