Watercolor as Fine Art

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 watercolor. 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 reworkable once dry. So, you can see that really all the paints are in the same family. They're 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 water media painter. This 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 are 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 light's harmful rays. And nearly all of today's professional-grade watercolor paints are rated with top Lightfast 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.