About Watercolors

History of Watercolors

Watercolors, a mixture of pigments and water, have been used since ancient times. Asian masters used them for landscape paintings. Persian artists and European monks decorated manuscripts with them. Medieval artists used watercolor on wet plaster, called fresco, for large wall paintings, the most famous of which is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. Albrecht Durer was the first European watercolor master. Such American artists as Audubon recorded wildlife and exotic landscapes using watercolors. In the 20th century, Abstract Expressionists used watercolor washes to create transparent color fields on large canvases.

Techniques

Preparing the paints: Soften the paints by placing a few drops of water in each paint pan. Then, combine the desired color with water by putting 1 tablespoon of water into the paint-box lid and adding paint until it is medium in color.

Mixing colors: Always mix colors in the lid of the watercolor box, never in the paint pans. Starting with the lightest color, fill the brush with one color and squeeze or wipe it into the lid. Dip the brush into a second color and mix it into the first.

Flat Washes: Dampen the paper by painting or spraying it with clear water. Mix enough color in the lid to cover the area to be washed. Load the brush with paint and draw the brush across the paper using long, smooth strokes. Graded washes should be all one color, with no brushstrokes showing.

Graded Washes: Unlike flat washes, graded washes use gradations of color, to show distance to the horizon line. Used for both sky and ground, the wash gets increasingly lighter as it gets nearer the horizon. For each new brushstroke across the paper, dip the brush first into water, then into the premixed paint. The mixture will become increasingly diluted, making it gradually lighter. Paint the sky first, starting from the top and working down. Turn the paper upside down and follow the same procedure for the ground.

Wet on Wet: Paint darker colors on top of still-damp lighter colors to bleed the colors into each other, creating soft edges and blurred, rounded shapes.

Dry Brush: Load a dry brush with paint and paint on dry paper. This technique creates sharp detail and keeps paints from bleeding into each other. A dry brush is also effective when used on a damp-wash background. The colors will bleed, giving a characteristic diffuse watercolor softness.

Maintenance of Materials

Cleaning Paint Boxes: Remove the paint pans from the paint-box tray and set them aside to dry. Rinse the paint-box lid. When the paint pans are dry, use a damp paper towel to remove the dirty colors from them. Avoid rinsing the paint pans in running water or the pigment will be washed down the drain.

Cleaning Brushes: Rinse the brushes in running water. If necessary, use a little soap. Avoid soaking the brushes for a long period of time, as water will soften the glue that holds the bristles to the handles. Wipe cleaned brushes on a damp sponge, towel, or paper towel before storing.