Watercolours have been known to mankind for thousands of years, but they have not lost their popularity thanks to their effectiveness, wide technical capabilities and easy availability.
What is the history of watercolour drawing?
Examples of artefacts have already appeared in cave paintings – hunting scenes were created using natural pigments mixed with water and sticky liquids. In Sibudu Cave in Africa, for example, the paintings are made with ochre dissolved in milk. Watercolour was known in Ancient Egypt where artists used it on papyrus, sarcophagus lids and tomb walls as well as in the ancient world. Ancient Chinese and Japanese artists created delicate paintings using ink and mineral dyes.
In medieval Europe, watercolour was used in book miniatures. The illustrations in The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry, for example, were done in watercolour, gouache and gold on parchment by the Limbourg brothers. From the 16th century onwards watercolour painting became increasingly common in secular European painting, first as auxiliary material for sketches, drawings, illustrations, geographical maps, botanical and zoological atlases and later as a completely self-contained material. The flowering of watercolour painting took place in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the twentieth century gave it complete technical and thematic freedom.
What is watercolor drawing as a type of technic
So, watercolours are powdered mineral pigments of different colours that are bound with vegetable glues, gum arabic, dextrin, sugar and even honey. Watercolour can be in a solid or semi-solid state (in tubes) and only a little water is needed to dissolve it. Fewer water colours can produce intense colours but you can dilute them endlessly and create subtle glaze effects.
Usually watercolour paintings are done on paper, white or tinted, but they can also be based on cardboard, primed canvas, fabric (painting on silk is common in the East), the mentioned parchment and ivory. The colours can be combined with whitewash, gouache, ink or ink, pastel, charcoal and other materials. Because of all these features watercolour technique is considered as a graphic rather than painting technique in the olden days.
Famous watercolor painters
Albrecht Dürer was one of Europe’s best watercolourists at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, producing portraits, botanical sketches and landscapes. Watercolours gradually won over a wide audience and even royal hearts! The Frenchman Pierre-Joseph Redoute, for example, worked at the court of Marie-Antoinette, painting roses, hydrangeas, lilies, lilacs, Pea Flowers and other beautiful flowers for her. The father of the eighteenth-century English watercolour school is considered to be Paul Sandby, who produced many purely English watercolour landscapes. Italian masters (e.g. Canaletto) made famous the veduta genre – detailed urban perspectives.
English watercolours were traditionally done ‘wet’, that is, on pre-soaked paper, while Italian watercolours were done ‘dry’. In later centuries these techniques blended together, allowing artists to achieve complex effects. Among the best modern watercolourists are Liu YunSheng and Liu Yi (China), Thierry Duval (France), Prafull Sawant (India), Laurin McCracken, Steve Hanks and John Salminen (USA), Shin Jong Sik (South Korea), Joe Francis Dowden (UK), Alexander Votsmush (Russia), Rukiye Garip (Turkey), Joseph Zbukvic (Croatia – Australia) – these artists have taken the old technique to new heights.
What watercolor painted artworks can be?
There are almost no style or genre boundaries for watercolours, for example, Wassily Kandinsky created abstract watercolours and Otto Dix created surrealist ones. It is limited only by size – the works in this technique are predominantly small, chamber-like. Watercolour is most often used in:
- landscapes
- portraits
- still-lifes
- botanical illustrations
- animalistic genre
- book illustration
Watercolor drawing in Eastern Europe
The art of watercolour was successfully developed in this region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Artists from various Eastern European countries took up the technical discoveries of England, France and Italy and made their contribution. Vasily Surikov, Mikhail Vrubel (Russia), Apoloniusz Kędzierski (Poland), Yuri Khimich (Ukraine), Jānis Brekte (Latvia), Václav Jansa (Czech Republic) and others were excellent watercolourists. Today watercolour is still popular in Eastern Europe, competitions and festivals are held, watercolour teachers work and develop their schools.
Watercolour paintings on G.ART Gallery
The presentation of contemporary Eastern European watercolour artists is one of the important activities of the G.ART online platform. The collection of works is growing and the thematic and stylistic range is expanding. Water colour allows expressing the most delicate feelings: love for wildlife, admiration for the beauty of the world, admiration for its fragility. Watercolour artists are true romantics!
How to choose watercolor painted artwork?
You can choose a watercolour painting online at G.ART Gallery following the same general rules as other works of art. First you need to determine in which interior the painting will be placed, calculate its size, choose a theme, style and colour scheme. When placing watercolours, there are important rules to keep in mind. Firstly, the work must be protected from dust with a frame with glass. Secondly, the watercolor is usually displayed with a mat, which means that the picture will eventually increase in size – keep that in mind. Thirdly, it must be protected from the bright sun.
How and where to buy watercolor painting?
G.ART Gallery has extensive experience in the online sale and shipping of works of art, so the purchaser can be assured that the packaging will protect your purchase securely in transit. G.ART guarantees:
- authenticity and quality of work
- impeccable professional reputation of the artists
- customer support at every stage
- consultations on the selection of works of art
- easy payment
- quick shipment of artwork
