Watercolor is a soul unraveled
Our first acquaintance with watercolor is still in childhood. "Masterpieces" of children's painting are drawn by these unpretentious colors. School years, too, can not do without drawings watercolor.
Probably, for this reason we treat herchildish, not serious. But after seeing the watercolor drawings created by the artists, we freeze in contemplation of this beauty. And we are surprised how it is possible to create such magnificence with simple, familiar from childhood watercolor paints.
A bit of history
From ancient times people know watercolor. This is the first paint that a man has learned to make, along with ocher. Egyptian pharaohs painted watercolor on papyrus. As the technique of drawing with such paints was laborious, it was forgotten for a long time. In general, used a tempera or oil paint.
In ancient Rome and Greece watercolor was used forbackground or for registering contours when creating frescoes. And in China it became popular only after the invention of paper. Connecting watercolors with black and colored ink, in Japan, painted silk fabrics. And Chinese artists have learned to paint portraits and landscapes with watercolors.
In Europe, watercolor painting is not longtook root. And only in the 18th century, when artists began to apply loosening of contours and feathering, it became strong and spectacular. A striking example of this is Albrecht Durer, who has already become a textbook "Hare".
Watercolor painting in Russia
The first artist of watercolor painting in Russiawas Sokolov Peter Fedorovich. It was he who widely applied watercolor in his works. He painted landscapes, portraits, genre paintings. Thanks to his works you can find out what were the life and customs of the distant past of our ancestors.
In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when there was not yetphotos, watercolor enjoyed great success among Russian people. The easy technique of applying paints and quick execution left in the past tedious and long hours of posing. And the transparent and airy colors fell to the liking of Russian society.
Watercolor portraits were ordered by all membersroyal family, noble and middle class, ministers, diplomats, secular beauties. To have a collection of watercolors in a home arsenal was prestigious and fashionable. His paintings in the future, wrote such famous artists as K. Bryullov, M. Vrubel, V. Serov, I. Bilibin.
Modern artists beyond recognitionimproved the technique of watercolor paints. Drawings are realistic and accurate. Artists of our time sweep away all the textbook techniques and ways of working with these colors. And they receive amazing drawings filled with transparent light, gentle tones and as close to reality as possible.
Composition of watercolor
So what is watercolor? These are pigments, finely mashed, vegetable-based glues that dissolve quickly in water. Usually it is gum arabic and dextrin. To retain moisture, honey, sugar and glycerin are added. To watercolor well spread, but not collected in drops, it introduces bovine bile. In order for the material not to become moldy, phenol is introduced.
What are the colors watercolor
There are several types of watercolors. Each species is good in its own way, but all have disadvantages. Watercolors are produced in several forms:
- Liquid paints in a tube.
- Soft colors in cuvettes.
- Solid paints in tiles.
Each type of watercolor has its own merits andlimitations. Liquid watercolors are perfectly diluted with water, do not get dirty during work and during storage. The disadvantage is that they quickly begin to separate and dry up.
Soft and hard watercolor is dirty duringwork and an order of magnitude worse in water. But they are not subject to separation and do not dry out during storage. And yet, this paint can not take on the brush as much as necessary. What can not you say about liquid watercolors.
Quality of paints
What should be the quality watercolor? These are strong layers after drying, which do not stain hands, do not wipe and do not crack. High-quality watercolor paint - it's an even layer, without all sorts of spots, streaks and clots of paint. A good watercolor is the color transparency and easy flushing off of the paper with water.
Beginner artist
The most suitable watercolor for beginners isschool honey. Paint is ordinary, it is cheap, the quality is good. The composition includes honey as a plastic base. All the rest are synthetic substances that dissolve well in water.
Professionals advise to take expensive materialsfor work. But for a beginner, it's financially expensive, given the quality of the drawings. School honey watercolor is an ideal option. You can take only paper and brushes of higher quality.
Such watercolors are sold in plasticpallet with cells. The cell is filled with paint, it is not possible to change the used cuvette, as in professional sets. You need to change the whole box, or you have to buy another one. It is inconvenient, but economically more profitable, than to acquire expensive prof. paints.
Of domestic paints are well recommended"Sonnet" and "White Nights" are the ideal solutions for those who take watercolor lessons for the first time. These paints fit perfectly on paper, they have the property of mixing well with each other. The color spectrum is calm and saturated. The paints do not fade for a long time, they are resistant to light.
On what it is not necessary to save, so it is on paper. It should not be smooth, but rough. Otherwise, the colors will simply drain away, and not go to beautiful smears.
