What does watercolor mean? What is watercolor

WATERCOLOR (French aquarelle, from Latin aqua - water), paints (usually with glue) diluted in water and easily washed off with it. The main qualities of watercolor painting are the transparency of the paints, through which the tone and texture of the base (most often paper), and the purity of color shine through. * * * Article “Watercolor” from the “Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron” (1890–07): Watercolor (Italian aquarello or aquatento, French aquarelle, English painting in water colors, German Wasserfarbengemalde, Aquarellmalerei) means painting with water paints. Watercolor painting came into use later than other types of painting; back in 1829, Montaber in his “Traite Complete de peinture” mentioned it only in passing, as an art not worthy of serious attention. However, despite its late appearance. She has made such progress in a short time that she can compete with oil painting. Watercolor only became a strong and effective painting when they began to use transparent paints with retouching of shadows. Painting with water paints, but thick and opaque (gouache painting) existed much earlier than transparent watercolors. The paintings of Raphael (1483-1520), Lebrun (1619-90), Lesueur (1617-55), Minard (1610-95) and others are not watercolor works, but coloring of sketches, partly with transparent and partly opaque glue paints along the contours, which were not covered with these paints. Such paintings served as models for frescoes on the plaster of buildings. Both Dutch and Flemish painters were engaged in this kind of coloring - as a recreation or as a sketch for genre paintings: Rugendas, Paul Bril (1556-1626), Runedai (1670), Bot (1650), Winantes (1600-70); Although Rubens sketched in gouache, he preferred transparent paints. Van Geysum (1682-1749), a famous painter of flowers, fruits and insects, left drawings of this kind that have survived to this day. His imitators were Van Spendokam, Van Daelam, Bessa, Rinie and others. But all these works can only be called painted drawings. As soon as painters dared to drown out the sharp features of contours and shadings made with a pen or pencil with paints, and began to use a brush to shade shadows, watercolor works gained strength, effect, and this kind of art went forward with rapid steps and has now reached such perfection that it satisfies to the tastes of the most demanding connoisseurs. The weakening of contours and the method of shading with a brush were originally introduced when coloring architectural and topographical plans, where Chinese ink was initially used, then lovecarmine ink, sepia, and then other water-based paints. Soon the Italian Baghetti and many other skilled painters proved that watercolor can compete with oil painting with great success, precisely where strength, transparency and, especially, careful finishing of the details of the drawing are required. Initially, this painting modestly took refuge in albums for memory and souvenirs, then it entered the albums of artists and appeared in art galleries and art exhibitions, attracting and delighting art lovers. During the revival of this type of painting, artists modestly used only ink, gum, carmine and Prussian blue. Later, landscape painters, and after them portrait painters, introduced a larger number of colors, the choice of which, thanks to the advances of chemistry, became very extensive and satisfies the most capricious requirements of the artist. Currently, a new field has been opened for the artist to demonstrate his talent, when hard, dry gouache has given way to strong, light and transparent watercolor. The artists who worked most on this type of painting and most contributed to its development: Cozen (died in 1794) - worked with brown and gray paint, using red and blue paint for light parts and reflections; Gartin (died 1802) - a good colorist; his follower Cotman is a landscape painter of Italian and northern nature; Tourneur is a good Italian painter; Since 1805, they have been followed by watercolorists who introduced a greater number of colors into their drawings: Fielding, a landscape painter; S. Fraut (1852) - architectural buildings; David Cox (1783-1859) painted widely on air and distance. A notable figure painter was Lewis (1805-76), Gunt (1790-1864), who also painted flowers and fruit well; genre writer Toplan, architectural buildings: Nas, Robert Gage, Stanfield, marine views - Cook, Duncan; landscape: Fripp, Harding, Bodington, Davidson, Birkel, etc. French watercolorists such as: Delaroche, Houdin, Johannot were engaged in more miniature painting. Among the real watercolorists working for France, we note: Isabe the father, Hubert - the famous French watercolorist and landscape painter. Photographs from his drawings are distributed everywhere. The main founder, teacher and distributor of this type of painting. J. Duvrier, also Huet, Faure, portraitists Olivier Gran; most noticeable. by drawing Vandael, Chazal, Redoute (1759-1840), Damen, Deporg and Martin Boucher. From the English - Vaderyu (1819-79) Dikemps (genre painter); Refit (battle painting), Geverni, Gayrer. Among the German watercolorists, K. Weckers in Leipzig, Hildebrand, Biermann in Berlin and Otto, a portrait painter, stand out. In Vienna: Geyarach, Steckler, Zelleni, Agricola, Fendi, Gauerman; in Munich - Neureuther, in Dusseldorf - Scheiren. Of the Russians who have become the most prominent in recent times: Raulov is an excellent portrait painter and professor, Premazzi is a landscape painter with excellent command of his specialty. In addition, we can mention Chernetsov and Borispolets - a wonderful Russian amateur artist, he wrote equally well historical and spiritual subjects, sea views, portraits, perspectives, family scenes in oil paints, watercolors and gouache. In 1839, Russian artists Ivanov, Richter, Moller, Kanevsky, Schuppe, Nikitin, Durnovo, Efimov, Scotti and Pimenov made an album of watercolor drawings, presented to the late Emperor Alexander II during his visit to Rome. For watercolor painting, you can use either Bristol cardboard, Whatman paper or torchon, squirrel, mustel, badger or ferret brushes. Monochromatic drawings are made either according to Hubert's method, using sepia, or in neutral. For color watercolors, the most common paints are the following: gum, Indian yellow, yellow ocher, terre de Sienna natural, the same burnt, cinnabar, carmine garais, lac-garais, burnt carmine, red ocher, Venetian red, Indian red, cobalt, ultramarine , Prussian blue, indigo, neutral tint and sepia. To obtain a good watercolor, you should paint juicily, that is, with an abundance of water in the paints and on the paper contained, always wet while applying tones and finishing details. For this purpose, special frames (erasers) are used, which allow the paper to be moistened from below while writing, or the paper to be placed on a wet flannel. Only in this way can Hubert achieve softness and strength in the drawing.

