Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also aquarelle

(French loanword), a diminutive of the Latin for water, is a painting method in which the paints are
made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. Watercolor refers to both the medium and the
resulting artwork.

The traditional and most common supportmaterial to which the paint is appliedfor watercolor
paintings is paper. Other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum, leather, fabric, wood
and canvas. Watercolor paper is often made entirely or partially with cotton, which gives a good texture
and minimizes distortion when wet.[1] Watercolors are usually translucent, and appear luminous
because the pigments are laid down in a pure form with few fillers obscuring the pigment colors.
Watercolors can also be made opaque by adding Chinese white.

In East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting or scroll painting. In Chinese,
Korean and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or
browns.[clarification needed] India, Ethiopia and other countries have long watercolor painting
traditions as well. Fingerpainting with watercolor paints originated in mainland China.

Contents [hide]

1 History

1.1 English school

1.1.1 United States

1.2 Europe

1.3 20th and 21st centuries

2 See also

3 Notes

4 References

4.1 History

4.2 Tutorials & Technique

4.3 Materials

5 External links