Little duck

More ducks! (Hadn't even realized the minor continuity of subject while working on this.)

This is "opaque watercolor," which is apparently gouache. I had acquired a little pan with dried cakes of the stuff in a goody bag from the duck stamp awards. To hone observation skills and try the paint out I painted this rubber ducky that's been sitting on my shelf.

I read that with gouache from a tube you can actually get your colors nice and thick and bold, like in old commercial art. Not so much with the little pan colors, as far as I can tell. I don't really know how to use this stuff effectively. I can't get it thick so it's just kind of milky, and not in a good way. Anyone familiar with these opaque watercolor cakes? Pointers/examples would be great.