The word WATERCOLOR comes from the Latin word agua (water); Italians say aguarella, which means: painting with water paints. WATERCOLOR also refers to artistic paints that are easily diluted with water and a picture painted with such paints.

Nature watercolor– a game of random or consciously applied color transitions. As the artist masters the techniques of watercolor, he learns to use all its diverse possibilities. Watercolor is good when it flows, changes, and plays with color. And the process of painting with watercolors itself resembles a game, improvisation. Excessive seriousness interferes with watercolor and dries it out. It is more suitable for lightness, transparency, and randomness in the choice of color. This unpredictability is one of the main charms of this technique.

How many colors should be in the set?
Sets can contain from 12 to 36 paints, but not all of them will be used. It is absolutely not necessary to have a large number of paints in a set; moreover, it is simply inconvenient. It is advisable to try all possible combinations of paints in order to know which combinations produce dirt and which produce unusual colors not included in the set.

In Ancient Egypt they painted with a sharpened stick with a piece of camel hair at the end using paints made from crushed earth. This was the first watercolor technique, which is already about four thousand years old. Since then, watercolor painting has become firmly established in Europe.

The word “watercolor” itself has the Latin root “aqua” - water. Therefore, the main principle of the watercolor painting technique is the degree of hydration of the paper. It is water that gives the transparency of paints, purity of color and allows you to see the texture of the paper.

The artist has a choice of existing watercolor painting techniques:

dry watercolor (Italian watercolor);
wet watercolor (English watercolor);
combined (mixed) technique;
watercolor on fragmentarily moistened paper.

Dry watercolor (Italian watercolor)

Acquarello - this word sounds musical to the ear. Layers of paint are applied (one if it is a single-layer watercolor) or several (if it is glaze) on a dry sheet of paper.

“Watercolor is the tender promise of oil,” and this technique is a direct confirmation of this.

