Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Watercolor |
WatercolorNoun1. A painting produced with watercolors. 2. A water-base paint (with water-soluble pigments); used by artists. 3. Water-soluble pigment. Verb1. Paint with watercolors. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "watercolor" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1844. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Watercolor is a painting technique using water-soluble pigments, that are either transparent or opaque, mixed with the addition of gum to bond the pigment to the paper. While the grounds for watercolor painting are varied, the most common is paper. Others, less used, include plastics, leather, fabric, wood, and canvas.
History of Watercolor
Watercolor technique started evolving with the invention of paper by the Chinese shortly after 100 AD. Papermaking was introduced to Spain by the conquering Moors in the 12th century and spread to Italy decades later. Some of the earliest paper manufactures include Fabriano, Italy, opened in 1276 and Arches, France, opened in 1492.The forerunner of watercolor painting was buon fresco painting: wall-painting using watercolor paints on wet plaster. The most famous example of buon fresco is the Sistine Chapel, begun in 1508 and completed in 1514.
The earliest known use of this technique was by the Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Santi (1483-1520) who painted some full-scale cartoons as precursors for some tapestry designs.
In Germany, Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) was painting in watercolor in the 15th century. The first school of watercolor painting in Europe was led by Hans Bol (1534-1593) as was influenced a lot by Durer's creations.
Other famous artists have used watercolor painting to supplement their skills with oil paint, including Van Dyke (1599-1641), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) and John Constable (1776-1837).
In 18th century England Paul Sandby (1725-1809) was called the father of English watercolor.
Someone, having better knowledge of art, has to write about watercolor evolution after the 18th century
Watercolor Paint
The broader term for water-based painting media is "watermedia". The term "watercolor" still seems most often to refer to traditional transparent watercolor, or gouache, an opaque form of the same paint. These are specific types of watermedia.Watercolor paint is made of color pigment mixed with gum arabic for body and glycerin or honey for viscosity. Gouache has an added body of unpigmented filler to lend opacity to the paint, and oil of clove to prevent mold.
Traditionally, watercolor is applied with brushes, but may be mixed with other materials (usually acrylic and collage), and applied with other implements for experimental approaches. In traditional technique dating from at least the early 20th Century, the white of the paper is the only white used with transparent watercolor. The paint is thinned when applied to allow for lighter passages within the painting. Opaque paint is seldom used for whites, or to "overpaint". This lack of opacity provides watercolor its peculiar characteristics of brightness, "sparkle", freshness, and clarity of color, since the light from a watercolor has passed through the film of paint, and is reflected back to us again through the film.
Technique in watercolor is quite demanding, though not more so than in other mediums. Maintaining a high quality of value difference and color clarity are typically the most difficult qualities to achieve and maintain.
The medium is equally effective in portraiture, figurative, and abstract work, both objective and non-objective. (Kandinsky produced the first non-objective abstract paintings in transparent watercolor around 1913) It is prized by its proponents as a studio medium for its lack of smell and ease of cleanup, and also as a plein air medium for its portability and quick drying.
Fingerpainting originated in China with watercolor paint.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Watercolor painting."
Synonym: WatercolorSynonym: watercolour (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Painting | Pallet, palette; easel; brush, pencil, stump; black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel; paint; (coloring matter); watercolor, body color, oil color; oils, oil paint; varnish; a, priming; gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass; enamel; encaustic painting; mosaic; tapestry. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Watercolor |
| English words defined with "watercolor": gouache ♦ unmistakably ♦ wash, wash drawing. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "watercolor": artist, scientific ♦ ILLUSTRATOR, MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC. (references) |
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Periodicals |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Coast Survey sounding operations in Strawberry Harbor Coast Survey Ship FAUNTLEROY in background Watercolor by James Madison Alden, nephew of Lieutenant James Alden Lt. Alden commanded the Coast Survey Steamer ACTIVE. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Oldest known sketch of Coast Survey sounding operations Watercolor by James Madison Alden - 1857 Coast Survey Brig FAUNTLEROY in background. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | "The great ice barrier - looking east from Cape Crozier." In: "Scott's Last Expedition ....", 1913. Dodd, Mead, and Company. New York. Volume I. Page 51. Watercolor by Edward A. Wilson. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | Black and white watercolor drawing of American Brant (now known as Brant) by Edward J. Bierly, his second win. Return to the Federal Duck Stamp Office Home Page. |
