Our first acquaintance with watercolors takes place in childhood. The "masterpieces" of children's painting are drawn precisely with these unpretentious colors. School years also can not do without watercolor drawings.
Perhaps, for this reason, we treat her childishly, frivolously. But when we see watercolor drawings created by artists, we freeze in contemplation of this beauty. And we wonder how you can create such splendor with simple watercolor paints familiar from childhood.
A bit of history
Since ancient times, people have known watercolor. This is the first paint that a person has learned to make, along with ocher. Egyptian pharaohs painted in watercolor on papyrus. Since the technique of drawing with such paints was laborious, it was forgotten for a long time. Mostly used tempera or oil paints.
In ancient Rome and Greece, watercolor was used for the background or for the registration of contours when creating frescoes. And in China, it became popular only after the invention of paper. Combining watercolors with black and color ink, silk fabrics were painted in Japan. And Chinese artists learned to paint portraits and landscapes with watercolors .
In Europe, watercolor painting did not take root for a long time. And only in the 18th century, when artists began to apply contouring and shading, it became strong and spectacular. A vivid example of this is Albrecht Durer’s already become a textbook “Hare”.
Watercolor painting in Russia
The first artist of watercolor painting in Russia was Sokolov Peter Fedorovich. It was he who widely used watercolor in his works. He painted landscapes, portraits, genre paintings. Thanks to his work, you can find out what were the life and customs of the distant past of our ancestors.
In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when there were no photographs, watercolor was a huge success among Russian people. The light ink technique and fast execution have left tedious and long hours of posing in the past. A transparent and airy color pleased Russian society.
Watercolor portraits were ordered by all members of the royal family, the noble and middle class, ministers, diplomats, secular beauties. To have a collection of watercolors in the home arsenal was prestigious and fashionable. Such paintings were subsequently painted by such famous artists as K. Bryullov, M. Vrubel, V. Serov, I. Bilibin.
Modern artists beyond recognition have improved the technique of working with watercolor paints. Drawings are realistic and accurate. Artists of our time dismiss all textbook tricks and methods of working with these paints. And they get amazing drawings filled with transparent light, delicate tones and as close to reality as possible.
Watercolor composition
So what is watercolor? These are pigments, finely ground, adhesives of plant origin, which quickly dissolve in water. Usually it is gum arabic and dextrin. To retain moisture, honey, sugar, glycerin are added. In order for the watercolor to flow well, and not gather in drops, bile bile is introduced into it. In order for the material not to mold, phenol is introduced.
What are watercolor paints
There are several types of watercolors. Each species is good in its own way, but everyone has drawbacks. Watercolor is made in several forms:
- Liquid paints in a tube.
- Soft paints in ditches.
- Hard paints in tiles.
Each type of watercolor has its own advantages and disadvantages. Liquid watercolors are perfectly diluted with water, not contaminated during operation and during storage. The disadvantage is that they quickly begin to peel and dry.
Soft and hard watercolors become dirty during operation and dissolve an order of magnitude worse in water. But they are not subject to delamination and do not dry out during storage. And yet, such paint can not be taken on the brush as much as necessary. You can not say about liquid watercolors.
Paint quality
What should be a quality watercolor? These are durable layers after drying, which do not get dirty on the hands, do not wipe and do not crack. High-quality watercolor paints are an even layer, without all kinds of spots, streaks and clots of paint. A good watercolor is color transparency and easy washing off of paper with water.
Novice artist
The most suitable watercolor for beginners is school honey. Normal paint, it’s cheap, quality is good. The composition includes honey as a plastic base. Everything else is a synthetic substance that dissolves well in water.
Professionals advise taking expensive materials for work. But for a beginner, this is financially costly, given the quality of the drawings. School honey watercolor is an ideal option. You can take only paper and brushes of higher quality.
Such watercolor paints are sold in a plastic tray with cells. Paint is poured into the cells; it will not work to change the used cuvette, as in professional sets. You need to change the whole box, or you will have to buy another one. This is inconvenient, but economically more profitable than acquiring expensive prof. paints.
Of the domestic colors, Sonnet and White Nights have worked well - ideal for those who take watercolor lessons for the first time. These paints fit perfectly on paper, they tend to mix well with each other. The color scheme is calm and rich. Paints do not fade for a long time, are resistant to light.
What you should not save is on paper. It should not be smooth, but rough. Otherwise, the paints will simply drain, and not go down with beautiful strokes.