Watercolor – A Popular Medium Of Painting

Watercolors have been used by artists all over the world for centuries. This medium is a great way to express the emotions as well as capture moments of beauty.

Watercolor, as its name implies, is a kind of paint that is composed of a water-soluble pigment. These paints have a great range in value, from light colors to dark, with an amazing ability for subtle shading. Historians believe the use of watercolor as a medium started during the paleolithic Europe, but the history of this art medium is most easily tracked from the beginning of the Renaissance.

The most important traditions in watercolor paintings are considered to be botanical and wildlife illustrations. Watercolor painting spread during the 18th century because of some factors, as explorers and scientists began cataloging plant and animal species around the world. And soon, people who belonged in the elite and aristocratic families, valued skill at watercolor painting as one of the incidental adornments of a good education.

Another use of watercolor, as a popular medium, came about as it was found to be an effective way to depict properties, terrain, fortifications and to illustrate public works for surveyors, mapmakers, military officers and engineers. It was just easier for people “out in the field” to carry sheets of paper and dried paints, ready for a little added water to illustrate what was before them. As the popularity and uses of watercolors flourished, heavier papers and more specialized brushes were invented.

There are four basic ingredients in watercolor paints. Pigment is the most important. It gives color to the paint. Natural minerals were the earliest known pigments. Arabic gum, on the other hand, is the one responsible for holding the pigment in suspension and fixing it to the painting surface. To change the viscosity, hiding, durability or color of the pigment, additives must be added. Lastly, a solvent, water, is needed to thin or dilute the paint for application.

In the past, using watercolors required a lot more labor as they were available in small blocks that needed to be wetted and rubbed out in water. Today, the modern commercial watercolor paints are available in two forms. The first type is sold in collapsible metal tubes in standard sizes. The other one is called pan paints that are available in two sizes.

These commercial watercolor paints are made in two grades. Some paints are formulated with fewer fillers. They are called “artist quality” paints. Having fewer kaolin or chalk makes the watercolors have richer colors and lead to more vibrant mixes.

On the other hand, some paints are formulated with less pigment. These paints are called “student grade” paints.

Watercolor painting is done in several techniques. Washes and glazes are two basic techniques. To disguise or efface individual brush strokes in the painting, a diluted paint is applied to produce a unified area of color. This is a wash. To apply one paint color at the top of a previous paint layer is called a glaze.

Another technique is wet and wet. This technique is considered to be one of the most distinctive features of watercolor painting. The application of paint or water to an area of the painting which has already had with either paint or water applied is how this technique is done. For precision and control, a drybrush is the best technique to use. Building up or mixing the paint colors with short precise touches that blend together to avoid the appearance of pointilism is the objective of the technique.

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Diana M. Davis Watercolor: Iridescent Medium on Hummer

I use Winsor Newton Iridescent Watercolor Medium very lightly after I finish painting the bird , using a small amount with clear water I glaze the bird, also I used two iridescent powders, one of the powders varies as you look at it …

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Types of Mixed Media Art

Often artists use pen and ink to bring out details of tiled roofs, tree bark or cobbled streets that are first painted with transparent watercolors. When working with these two mediums it’s important to first determine which medium will …

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Oil painting has been around for a long time and has yet to go out of style. Today there are many artists that use this medium as their preferred mode of expression. If you have every thought of taking up an “arty” pursuit, there is a good chance that oil painting has crossed your mind. The Renaissance made it popular originally, but that popularity has never waned through the years. Below are several oil painting guidelines that everybody will find useful.

Tip #1: When painting with light colors such as blue or beige, you should utilize a poppy seed oil instead of linseed. Linseed oil always seems to dry with a yellow tint and this yellowing shows up distinctively in lighter colors.

Tip #2: If you messed up and require a way to “erase” a layer of oil paint, then try using rubbing alcohol. It is a strong solvent that will effectively power through and clean up the difficulty.

Tip #3: Oil paintings should never be dried in darkness. This forces the oil to rise to the surface of the painting and as a result, a yellow film might materialize on the work. Using natural sunlight works best.

Tip #4: Under layers must dry fast to prevent top layers from cracking. To speed up the drying course, you can try adding in some lead or manganese paint hues.

Tip #5: Never, ever use black in your under layers. It dries slower then any other color, no matter what you do to speed the drying time up.

Tip #6: To save some time and give your neck a break, you can try getting in to the habit of putting your colors on the color palette in the same place, each and every time. You can train your self to instinctively know where the correct color is without the need to look down all the time.

Tip #7: Linseed oil should be utilized in under layers as often as possible. Bottom layers must dry prior to the top ones and linseed oil drys the best in this situation.

Grasping the technique of oil painting may appear a smidgen hard initially. But once you get the basics of how oil painting works, you won’t have any trouble. The majority of pros suggest taking some classes, when you first get started. There is a wealth of expertise in these places that can truly make a difference. If you’re not sure where to find a class, then you can try searching at the art department at your local university.

The Encyclopedia of Oil Painting Techniques



Find out what you can do with oil paints. Make brushwork more expressive and add shadows. Try a full complement of creative techniques.

Breathtaking examples of finished paintings, analyzed in detail, guide you through a range of themes, including architecture, figures, and landscapes.


Read more …

 

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Oil Painting Techniques and Materials (Dover Art Instruction)



“In any exhibition of amateur work . . . it is not at all unusual to find many charming water-color drawings, but . . . it is very rarely that the work in the oil medium is anything but dull, dead, and lacking in all vitality and charm.” — Harold Speed.

Such provocative assertions are characteristic of this stimulating and informative guide, written in a highly personal and unique style by a noted painter and teacher. Brimming with pertinent insights into the technical aspects and painting in oils, it is also designed to help students perfect powers of observation and expression. Harold Speed has distilled years of painting and pedagogical experience into an expert instructional program covering painting technique, painting from life, materials (paints, varnishes, oils and mediums, grounds, etc.), a painter’s training, and more.

Especially instructive is his extensive and perceptive discussion of form, tone, and color, and a fascinating series of detailed “Notes” analyzing the painting styles of Velasquez, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Franz Hals, and Rembrandt. Nearly 70 photographs and drawings illustrate the text, among them prehistoric cave paintings, diagrams of tonal values, stages of portrait painting, and reproductions of masterpieces by Giotto, Vermeer, Ingres, Rembrandt, Titian, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hals, Giorgione, Poussin, Corot, Veronese, and other luminaries. In addition to these pictorial pleasures, the author further leavens the lessons with thought-provoking opinion.

Clear, cogent, and down-to-earth, this time-honored handbook will especially interest serious amateurs studying the technical aspects of oil painting, but its rich insight into the mind and methods of the artist will enlighten and intrigue any art lover.


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