The tonality of the paint is thicker, the colors are brighter, the strokes are visible as if the drawing was painted in oil. The main difficulty is that if the oil endures everything, the work can be corrected, but in watercolor it is almost impossible to make mistakes. The Italians even have the term “A la Prima”, that is, “in one go.” The picture is painted without stages. With pure, undiluted colors, you need to boldly capture the essence, make a sketch from life.

Steps of an artist using the watercolor-on-dry technique:

drawing a contour drawing, developing shadows;
watercolor in one layer, or glaze;
brush strokes are opaque, mosaic, precise;
avoid dirty deposits, high speed of work.

Who to learn the Italian style from: Russian academic painting of the 19th century. For example, “Italian Landscape” by A.A. Ivanov is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Watercolor on wet (English watercolor)

The French call this technique “working on water” (travailler dans l’eau, French).

A sheet of paper is generously moistened with water. The main feature of this technique is the unpredictability of the result. Even if the artist has correctly calculated the tone and color, the drawing may still change more than once before it takes its final form before it dries completely. The contours of objects in this technique are blurry, the lines smoothly flow into each other and are airy. A painting made using this technique is thought out and imagined by the viewer.

In his book How to Understand Watercolor, writer Tom Hoffmann said: “Painting in watercolor is a dialogue between the artist and the viewer, each with their own role. If only one person talks, the other one will get bored.”

Artist's steps in wet-on-watercolor technique:

adding water to paints;
mixing paint, it doesn’t matter where, on the palette or on the sheet;
wet the sheet generously, then smooth it so that there are no irregularities left;
remove excess water from the sheet with a piece of cotton wool so that it stops shining;
complete the drawing using extremely precise strokes;
drying the pattern for 2 hours;
development of foreground elements (if required).

Who to learn the English style from: the brilliant English painter William Turner. According to contemporaries, he created four drawings at once using this technique “with amazing, monstrous speed.”

An example of Russian artists is the drawing by Maximilian Messmacher “View of Cologne Cathedral”.

Mixed media watercolor

Many artists combine several drawing techniques in one work.

Combined (mixed) technique techniques:

put the first layer of paint on a wet sheet;
elaboration of plans, creation of the required degree of blur;
drying the drawing;
lay out the next layers of paint in stages;
elaboration of the middle and close plans.

Basic rule of technology: the paper is not wetted all over, but in the desired area (reserve); the pigment is applied to the surface from top to bottom.

The paper may become wet in patches. The artist himself decides which plan to work on, creating watercolor stains. Using a sponge, you need to remove excess water so that water does not seep into those areas that should remain dry according to the artist’s plan. Examples of combined techniques in the work of artist Konstantin Kuzema.

The next issue for the artist is to create layers of paint. There are single-layer and multi-layer techniques (glaze).

Single layer watercolor technique

To paraphrase the famous satirist, one careless movement, and at best you will end up with graphics instead of watercolors. The paint is applied in one layer; adjustments cannot be made. The single-layer technique can be applied dry-on-dry or wet-on-dry.

Features of single-layer watercolor “dry on dry”:

execution literally in one or two touches;
it is necessary to outline the contours of the drawing in advance;
select the colors to use for speed;
for colorization, use shades only on a damp layer;
more clarity and graphics, less overflow.

Features of watercolor in one layer “wet on dry”:

more shimmer, less graphics and clarity;
Apply strokes quickly, until dry, one after another;
For colorization, have time to add paint when the smear has not yet dried.

The advantage of the single-layer technique is the creation of picturesque watercolor tints. On a dry sheet it is easier to control the fluidity and outline of the strokes. Contemporary artists often conduct master classes and post videos on Youtube. You can see the technique of single-layer watercolor, for example, from watercolorist Igor Yurchenko.

Those who tirelessly improve their watercolor technique should master the multi-layer technique (glazing), which is used by famous masters.

Multilayer watercolor technique (glaze)

This watercolor technique can give the green light to creating realist paintings. Glaze- multi-layer technique, applying watercolor with transparent strokes from lighter to darker, one layer on top of the other.

