Watercolor
 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, leather, fabric, wood, and canvas.
History of watercolor painting
Watercolor painting began with the invention of paper in China shortly after 100 AD. In the 12th century the conquering Moors introduced papermaking to Spain and the technology spread to Italy decades later. Some of the oldest paper manufactures include Fabriano, Italy, opened in 1276, and Arches, France, opened in 1492.
The forerunner of watercolor painting in Europe was buon fresco painting — wall-painting using pigments in a water medium on wet plaster. One well-known example of buon fresco is the Sistine Chapel, begun in 1508 and completed in 1514.
The earliest known use of European watercolor painting is by Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Santi (1483-1520), who painted full-scale cartoons as precursors for tapestry designs.
In Germany, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) painted watercolors in the 15th century. The first school of watercolor painting in Europe was led by Hans Bol (1534-1593) and was much influenced by Dürer's creations.
Other famous artists have used watercolor painting to supplement their work with oil paint, including van Dyck (1599-1641), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), and John Constable (1776-1837).
In 18th century Britain, Paul Sandby (1725–1809) was called the father of British watercolor.
Watercolor paint
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).
Watercolor paint is made of finely-ground pigment or dye 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 true transparent white watercolor, the white parts of a watercolor painting are most often areas of the paper "reserved" or left unpainted and allowed to be seen in the finished work. Some 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. They are used quite sparingly so as not to lose the light and airy look of the work.
Some watercolors are "Fugitive". 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 watercolor paints. A Staining color is diffcult 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 various grades depending on use. "Artist" or "Professional" quality paints are richer in color and result in cleaner colors when mixed. "Student" grade paints have less pigment and are best used for practice or when the budget is limited. Artist and Professional paints are higher priced but many consider the quality worth the extra 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.
Techniques
Traditionally, watercolor paint is applied with brushes, but it may be applied with other implements in experimental approaches or mixed with other materials (usually acrylic or collage).
The paint is thinned before application to allow for lighter areas within the painting. This transparency provides watercolor its characteristics of brightness, sparkle, freshness, and clarity of color since light has passed through the film of paint and is reflected back to the viewer through the film.
According to a tradition, dating from at least the early 20th century, the white of the paper is the only white used in transparent watercolor. Opaque paint is seldom used for whites or to overpaint.
Watercolor techniques have the reputation of being quite demanding, although they are actually no more demanding than those used with other media. Maintaining a high quality of value differences and color clarity are typically the most difficult properties to achieve and maintain.
The medium is effective in portraiture, figurative art, and photorealism.
Watercolor proponents prize it as a studio medium for its lack of odor and ease of cleanup, and also as a plein air medium for its portability and quick drying.
Fingerpainting originated in China with watercolor paints.
Basic watercolor technique involves washes and glazes. A wash refers to the application of a uniform color over an area of the painting. Typically this might be a light blue wash for the sky, a uniform color on a field or other area. Washes can be "graded" or "graduated" if they gradually become lighter or darker in parts such the fading of color to show the lighter sky near the horizon. A "variegated" wash blends more than one color such as a wash with areas of blue and perhaps some red or orange for a sky at sunrise or sunset.
Two methods of applying paint to the surface for special effect are "wet-in-wet" (or "wet-on-wet") and "dry brush". Wet-in-wet is used to avoid a hard edge at the margin of the paint. Wet-in-wet paint flows on a wet surface. The paint is wet (diluted) and the surface of the medium is wet.
The surface of the paper or other medium is first "painted" with water, thinned paint is then dripped or lightly applied to the wet surface. The color flows along the wet area. More paint can be added to increase the area covered.
After the first wet application has dried, additional wet layers can be applied. The flow is controlled to some extent by the wetness of the surface; the amount, consistency, and placement of the paint; and by tilting the surface to encourage the paint to flow in the desired direction. The somewhat unpredictable results of the wet-in-wet technique can lead to some surprising but welcome affects.
Dry Brush is used to obtain a rough, textured appearance for the edges of beach grass, a rocky exposed hill surface, tree bark, sunlight skipping on the surface of water, are some examples. A brush is loaded with relatively thick paint then lightly pulled over the dry surface of the medium. Some artists hold the brush with just two or three fingers at the very end of the handle so just the weight of the brush glides along the surface.
The paint adheres and covers only the higher points and ridges of the surface but stays out of the deeper areas. The method is especially effective on Rough and Cold Press (medium rough) paper. It is not very useful on smooth surfaces.
Watercolors are typically made darker on the paper by repeated application of the same color. These coats of paint are called "glazes. A glaze of a different color can also be used to create a combined color. It is also possible to achieve various lightness and darkness of a color (value) by diluting the paint in the mixing area before application.
An artist might use a limited set of colors in his or her pallete creating other colors by mixing two or three colors from the limited set. Mixing more than three colors can result in a muddy, unacceptable color.
The "Palette" refers to the array of colors used in a painting and also refers to the tray, dish, or other implement used to hold and mix the paints.
Equipment
Brushes for watercolor are softer and made to hold water as compared to the stiffer brushes used for acrylic and oil paint.
Watercolor brushes come in various shapes including flat, round, mop, and fan. A long thin brush, originally designed to paint the lines of rope (rigging) on a seascape, is called a "Rigger".
Artists typically have a few favorites and do most work with just one or two brushes. A single brush can produce many lines and shapes. A "round" for example, can create thin and thick lines, wide or narrow strips, curves, and other painted effects. A flat brush when used on end can produce thin lines or dashes in addition to the wide swath typical with these brushes.
Brush hairs come from a variety of sources including the very expensive hair of the Kolinsky Sable, the ear hair of the Ox or other cattle, and others. "Camel" is used to describe hairs from several sources, none of which is from a camel.
Brush hairs can be natural, synthetic, or a combination. Brush prices vary considerably depending on the type of hair and the quality of the manufacture. A good brush will hold a fair amount of water and will keep and return to its original shape even after much use.
Brushes are numbered to indicate the size of the brush, the larger numbers for the larger brushes. A typical manufacturer's offering of brushes might go from a very small "0" to the larger size "20" or more. Flat, wide brushes are usually described by the width of the brush such as "1/2 inch" or "1 inch". There are no common standards for brush sizes. A "10" Round from two manufacturers might be slightly different in size.
Watercolor Paper is designed to hold the water based paint and prevent run off. Painting on smooth paper such as used for computer printers, as an example, is possible but the paper will buckle, the paint will remain on the surface, running off in an uncontrolled manner.
The surface of watercolor paper can vary in its smoothness from quite smooth to quite rough. A watercolor painting on rough paper will result in quite a different effect than a similar painting on smoother paper. The artist selects paper with a finish to give the desired effect.
Rough surface paper is called "Rough", a smoother surface but still slightly rough is called "Cold Press", the smoothest surface is "Hot Press."
The thickness of commercial watercolor paper varies from 90 pounds to 300 pounds (the weight of a ream of about 500 sheets of the paper.) A middle weight, common thickness, is 140 pound paper. Paper less than 140 pound thickness will buckle from the water based paint and should be stretched before using. Even 140 pound paper will show some stress when wet watercolor is applied over large areas. 300 pound weight paper does not buckle and does not have to be stretched.
Papers of lesser quality might be mixtures of rag (cotton) and other materials while the better grade (and higher priced) papers are typically 100% cotton rag. Some artists use only better grade papers to get the effects they desire. The quality of paper can make a significant difference in the result. |