 | Opaque watercolor of Steller's Eiders by Lee LeBlanc, formerly a Disney cartoonist and MGM Studios executive became a freelance artist in his later years. (Deceased) Return to the Federal Duck Stamp Office Home Page. |  | Texas Medical Association Border Health Conference / From an original watercolor by G.E. Mullan. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Primitive watercolor of Civil War vintage. Credit: NAVY. |  | Playing her searchlights on USS Alarm, at left, and USS Vesuvius, at right. Watercolor by Fred S. Cozzens, 1892, published as a chromolithograph in "Our Navy -- Its Growth and Achievements", 1897. Credit: NAVY. |
 | British Watercolor Association. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Alexander Melville Bell, half-length watercolor portrait, seated facing front, holding glove in left hand. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Watercolor" by vares Commentary: "Blue and red." | "Amaryllis 1" by Warisara N. Commentary: "Amaryllis in the early morning. It looks like watercolor painting. I don't know how. Could be moisture? Amaryllil, Hippeastrum spp." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "watercolor"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Arabic | اللون المائي (watercolour), ألوان مائية (watercolour), رسم مائي (aquarelle, watercolour). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | акварелен (watercolour), акварел (aquarelle, wash drawing, watercolour). (various references) | |
Chinese | 水彩. (various references) | |
Czech | vodová barva (water colour). (various references) | |
French | détrempe (watercolour). (various references) | |
German | Wasserfarbe (watercolour), Aquarell (water colorUS, water colour, watercolour, water-colour). (various references) | |
Hungarian | vízfestmény (aquarelle, water color, water colour, water-color, water-colour). (various references) | |
Italian | acquerello (water colour, watercolour). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | ウェーバーの法則 (on-deck batter's circle, rag, taking a pitch, wafer, wafers, waist, waist bag, waist nipper, waist pouch, waistcoat, waistline, wait, waiter, waiting circle, waiting game, waiting room, waiting system, waitress, Wales, walk rally, walk through, walkathon, walkie-lookie, walkie-talkie, walking dictionary, walking shoes, Walkman, war cry, war game, ware, -ware, warehouse, warm, warming, warming-up, warm-up, warning lamp, waste ball, water chute, water closet, water hazard, water polo, watercooler, waterfall, waterfront, watermelon, waterproof, watertight, wave, wave-front, way, weapon, wear, weather, weathercock, weatherstrip molding, web, Weber, Weber's law, wedding, wedding bell, wedding cake, wedding dress, wedding march, wedding ring, wedding veil, wedeling, wedge heel, wedge sole, weight, weight lifting, weight training, welcome, well-done, west, West Coast, West End, West Point, West Side, West Virginia, western, Western grip, Western league, Western music, Westinghouse, wet, wet core, wet cut, wet suit, worm gear). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ウォーターカラー . (various references) | |
Pig Latin | atercolorway.(various references) | |
Portuguese | tinta para aquarela (watercolour), aquarela (aquarelle, wash drawing, watercolour). (various references) | |
Russian | акварель (aquarelle, wash drawing, watercolour, water-colour). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | vodena boja (water color, water colour, watercolour), akvarel (aquarelle, water color, water colour, watercolour). (various references) | |
Spanish | acuarela (aquarelle, water colour, watercolour, water-colour). (various references) | |
Swedish | vattenfärg (watercolour), akvarellfärg (watercolour), akvarell (aquarelle, watercolour, water-colour). (various references) | |
Turkish | suluboya resim (aquarelle, watercolour), suluboya (aquarelle, wash drawing, water, watercolour). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | акварель (aquarelle, wash, water, watercolour). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "watercolor": watercolorist, watercolorists, watercolors. (additional references) | |
| |
"Watercolor" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: mastercolour, watercooler, Waterpolo. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-l-o-o-r-r-t-w" | |
-2 letters: colewort, waterloo. | |
-3 letters: caroler, colorer, cowrote, crawler, creator, locater, locator, reactor, realtor, recolor, relator, trawler. | |
-4 letters: carrel, carrot, cartel, carter, claret, clawer, coaler, coater, colter, cooler, cooter, corral, crater, crower, lector, locate, looter, ocelot, oracle, orator, recoal, rectal, rector, retool, retral, rooter, tooler, torero, tracer, trocar, trowel, wooler. | |
-5 letters: actor, alert, alter, arrow, artel. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-l-o-o-r-r-t-w" | |
+1 letter: watercolors, watercooler. | |
+2 letters: watercoolers. | |
+3 letters: watercolorist. | |
+4 letters: watercolorists. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Derivations 11. Anagrams 12. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
