Original - Watercolors
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Watercolors
from Robert Herrmann
from Anton Czerny
Watercolor painting
Watercolor (or watercolour, also known as aquarelle) is a painting technique
using paint made of colorants suspended or dissolved in water. Although
the grounds used in watercolor painting vary, the most common is paper.
Others include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum or leather, fabric,
wood, and canvas.
Contents
One early form of watercolor painting, that is not normally included in the category, is buon fresco painting — wall-painting using pigments in a water medium on wet plaster , which goes back to Egyptian and Roman antiquity. One well-known example of buon fresco is the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, begun in 1508 and completed in 1514.
Watercolour painting, usually referred to as brush painting in Asian contexts, has a long history in many parts of the world. In Chinese and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or brown, when it tends to be called ink. India, Ethiopia and other countries also have long traditions.
Watercolour has also been used for manuscript illumination since at least Egyptian times, and was a major part of European manuscript painting on vellum (often mixed with tempera). Paper spread from the Islamic world, via Islamic Spain, to Europe, where it was being manufactured in Germany and Italy before 1400. From the introduction of the old master print around 1400, most prints were coloured after printing until at least the latter part of the century, although the practice continued in some cases, such as English satirical prints , until the nineteenth century (JMW Turner and Thomas Girtin were both employed at this as teenagers).
From the seventeenth century to the present, the British school of watercolour, which especially features landscape subjects, has been perhaps the most continuous and widely followed tradition in Europe. Among the most famous of the artists are: Alexander Cozens,William Gilpin, Thomas Gainsborough, Francis Towne, Paul Sandby, Thomas Girtin, John Sell Cotman, Samuel Palmer, William Blake, John Constable , JMW Turner, and Richard Parkes Bonnington.
The beginnings of the "California Style" of watercolor painting began in the 1920s and is described in California Watercolors 1850-1970. Milford Zornes is recognized as a leader in the California Style watercolor movement. His style differed from the traditional use of watercolors in which color was added to detailed pencil drawings. His work is characterized by the application of transparent washes of color to large sheets of paper, allowing the white to show through and define shapes.
The broader term for water-based painting media is watermedia. The term watercolor most often to refers to traditional transparent watercolor or gouache (an opaque form of the same paint), but also includes the use of thinned acrylic paint.
Traditional watercolor paint is made of finely-ground pigment mixed with gum arabic for body, and glycerin or honey for viscosity and to bond the colorant to the painting surface. Unpigmented filler is added to gouache to lend opacity to the paint. Oil of clove is used to prevent mold.
Watercolor paints vary in their transparency, some being less transparent (more covering) than others. The more transparent paints allow the paper (or an undercolor) to show through while others allow less of the undercolor to be seen.
As there is no transparent white watercolor, the white parts of a watercolor painting are most often areas of the paper "reserved" (left unpainted) and allowed to be seen in the finished work. White paint might be used to indicate snow on a fence or the foam in the sea, as examples, by using Chinese White or White Gouache. These are not transparent. Traditionally, such non-transparent paint is used sparingly so as not to lose the light and airy look of the work.
Some watercolor pigments are "Fugitive", meaning they fade over time when exposed to light. An example is Alizarin Crimson. Some paint makers offer a different formulation of pigment as a less-fugitive alternative. These often have the word "Hue" as part of the name. "Alizarin Crimson Hue" can be expected to be less "Fugitive" than "Alizarin Crimson".
"Staining" is another characteristic of certain watercolor pigments. A Staining color is difficult to remove and persists on the paper. Less staining colors can be lightened or removed almost entirely when wet or when re-wetted by "lifting" with a wet brush, paper towel, tissue, sponge, or similar.
Commercial watercolor paints come in two grades: "Artist" (or "Professional") and "Student". Artist quality paints are usually formulated using a single pigment, which results in richer color and vibrant mixes. Student grade paints have less pigment, and often are formulated using two or more less expensive pigments. Artist and Professional paints are more expensive but many consider the quality worth the higher cost.
Paint pigments and formulation vary among manufacturers. Paints with the same color name from different makers can vary in hue, staining, and other characteristics.
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