I was asked to comment upon the acrylic gouache once I tried
          them out further. I had a chance to do that last night.

          The goal was to "resurrect" a couple of paintings that got
          too dark.  They were mixed media combinations of acrylic
          airbrush paint (Com-Art colors), Prismacolor pencils, and
          traditional gouache. Both of them are extrasolar planets
          with planet, moon, triple star system, and star field in the
          background.  I used the acrylic gouache over this to add
          more detail and to try to brighten up some of the areas
          which never achieved the brilliance I was after.

          In short, the acrylic gouache worked beautifully.  While I
          would call regular tube acrylics - such as Liquitex or
          Golden - "gooey", the acrylic gouache is more "creamy" in
          consistency. It thinned well with water so that I could
          either use a glaze technique or use it more heavily but also
          thin out the brush strokes to make a nice smooth layer.  The
          colors are similar to traditional gouache, they dry quickly,
          and the coverage is good (making it easy to paint out
          mistakes).

          The paint dries with a matte finish, which I like a lot.  It
          blends with the other media I am using.  Furthermore, unlike
          traditional gouache, it dries close to the value you see
          when it is wet.  Water-soluble gouache normally dries a
          shade lighter.

          The only color difference I've noticed so far is with the
          black.  Traditional black (ivory, I think I've used) is
          identical in the value, finish, and color as the Com-Art
          black, so I can use this gouache to touch up tiny mistakes
          in my airbrush coverage.  However, the jet black which came
          in the acrylic gouache set (I got the set of 18) is DARKER
          that these other media.  So I learned I don't want to use it
          to blend with the other materials, but it IS good to add
          definition and detail in shadow areas where I had a lot of
          the other black and it was too "dead" looking.

          BTW: I'm using my watercolor brushes rather than acrylic
          brushes even though they won't hold up as well with acrylic.
          I like the detail that small watercolor brushes provide.  So
          how will I keep from buying lots of new brushes?  First, I
          buy inexpensive brushes anyway, because I tend to be very
          hard on them (I use a scumbling technique quite a bit which
          ruins those fine points).  Also, I'm conscientious
          about washing them with soap and water if I'm going to stop
          painting for a few minutes.

          Lynette
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