Watercolour Painting
History and Techniques of Watercolours, a Fine Art Form of Painting Exemplified by William Turner.
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Watercolour Painting

In fine art painting, the term 'Watercolour' denotes a painting medium in which colour pigments are bound in water-soluble binding agents. Originally, these binders were animal glues or certain sugars, but nowadays the standard substance is gum arabic. A variety of additives can be used (eg. honey, glycerin) to increase plasticity and create other effects. Watercolours are generally applied by sable or squirrel-hair brushes onto white tinted paper or card, although supports can encompass canvas, leather, and papyrus. In the Far East, especially in China and Japan, watercolor art (known as brush or scroll painting, or ink and wash) is the universal painting medium, except that East Asian watercolourists typically use only black inks. Watercolour dries much faster than oil painting and permit the creation of finer, more precise works of art. However, regular exposure to light can cause colours to fade, and many masterpieces - including some by JMW Turner - have suffered irreparable damage.

Watercolour Technique

In 'pure' watercolour painting, (sometimes called the 'English Method') no white is used. Instead, patches or spots of white paper are left unpainted to depict white objects or reflected light. Colour tones and atmospheric effects are achieved by staining the paper when wet with varying amounts of colour pigments. Referred to as a 'wash', this technique can also be used to minimize or erase individual brush strokes, or to create large areas of similar colour (eg. blue sky). The artist controls the effects of these washes by varying the dilution of the pigments. Chief exponents of the English method of watercolour painting included: Thomas Girtin, Thomas Gainsborough, David Cox, and John Constable. In contrast, JMW Turner - one of the greatest English watercolourists - preferred to add white to his paintings and used other methods to create his unique effects of light.

History

Watercolour art dates from Stone Age cave paintings, and was later practised in Egyptian art on papyrus, but its modern use as an art form stems from the Northern Renaissance. Its first supreme practitioner was the German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) who anticipated many of the English watercolour techniques in a series of magnificent plant studies and landscapes. However, despite efforts by Dutch and Flemish painters, the medium was largely confined to preparatory sketches, or large scale design drawings, until the advent of English watercolourists in the late eighteenth century. The one major exception was botanical and wildlife illustration, which developed a specialist watercolour tradition of its own.

19th Century English School of Watercolourists

Following the achievements of the English school of watercolourists (especially Paul Sandby, Thomas Girtin and JMW Turner), watercolours became more popular throughout the UK with an upsurge in wildlife and plant paintings, as well as new demands for painters to replicate the scenes and topography of both tourist and military sites, and to accompany archeological and anthropological expeditions around the globe to document images of flora and fauna. The Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI) was founded in 1870. Over the years, members of the WCSI have included such famous Irish artists as: Rose Barton, George Campbell, Lilian Davidson, Gerard Dillon, Percy French, Letitia Hamilton, Paul Henry, Harry Kernoff, Maurice MacGonigal, Nora McGuinness, Frank McKelvey, Walter Osborne, Nano Reid, George Russell (AE), and Jack B. Yeats.

Later in the nineteenth century, Watercolours were also taken up by American artists, notably Winslow Homer, William Trost Richards, Henry Roderick Newman, and John LaFarge. The American Watercolor Society (originally, the American Society of Painters in Watercolor) was established in 1866. However, watercolour was less favoured in Europe as a painting medium, despite the efforts of French artist Eugene Delacroix.

20th Century

Notable twentieth century watercolourists include famous artists like the German abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky and the Swiss pioneer of Modernism Paul Klee, and the French painter Raoul Dufy. In the United States, major watercolour artists included: Thomas Eakins, John Marin, Maurice Prendergast, Edward Hopper, Elliot O'Hara and Lyonel Feininger. American art movements favouring watercolour art included both the Ohio School (from the Cleveland Museum of Art), and the California Scene" (from the CalArts Academy).

Irish Watercolour Painting

Like Britain, Ireland has a vibrant tradition of watercolour and gouache, along with two important art societies: the Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI) and (in the north) the Ulster Watercolour Society (UWS). Members of the latter have included such distinguished Irish artists as: Gladys MacCabe and Maurice C. Wilks,

• For information about watercolours in Ireland, see: Guide to Irish Fine Art.

• How to Update This Mini Review of Watercolour Painting.

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