” No thinking, emotionally developed person can remain indifferent to literature, poetry, music, theater, or the arts. While philosophy and science tend to draw us into considering our environment rationally, the arts smile upon everything , endowing it with its integrating and colorful imagery.”
We’ve all experienced Watercolor, probably as early as Kindergarten. Maybe because it only required water and it was easily cleaned up. But Watercolor is not an simple medium to manage and get the most satisfying results. The artist must understand its unique qualities and characteristics.
What is Watercolor? It is pigments combined with a gum arabic binder. Watercolor is water-soluble, as water is the vehicle that gets the paints to move on the paper. The beauty of watercolor is the translucent and transparent quality of the colors. When the artist layers colors, the colors underneath are still visible. Unfortunately this makes correcting mistakes, or covering them more difficult. You will also notice there is no white or black paint used in traditional watercolor. White is acheived by leaving the paper white, and a near black is gotten by mixing complimentary colors together.
But watercolor is easy to clean-up and easy to transport. Which makes it perfect for quick “sketching”, plain-air painting, and taking along while traveling.
