Watercolor is one of the oldest and most difficult of the painting mediums, but the medium doesn't
always get the respect it deserves. And this is due to some common stereotypes and misconceptions.
For example, some people instantly think of the paint sets that we were given as children
in grade school. Another image that often comes to mind is the use of watercolor for painting
studies. Some oil painters use the medium to capture scenes or plan colors for their formal
painting. A third impression is that it's for beginners, because student grade watercolor
materials are so inexpensive and easy to find. It's often the choice for beginning painters. Now,
it is a good medium for children, for studies and for beginners, but it also
serves as a professional fine art painting medium that has been used by masters throughout history.
Watercolors have indeed been used for painting studies throughout history because of their easy
transportation and cleanup. Around 1630, Peter Paul Rubens used watercolor paints to capture
this piece. He attended a church service in a local village and was taken in by the scene
before him. He was primarily an oil painter, but because watercolors are so convenient he
used them to record the moment. Another example is this piece by John Singer Sargent. Sargent was
traveling through Switzerland and recorded parts of his journey in a travel sketchbook. Again,
the easy cleanup and the easy transportation made this the medium of choice, but watercolors have
also been used to create finished masterpieces by some of the great artists in history. Let's
look at a few examples. The first one is Maurice Prendergast's painting called "Piazza de San
Marco". He was a post-impressionist painter and was known for his brightly colored,
slightly abstract work. Here we have one of Sargent's formal watercolors. Sargent was
a famous portrait painter. He eventually turned to watercolors and, through them,
we really see his joy for painting. J.M.W. Turner produced paintings in watercolor. This has the
quintessential Turner look. The next painting is by Winslow Homer. Homer demonstrates a masterful
use of whites and color tone. And lastly, "Homespun" by Thomas Eakins. This is one of
my favorites. There's something so gentle, it's like a peek into a quiet moment from the past.
One way to understand what watercolor is is to understand what paint is. Every
artist's paint is made up of the same general ingredients, a pigment and a liquid binder. Now,
what is pigment? Pigment is simply a substance or a powder that makes up the color of the paint.
It's typically derived from plants, animals or minerals, and the substance is ground into a very
fine powder and then mixed with a liquid called a binder to give it form and workability. The type
of liquid determines the type of paint, so oil paints are simply ground pigment mixed with oil,
usually linseed or walnut oil. Now standard watercolors consist of pigment mixed with the
sap of the acacia tree. This substance, which, unlike oil, is water-soluble,
is known as gum Arabic. Gouache is composed of the same ingredients as standard watercolor,
but the pigment is less finely ground and it includes an opaque white base.
Now egg tempera is just like the name implies. It uses egg yolk as the liquid base, and it's
been used for centuries. Finally, acrylic paint uses an acrylic polymer as its liquid base. It
too is water-soluble, but without the addition of solvents it's not re workable once dry. So, you
can see that really all the paints are in the same family, they are all related. It's just what form
of liquid binder they use. Now, I've mentioned the phrase "water soluble" but what does that
mean? It simply refers to something that can be dissolved in water. Oil doesn't dissolve in water,
so oil paints are not considered water-soluble, but gum Arabic and acrylic polymers and egg yolks
are. And this gives water media paint a unique edge, as well as a challenge because they have
to work with the properties of water. Water is their catalyst. It's what you thin the paint with
and it's their transportation method. Because of this fact, the artists are able to have more style
variation than oil because water has movement and flow and it can be used in varying amounts.
It has high surface tension, so when it clumps together,
rather than spreading out beyond where it's placed, it stays contained. These
are all characteristics that can be utilized by the watercolor painter.
his relationship with water is what gives watercolors their
unique visual quality. The pigment can be allowed to flow through the water,
and yet the paint can also be applied directly or scumbled along the surface.
There's a perception in society that watercolors are not as archival as oil paintings and other
mediums, that they'll fade more quickly. Some of this perception may be because when people visit
art museums, the watercolor halls are typically dimmer than some of the other exhibits. How long
a piece of art lasts has something to do with the products they're painted on, so let's take a look
at two pieces that were painted in the same year, 1873. The top one, you can see, is much more faded
than the bottom one, which was done by Winslow Homer. Let's look at another example. These two
were painted within approximately 10 years of each other. It's really a matter of how they're kept,
the products that are used for painting, and then when you consider how advanced technology
has gotten, we know so much more about creating acid-free papers and surfaces, we've learned
how to create glass and acrylic that can filter out over 90% of lights, harmful rays. And nearly
all of today's professional-grade watercolor paints are rated with top light fast ratings,
meaning the pigments will remain unchanged for generations, just like their oil painting
counterparts. Watercolor's potential is as broad as your imagination and, with a little
observation, you will find extreme levels of mastery, really present-day masterpieces.