Features of multi-layer watercolor technique:

realism of the image: the picture is in bright, rich colors;
the bottom layer of light and transparent strokes must have time to dry before the next application;
the boundaries of the strokes are visible;
the paint does not mix in different layers;
the strokes are done carefully, the plans are airy, the painting is in a soft style;
You can divide the process into several sessions and complete a large canvas.

Watercolor works made with glaze become similar to oil or gouache painting. So that the work does not have such a disadvantage, you must be able to work with light, apply glazes subtly and accurately.

Sergei Andriyaka is considered an unsurpassed master of multi-layer watercolor. In addition to his creativity, the artist is actively involved in teaching; his and his students’ works are constantly exhibited.

“Oil painting is like driving a limousine, and watercolor is like driving a Ferrari.” Not the same respectability and security, but it’s really cool,” Croatian watercolorist Joseph Zbukvich wittily remarked. What does it take to paint a good watercolor, or to “drive a Ferrari like a breeze,” according to the artist? He answers: “Follow watercolors, or just paint.”

To draw you need brushes, paints, mastery of technology and special effects. You can paint with a dry (wrung out), semi-dry and wet brush (kolinor or squirrel brush).

Techniques in multilayer technology are also varied:

Strokes you need to do it according to the principle “the master’s work is afraid”, invent your own technique, making dotted, linear, blurry, curly, solid and intermittent strokes.
Fill covers most of the design with one color, used to provide smooth color transitions.
Washing- applying no more than three layers of paint, one on top of the other after drying, to enhance halftones, add details and shadows. This way the overall tone is achieved.
Gradient stretch- strokes smoothly transition into each other, each next one is lighter than the previous one. This is done with a rainbow transition of colors.
Pulling paint- a clean, dry brush makes the tone of the stroke lighter, passes over the paper, collecting excess pigment.
Reserve- that part of the sheet that is left white.

Types of reservation:

« bypass“- the name speaks for itself, you need to carefully go around the right places with your brush. In wet watercolors, you need to leave more space for the reserve due to paint leakage.
mechanical impact: scratching, masking. Avoid damaging the paper with sharp objects and sharp contrasts. Additional materials: razor, wax crayons, etc.
paint washing out with a dry cloth or wrung-out brush. You can use a palette knife if the paint is dry.

You can create watercolors using the grisaille (monochrome), dichrome (with ocher) and multi-color techniques.

You can also combine coloring materials and create special effects:

Mixing watercolors with whitewash, gouache, watercolor pencils, ink, pastel. This is no longer a pure technique, but a mixed one. What does this give? - clarity (pencils), shading (pastel), wash (ink), book illustrations (pen), reserve (white), linear strokes (watercolor pencils).
Special effect " drawing on crumpled paper"gives an amazing effect of chiaroscuro on the folds of paper.
Special effect with salt: salt crystals are applied to the drawing, and as a result of friction with the paper, fantastic stains appear. Suitable for drawing a starry sky or water meadow.
Special effect " splashing“- this effect is familiar to all 1-2 year old toddlers. It turns out that the technique of splashing exists in painting, and you won’t be scolded for it. Using a toothbrush, apply tiny drops of paint. Suitable for writing the elements, storms, storms.
Watercolor with tea: for the effect of “aging” paper, with a texture reminiscent of parchment. The leaf is tinted with tea leaves.
A special effect with cling film: the film, moistened with paint, is sharply separated from the sheet of paper. The resulting stains are used as a background.

And again about the principle “the master’s work is afraid”: each artist can create his own, original techniques and techniques. Whether or not to share with others is his business, but every artist is responsible for the originality of his work. As the already mentioned watercolorist Joseph Zbukvic said: “Watercolor is the boss. I’m just her young assistant.”

