Watch Now - Loxley Arts Gouache Product Review

Hi there my name is Kerry Newell and I’m a professional wildlife artist and illustrator based in Cheshire, here in the UK.

In June 2021 I was contacted by Loxley Arts regarding the possibility of me sampling and reviewing their new range of gouache paints. Having worked with this company’s quality products before I was intrigued by this new supply and so readily agreed.

Out of a range of 25 colours I chose 5, a limited palette being my preferred way to assess the versatility of a product when mixing colours. I chose Raw Ochre, Red, Blue, Black and Titanium White.

The 40ml pots of paint soon arrived, and like a child at Christmas, I wasted no time in setting them out on my work area, with the good intention of working with them later that week. The saying ‘life gets in the way’ then struck home, so to speak, and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that I was able to finally put the paints to the test.

Each 40ml jar was easy to open, the large textured lids easy to grip and twist off. The paints being a beautiful soft buttery consistency, each tub full to the top and no noticeable aroma. 

Normally I would swatch out new products but in this case I was eager to begin painting a project I had chosen for this medium. My preferred surface for this project being a 9” x 12” 140lb sheet of 100% cotton cold press watercolour paper.

I applied a small amount of each colour to a porcelain palette and began painting. All five samples were highly pigmented and opaque in appearance. Thinning each colour with water, even to the consistency of a watercolour wash, didn’t affect the vibrancy at all, just the opaqueness. This quality in itself allowed me to achieve beautiful depths of colour through multiple glazes.  Heat setting lower layers allowed this soft application of additional layers without the initial layer lifting. However, areas of colour could be lifted, when needed, using water and a clean brush but with a slightly heavier application – perfect. After a day’s work I set the palette to one side, popped a board over the top to prevent contamination and returned to it the following day. As expected all samples on the palette had completely dried out. Using a pipette, clean water was added to each dried paint area on the palette and I’m very pleased to say that all of the paint reconstituted back to it’s original consistency, with no apparent flakes or granulation whatsoever. I love this quality of gouache as it means there is little waste when painting with this medium.

When my painting was finally finished, the palette and brushes were easily cleaned with water. There was no staining or residue left on them at all.

I would definitely recommend Loxley Gouache to anyone wishing to paint in this medium. The paint’s quality completely surpassed my expectations – a wonderful addition to my studio.

Thank you to Loxley Arts for once again allowing me to be part of your journey.

Stay Creative