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Watercolour painting

An Overview of Waterbased Media

Watercolour, like all paint, is made by mixing pigment with a binding agent, in this case gum arabic, which is soluble in water. There are two types of watercolour, 'pure' or 'classical' watercolour, which is transparent, and gouache, or 'body colour', which is the same pigment made opaque by adding white pigment to the binder. The technique of gouache painting is similar to that of oil or since light colour can be laid over dark, and is the scope of this book; but gouache is quite Its
is a source of constant controversy among water- colourists: some claim that it destroys the character of the medium -its luminosity -and should never be used; others combine the two with considerable success. Nowadays there is a general trend towards mixing different media, and watercolour is often used with pastel, pen and ink, pencils or crayons. It can be a useful exercise, when a watercolour has 'gone wrong', to draw into it with inks or pastels to see the effects that can be achieved.

THE HISTORY OF WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

It is commonly believed that watercolour was invented by the English landscape painters of the 18th century, but this is far from so. Watercolour has been in use in various forms for many centuries. Indeed the ancient Egyptians used a form of it for painting on plaster to decorate their tombs; the great frescoes of Renaissance Italy were painted in a kind of watercolour; it was used by medieval manuscript illuminators, both in its 'pure' form and mixed with body colour; the great German artist, Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), made use of it extensively, and so did many botanical illustrators of the 16th century and the Dutch flower painters of the 17th century.

It was, even so, in 18th-century England that water- colour painting was elevated to-the status of a national art. A new interest in landscape painting for its own sake culminated in the work of John Constable (1776-1837), the forerunner of the Impressionists. Landscape had hitherto been purely topographical -a truthful and detailed record of a particular place -but in the hands of artists such as Paul Sandby (1725-1809), John Cozens (1752-97), Thomas Girtili (1775-1802), Francis Towne (1740-1816),John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) and Peter de Wint (1784-1849) it became much more than that. Watercolour was at last fully exploited and given the recognition that was its due.

Most of these artists worked in watercolour alone, regarding it as the perfect medium for creating the light, airy, atmospheric effects they sought; Constable used watercolour mainly for quick sketches of skies. The greatest watercolourist of all, J M W Turner (1775-1851), achieved his fame as an oil painter, but he produced watercolours of an amazing depth and richness. Quite uninhibited by any 'rules'? he exploited accidental effects like thumbprints and haphazard blobs of paint, turning them into some of the most magical depictions of light and colour that have ever been seen in paint.

Throughout the 19th century the techniques of watercolour continued to be developed and the subject matter became more varied. The poet and artist, William Blake (1757-1827), evolved his own method of conveying his poetic vision in watercolour, as did his follower, Samuel Palmer (1805-81), who used swirls and blocks of opaque colour in his visionary and symbolic landscapes. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, travel once again became easier, and the topographical tradition reached new heights in the work of artists like Samuel Prout (1783-1852), a superlative draughtsman who paint- ed the buildings and scenery of western Europe in faithful detail. Travelling further afield, John Frederick Lewis (1805- 76) made glowing studies of Middle Eastern scenes, and new techniques, such as the 'dragged' wash, were pioneered by Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28) for both landscape and figure subjects, to be taken further by his friend, the French artist, Eugene Oelacroix ( 1798-1863 ).

British artists of the 20th century have not ignored the possibilities of watercolour, its greatest exponents being Graham Sutherland (1903-80) and Paul Nash (1889-1946) and his brother John (1893-). It remains a popular medium with both professional artists and amateurs, and new ways are constantly being found of exploring its full potential.

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