Drawing & paintingLesson 3 of 4 in the course Drawing and painting techniques

Watercolor: Materials, Techniques, History, and Conservation

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Watercolor is both a painting medium and the artwork made with it. This lesson introduces how watercolor works, why paper is its most common support, and how transparency gives the medium its distinctive appearance.

Watercolor is a painting method in which pigments are suspended in a water-based solution. The name can refer either to the paint itself or to a finished painting. The related word aquarelle comes through French from the Italian diminutive of the Latin word for water.

All flashcards

Watermedia
A broad category of paints and inks that use water as a solvent.
Binder
The ingredient that holds pigment particles together and helps them adhere to a support.
Wet-on-wet
Applying pigment to damp or wet paper to produce soft, spreading marks.
Glazing
Building color or depth by applying transparent paint over a completely dry layer.
Fluorescent watercolor
Watercolor whose appearance can change with illumination and whose color may be especially light-sensitive.

Quiz questions

  1. Which three artists are especially credited with establishing watercolor as an independent, mature medium in England?Answer: Paul Sandby, Thomas Girtin, and J. M. W. Turner
  2. What commercial watercolor form did William and Thomas Reeves receive recognition for inventing in 1781?Answer: A moist paint cake that dissolved readily with a wet brush
  3. What kind of marks does a dry brush typically make on watercolor paper?Answer: Broken, rough marks that reveal the paper texture
  4. What is a likely benefit of watercolor paint with a high pigment concentration?Answer: It can be diluted with more water while retaining strong color intensity.
  5. Why are commercial pigments commonly selected for visually stable watercolor repairs?Answer: They are generally favored over less stable natural dyes.

Based on the Wikipedia article Watercolor painting, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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