Watercolors

Beginnings – Techniques

Watercolor is a very old technique. Date of the year 100 a.c. Later the Arabs introduced it in Europe when other techniques of easel painting were not yet known.
The ancestor of the watercolor was the cool, watery mural over, a damp surface.
The same, it is realized on a flat surface, paper, whose characteristic is that it should not contain a high PH. That is to say that the paper must have in its constitution very little sticker. The reason for this is that the adhesive, damages the action of absorbing the pigment, proper to the watercolor and also facilitates the proliferation of fungi.
The main feature of the watercolor is its transparency by mixing in water. The dye does not have qualities of opacity, which is why it always translates what lies beneath it.
The difficulty of this technique lies essentially in this characteristic. Once one has placed a brushstroke and then considers it wrong, it is impossible to correct. Whenever one tries to cover up, one will find that task useless, because without exception, underneath will reappear the original brushstroke.
In turn, this element so relentless, provides a feeling of freshness, making the landscapes ethereal, creating light atmospheres.

Brush strokes

The brushstroke has its imprint on this technique. Although its material load is non-existent, the drawing that originates the same, will always be marked.
There are several options in terms of color mixing. Some make it in the palette, others make the mixture on the paper, by superposition of colors. Either option is valid. But in the case of the second the vibration of the colors is incomparable.

Illumination

The lighting conditions when hanging a watercolor, inside an environment should be of care, as for any other element, be it a photo, an oil painting, etc. The light must be indirect; That is, the ray of the sun should not give directly on it, because it would alter the colors or, in conjunction with the glass, would burn the paper.

Great Teachers

Great masters of art have dedicated themselves to watercolor, for example: Raffaello Santi, in Italy; Albrecht Dürer in Germany; Van Dyck, Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable, but being a technique that has a degree of difficulty, has been little diffused in time. Its value for this is considerably higher than that of a painting made watercolor.

Tips

Who wants to dedicate to this technique must take into account that to achieve different surface qualities instead of resorting to the amount of pigment, it must resort to the description by another method of it. For example, if you want to paint the trunk of a tree, using another technique would be easier. Simply put a lot of material and with the tail of the brush gives the necessary texture. With watercolor this is impossible, must necessarily describe through the color and the line, the bark of the tree.
Line and color become the protagonists of this technique. The atmosphere is also a feature that competes for prominence. It seems that a breeze permeates the whole work, and it is precisely there where his beauty resides.
The painting in watercolor, must carry glass at the time of its framing. The air has the particularity of eroding objects, and loading them with moisture. The glass prevents the air from deteriorating the paint. A well-framed painting, contrary to what people think, is unalterable.