Welcome to Watercolor

Watercolor is a painting method, in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in water. The traditional and most common support for watercolor paintings is paper, other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum or leather, fabric, wood, and canvas.

Although watercolor painting is extremely old, its continuous history as an art medium begins in the Renaissance. Wildlife and landscape watercolors, is generally considered among the earliest exponents of the medium.

Watercolor painting also became popular in the United States during middle 19th century; the American Watercolor Society was founded in 1866. The popularity of watercolors stimulated many innovations, including heavier and more heavily sized wove papers and brushes manufactured expressly for watercolor painting.

Commercial paint-making brands appeared and paints were packaged in metal tubes or as dry cakes that could be dissolved in studio porcelain or used in portable metal paint boxes in the field. Contemporary breakthroughs in chemistry made many new color pigments available. Which in turn stimulated a greater use of color throughout all painting media, particularly in watercolors.

Modern watercolor paints are now as durable and colorful as oil or acrylic paints, and the recent renewed interest in drawing and multimedia art has also stimulated demand for fine works in watercolor. As art markets continue to expand, painting societies continue to add members and seniors increasingly retire to more contemplative hobbies, watercolors seem poised to enter yet another "golden age".