Watercolor (French aquarelle, from Italian acquerello, from Latin aqua - water), paints (usually with vegetable glue) diluted with water, as well as painting with these paints. Opaque A. painting (with an admixture of white, see Gouache) was known in Ancient Egypt, the ancient world, medieval Europe and Asia. Pure white (without any white mixture) began to be widely used at the beginning of the 15th century. Its main qualities are: the transparency of the paints, through which the tone and texture of the base (mainly paper, rarely ivory silk) shine through, and the purity of color. Art combines the features of painting (richness of tone, construction of form and space with color) and graphics (the active role of paper in constructing an image). Specific techniques of A. are washouts and streaks, creating the effect of mobility and tremulousness of the image. A. can be monochrome: sepia (brown paint), bistre, “black A.”, ink. In painting done with a brush, a drawing with a pen or pencil is often introduced.

In the 15th–17th centuries. A. served mainly for coloring engravings, drawings, sketches of paintings and frescoes (the applied value of A. has been partially preserved to this day in architectural drawings, etc.). Some independent paintings are known—landscapes by A. Dürer and Dutch and Flemish artists of the 17th century. From the 2nd half of the 18th century. A. began to be widely used primarily in landscape painting, because The speed of A.'s work makes it possible to record direct observations, and the airiness of its color facilitates the transmission of atmospheric phenomena. Professional watercolor artists appeared (A. and J.R. Cozens, T. Gurtin and others in England). Their dim-colored landscapes (on moistened paper, filled with one general tone, to which all color gradations are subordinated, with a drawing with a thin pen, with washouts) influenced the oil painting of that time, helping to lighten and lighten the color. In the 18th century A. is also distributed in France (O. Fragonard, Y. Robert), Russia (landscapes by F. A. Alekseev, M. M. Ivanov).

In connection with the desire to convey materiality, plasticity of form arose in Italy in the 2nd quarter of the 19th century. a manner of dense, multi-layered painting A. on dry paper. This style is based on sonorous contrasts of light and shadow, color and the white background of the paper; reflexes and colored shadows appear. K. P. Bryullov and A. A. Ivanov worked in this manner. P. F. Sokolov’s portrait watercolor technique is unique, with masterly modeling of forms using small strokes and dots and wide color fills. In the 19th century Artists from different countries and schools turn to A.: E. Delacroix, O. Daumier, P. Gavarni, A. Menzel, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, M. A. Vrubel; The flourishing of the English school of A. continues (W. Turner, J. S. Cotman, R. Bonington, W. Callow, etc.). For many artists, A. have more liveliness and freshness than oil paintings; this distinction was significantly erased at the end of the 19th century. among the neo-impressionists - P. Signac and others (A. who are characterized by lightness and luminosity, a combination of pure and bright spots of color with the whiteness of paper).

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. A. is increasingly used in combination with white, gouache, tempera, pastel, charcoal, bronze paint, etc. (for example, in the works of Val. A. Serov, artists of the “World of Art”). In the 20th century A. attracts many artists who strive for the impulsive emotionality of color - representatives of expressionism, A. Matisse (whose A. is distinguished by its sunny and cheerful color), etc.

Soviet art is characterized by a variety of genres, manners, and techniques. The softness of tonal transitions is inherent in the works (mainly black A.) of V. V. Lebedev, N. N. Kupreyanov, N. A. Tyrsa, Kukryniksov. The picturesque freedom of energetically placed bright colorful spots is characteristic of the landscapes of P. P. Konchalovsky, the richness of shades of muted color, the transparency of liquid, light strokes - the portraits of A. V. Fonvizin. The landscape watercolors of S. V. Gerasimov, distinguished by their richness of tonal nuances, subtly recreate the state of color and lighting in nature. The generality of design and color and clarity of rhythm are characteristics of the works of Latvian artists of the 1960s.

Lit.: Kiplik D.I., Painting technique, M. - L., 1950; Farmakovsky M.V., Watercolor, its technique, restoration and conservation, Leningrad, 1950; Revyakin P. P., Technique of watercolor painting, M., 1959.

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Our first acquaintance with watercolor occurs in childhood. “Masterpieces” of children's painting are painted with these simple colors. School years are also not complete without

Probably for this reason we treat it childishly, frivolously. But when we see watercolor drawings created by artists, we freeze in contemplation of this beauty. And we wonder how it is possible to create such splendor with simple, familiar watercolors from childhood.

