Understanding the meaning of the term body colour in gouache

body colour in gouache

Body colour is the use of opaque colours for highlights or dense, flat areas. It’s a technique that has been used in watercolour for centuries. Before Designers Gouache was introduced in 1937, the only method of achieving opacity was to use white on its own, or to use it to make tints of the watercolours. Body colour therefore refers to either tubes of gouache or the finished effect of opacity on a picture, whether white or coloured.