Gouache

J.M.W. Turner

He is probably was the most famous English landscape painter, he was well versed with gouache as a medium and used it in most innovative ways. He was one of the first artists to experiment with washes, wiping out, scratching out, and incorporating body colors. His innovative wash technique, which helped convey lights in the most breathtaking manner made him famous as the “painter of the light”.

His oil paintings might have been famous but his gouaches were equally path breaking.

En plein air

En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air.” This expression is generally used to describe the act of painting ourdoors instead of constricting studios. In the mid 19 th century the concept of natural light was given vital importance. More and more painters tried to capture natural landscapes and chose to work indoors. This very trend resuklted in extensive use of the gouache technique and the invention of “color tubes” or tubes of color pigments. This was definitely a more compact option than grinding pigments to get colors. The popularity of outdoor painting has remained constant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, because of which gouache has managed to find patrons throughout this period.