A little history

Watercolor has been known to people since ancient times. This is the first paint that man learned to make, together with ocher. Egyptian pharaohs painted in watercolors on papyri. Since the technique of painting with such paints itself was labor-intensive, it was forgotten for a long time. Mostly tempera or oil paints were used.

In Ancient Rome and Greece, watercolor was used for backgrounds or for tracing contours when creating frescoes. And in China it became popular only after the invention of paper. Combined with black and colored ink, silk fabrics were painted in Japan. And Chinese artists learned to paint portraits.

In Europe, watercolor painting did not take root for a long time. It was only in the 18th century, when artists began to use softening and shading, that it became strong and effective. A striking example of this is the already textbook “Hare” by Albrecht Durer.

Watercolor painting in Russia

The first artist of watercolor painting in Russia was Petr Fedorovich Sokolov. It was he who widely used watercolors in his works. He painted landscapes, portraits, and genre paintings. Thanks to his works, you can find out what the life and customs of the distant past of our ancestors were like.

In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when there were no photographs yet, watercolor was a huge success among the Russian people. Easy application techniques and quick execution make tedious and long hours of posing a thing of the past. And the transparent and airy color appealed to Russian society.

Watercolor portraits were ordered by all members of the royal family, the nobility and middle class, ministers, diplomats, and social beauties. Having a collection of watercolors in your home arsenal was prestigious and fashionable. Such famous artists as K. Bryullov, M. Vrubel, V. Serov, I. Bilibin later painted their paintings.

Modern artists have perfected the technique of working with watercolors beyond recognition. The drawings are realistic and accurate. Modern artists reject all textbook techniques and ways 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 finely ground pigments, adhesives of plant origin, which quickly dissolve in water. Usually these are gum arabic and dextrin. To retain moisture, honey, sugar, and glycerin are added. To ensure that the watercolor spreads well and does not collect in drops, ox bile is introduced into it. To prevent the material from becoming moldy, phenol is introduced.

What types of watercolor paints are there?

There are several types of watercolor. Each type is good in its own way, but they all have their drawbacks. Watercolors are produced in several types:

Liquid paints in a tube.
Soft paints in ditches.
Solid paints in tiles.

Each type of watercolor has its own advantages and disadvantages. Liquid watercolors are easily diluted with water and do not become dirty during use or storage. The disadvantage is that they quickly begin to flake and dry out.

Soft and hard watercolors become dirty during use and are much less soluble in water. But they are not subject to delamination and do not dry out during storage. And yet, such paint cannot be applied to a brush as much as necessary. The same cannot be said about liquid watercolors.

Paint quality

What should a quality watercolor look like? These are durable layers after drying that do not stain your hands, do not rub off or crack. High-quality ones are an even layer, without all kinds of spots, stripes and clots of paint. Good watercolor is a transparent color and easy to wash off the paper with water.

For a beginning artist

The most suitable watercolor for beginners is school honey. The paint is ordinary, cheap, good quality. The composition includes honey as a plastic base. Everything else is synthetic substances that dissolve well in water.

Professionals advise taking expensive materials for work. But for a beginner, this is a financially costly endeavor, considering the quality of the drawings. School honey watercolor is ideal. You can only take higher quality paper and brushes.

These watercolor paints are sold in a plastic tray with cells. Paint is poured into the cells; changing the used cuvette, as in professional kits, will not work. The entire box must be replaced, or you will have to buy another one. This is inconvenient, but more economical than purchasing expensive professional equipment. paints.

Of the domestic paints, “Sonnet” and “White Nights” have proven themselves well - an ideal solution for those who are taking watercolor lessons for the first time. These paints fit perfectly on paper and tend to mix well with each other. The color scheme is calm and rich. The colors do not fade for a long time and are resistant to light.

What you shouldn't skimp on is paper. It should not be smooth, but rough. Otherwise, the paints will simply flow down and not lay down in beautiful strokes.