Watercolors History

Many of us became conscious about the world of watercolors when we enter preschool. As a young student, you may have been asked to bring from home various art materials among them being crayons, thick pencils, colorful erasers and watercolors. Truly, our childhood days were filled with vivid colors and pictures. And you know what? The watercolor itself has a colorful history to share, too.

Watercolors is used both as a medium and a method: The artist did a watercolor of a rose using watercolors…

The manipulation of watercolor in history dates back to, at least, the paleolithic era – watercolor-based drawings have been found in the caves of early humans in Europe. These drawings are 32,000+ years old and included not only “decorations,” but portraits of an ongoing story of the people who thrived back then.

It is through drawings done in watercolor, that historians were able to figure out livelihood and concepts of people in the past. Watercolors were used as manuscript illuminations for the Egyptians, for example.

In the Renaissance, during the years bridging the 15th and 16th century, Albrecht Durer crafted paintings using the medium to produce botanical and wildlife landscapes. Durer was considered as one of the earliest proponents of watercolor as a medium, in the modern era. Eventually, his work led to the development of a school of watercolor painting in Germany which was spearheaded by Hans Bol, a contemporary of Durer.

Watercolor techniques were widely taught during the Baroque period and were commonly used by easel painters to make sketches and cartoons. The height of watercolor utilization, however, was through the production of wildlife and botanical paintings in the 19th century. The accuracy and the ability of the medium to condense and interpret wildlife and botanical scenes are still an important part of the painter’s toolbox for those illustrating scientific and museum publications.

It was not only in continental Europe, that watercolors dominated the painting world. By the 18th century, this kind of painting became very popular among the aristocrats and the elites of England. It was an art for the upper class of society.

Watercolor was noted as a good educational tool, especially for women, in the era, too. And then the workers realized that watercoloring were for them as well. People such as mapmakers, surveyors, architects and engineers used watercolors to draw terrains and other geological data and public projects. The subsequent demand for skillful watercolorists led to a hunt for “topographical painters” and finally artists had a “real job.”

Adding to that, watercolor based drawings were included in publications and manuscripts causing further growth of the medium. It was a great way to illustrate works of both fiction and non-fiction.

Through a combination of natural pigments, a binder such as arabic gum, additives and a solvent, watercolors have illustrated the history of humanity. Though it may seem a simple medium, it has evolved into a method of art that, in itself, launched changes in history. Water and colors have painted the world of the past, of today and will do so far into the future.

[phpbay]Watercolors History, 8, “”, “”[/phpbay]

A Little Watercolors History related articles from the blogosphere…

“The Artist's Eye: Vernon P. Johnson's Watercolors of 1950s Small …

In August, Johnson published a book, which (as one whose own book is a mixture of family history, and cultural history) looks to me to be very interesting. The book, The Artist’s Eye, pays tribute to the 1950s artwork of her father, …

Publish Date: 09/27/2010 15:07

http://andrewleefielding.blogspot.com/2010/09/artists-eye-vernon-p-johnsons.html

PICKED: Michele Banks' Biological Watercolors | Brain Pickings

Now, we’re utterly smitten by Artologica — a series of original watercolor paintings by artist Michele Banks exploring the beauty of natural phenomena, from cell division to tachycardia to bacteria. Heart Attack | Original watercolor …

Publish Date: 09/29/2010 8:00

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/09/29/michele-banks-artologica-watercolors/

History of Botanical Illustration and Flower Art

Floral art is strongly connected to illustration art, science, and nature. Pencil, pen and ink, and watercolors are used in botanical illustration. … History of Botanical Illustration and Flower Art …

Publish Date: 05/11/2010 10:02

http://www.suite101.com/content/history-of-botanical-illustration-and-flower-art-a236083

Traditional Chinese Painting – Chinese Flower Bird Painting – Watercolor. Yang O-shi inspired.

Traditional Chinese Painting – Chinese Flower Bird Painting – Watercolor.Chinese Bird Flower Painting. Flower Bird Landscapes. This evening I thought a severe Tea-Bird would pass the time. The paper is a single weight Chinese paper bought for me by M…

Making Your Own Watercolor Paints

I think everyone has had the opportunity to paint with watercolors. Perhaps that is because painting with watercolors has become a regular activity in schools. Watercolors may be difficult to master is subtleties, but unlike oils or acrylics, they are essentially child-friendly. They are so easy-to-use and their water base is non-toxic. This is why most preschools and kindergartens usually use them in parts of their curriculum.

