Sennelier has been making artists' materials in Paris since 1887, and La Gouache has been part of the range since 1925 — nearly a century of refinement that shows immediately in the quality of the paint. This Primary Colour Set is the natural starting point for the range: five generously sized 21ml tubes containing Titanium White, Primary Yellow, Quinacridone Red, Phthalocyanine Blue, and Mars Black — a lean, honest palette of single-pigment and high-quality colours that mix cleanly and give the maximum possible range from a minimum of tubes.
The formulation has been updated with an environmentally considered improvement — the filler is now calcium carbonate derived from organically sourced, recycled eggshells. This produces an exceptionally fine particle that contributes directly to the range's defining characteristic: a genuinely deep, flat, ultra-matte finish that has no satin or sheen even in thicker applications. The opacity is exceptional throughout, covering previous layers cleanly and evenly, and the tinting strength is high enough that a small amount of paint goes a considerable way.
The consistency is smooth and unctuous — rich enough to apply straight from the tube with a brush, palette knife, or pen, and fluid enough to thin easily with water for more transparent wash-like applications. When thinned with water, the opacity reduces progressively, and the paint can be combined with Sennelier watercolour or inks to produce a vast range of opacity and transparency combinations in the same piece. This versatility between opaque and semi-transparent working is one of the qualities that makes Sennelier gouache particularly appealing to illustrators, designers, and mixed media artists.
The five colours in this set — Primary Yellow 574, Quinacridone Red 679, Phthalocyanine Blue 326, Titanium White 116, and Mars Black 759 — are among the most useful and lightfast colours in the range. The single-pigment selection means mixing produces clean, bright secondaries and tertiaries without the muddiness that mixed-pigment convenience colours can introduce.
What is gouache and how does it differ from watercolour? Gouache is an opaque, water-based paint that dries to a flat, matt finish. Unlike watercolour, which relies on the white of the paper showing through transparent washes, gouache covers the surface it is applied to with an opaque layer of colour. It can be used to paint light colours over dark and to make corrections and adjustments, which watercolour cannot. When diluted with water it becomes progressively more transparent, allowing the two approaches to be combined in the same piece.
Can it be mixed with watercolour? Yes — Sennelier gouache is water-soluble and fully compatible with watercolour and inks, allowing combinations of opacity and transparency in the same work. Over 40 of the colours in the Sennelier gouache range correspond directly to colours in their French Artists' Watercolour range, making the two particularly well suited for mixed use.
Why are these five colours a good starting point? Primary Yellow, Quinacridone Red, Phthalocyanine Blue, Titanium White, and Mars Black are all high-quality, largely single-pigment colours that mix cleanly. From these five colours it is possible to mix a very wide range of secondary and tertiary colours, and to lighten with white and deepen with black, giving a functional working palette before any additional colours are purchased.
What surfaces does it work on? Sennelier gouache works on most types of thick paper and card. Watercolour paper, illustration board, and toned papers are all suitable surfaces. Very thin or lightweight paper is not recommended as the moisture in the paint can cause buckling.
Is it lightfast? The five colours in this set are all highly lightfast — the pigments used are among the most stable available. Fluorescent colours in the range are the exception to this, but none of the colours in the Primary Set are fluorescent.