Watercolors are an excellent medium for any budding artist to start in. But before you start painting, how about making your own watercolor paints?

The idea of making paints may sound daunting, but remember most artists before the twentieth century mixed their own paints. With easy access to the ready-made art marketplace, the art of mixing paints is something of a “lost art.”

But creating your own watercolor paints is actually pretty easy. Here is an example making the children’s version – mixing a batch of watercolors for professional use is a more involved process…

First, you’ll have to get together some basic ingredients. You’ll need the following:

• 3 tbsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup
• food coloring

Note that the measurements can be doubled or tripled depending on how many people will be using the watercolor. This should be enough for a small group of four, but for larger groups add a bit more.

By the way, the corn syrup is the binder, the substance that will keep your pigments together, for your watercolor so its pretty important. YBefore there were bottles of corn syrup on the grocery shelf, artists made their own glucose syrup. “Glucose syrup” is just a fancy name for a sugar solution. To make it, just boil two cups of sugar in a cup of water. Mix it well until you have a clear solution. Now that you have your binder, whether a homemade sugar solution or corn syrup, it’s time to start.

First of all, mix the vinegar and baking soda together in a small bowl. It will start to foam, but that’s a natural reaction, so you just keep mixing. When the foaming has died down, it’s time to add the cornstarch and your syrup, to the mix. Keep on mixing until you get a smooth consistency to the mix. This will be your clear base.

Now that you’re got your base, it’s time to create your color sets. Get several bottle caps or small containers of similar size and pour in the base. After you’ve used up all the clear base, you just add a different food coloring to each small container. Be generous with your coloring amounts – the color needs to spread well, so this means you also have to stir a bit. When you’re done, there’s only one step left – put the caps in a cool dry place so that they can dry.

By the next day, you’ll have a dry set of watercolor paints ready for use!

[phpbay]watercolor paints, 5[/phpbay]

Making Your Own Watercolor Paints related articles from the blogosphere…

Paintings And Diverse Techniques | Article Toucan

To paint with oils you only need a brush, a palette, a cloth and linseed oil to clean your brush. These are the most useful materials to begin to work. Paint with watercolor is common too. Watercolors provide a veiled effect unlike the opacity and thickness … Practice as much you can up to find your painting style. Once, you find your style you will create more and better paintings. The possibility to be a better painter is always real. Create your own Tableaux. …

Publish Date: 09/02/2010 13:29

http://articletoucan.com/2010/09/02/paintings-and-diverse-techniques/

Sally Brooks Learn Watercolor Painting Review | Knowledge Archive

Learn Watercolor Painting will help you each and every day that you learn how to paint with use of watercolor. It will provide you everything you need. It will provide you step by step instructions on how to make brilliant watercolor … You will enjoy having your own watercolor paintings. You will love to have your own paintings in watercolor. And so you should pursue learning watercolor painting. You might be little hesitant about going for it but you should not be. …

Publish Date: 09/03/2010 22:48

http://knolarch.com/lifestyle/sally-brooks-learn-watercolor-painting-review/37955/

DIY Watercolor Paints » Pepper Paints

1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup. Pour into your containers —bottle caps, pill boxes, any tiny, shallow container will do. DSC_9463 · DSC_9465. Add food coloring. We used both neon and regular colors of food coloring … 6 Responses to “DIY Watercolor Paints”. sioux @ crunchybits.net says: April 21, 2010 at 11:39 am. That is the coolest! I love making our own art supplies but we haven’t tried watercolors! Thanks for the inspiration and pictures — they really help! …

Publish Date: 04/20/2010 18:40

http://pepperpaints.com/2010/04/21/diy-watercolor-paints/

How to Make Your Own Twinkling H2O Watercolor Paint

I show you how to mix your own twinkling H2O type of watercolor paint using pearl ex powder. Added note: I have read that a 3 or 4:1 ratio of water to gum arabic is a good rule of thumb. More info about gum arabic can be found on the following post ….

Possibly related posts:

• Related posts on Act
• Syracuse08 » Repeal the REAL ID Act:
• Act now Barclays, or the Boris Bike is here to stay

• Related posts on Art Materials
• Back to school? Get your kid?s school supplies and be cool! | Kid …
• Online Shopping Is An Art | Articles Fox