Watermedia

Last updated

In art, watermedia is the general term for media that are distinguished from oil or other media by being diluted with water when used. [1] Watermedia include watercolors, gouache and acrylic, amongst others. It is sometimes combined with other media, commonly collage. [2]

There are some unusual examples of watermedia being diluted with Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, tequila [3] and sweat instead of water, and painter Johnny O'Brady has "added tea to [his] brush water". [4]

There are a number of watermedia societies.

Watercolor

Watercolor painting allows artists many options of techniques including wet on wet painting in which the paint moves freely on wet paper. Another approach to watercolor painting is a wet on dry technique which is when wet paint is applied to dry paper. A few additional effects and techniques that many artists use for this medium of painting is the dry-brush effect, edge darkening, intentional backruns and flow patterns. Technology is even impacting modern watercolor with scientists attempting to create computers that are capable of making their own watercolor paintings. [5]

Watercolor painting has even been proven to help cancer patients. A study conducted by medical professionals from the Department of Medical Oncology of Akdeniz University and Medical Park Hospital in Turkey, was created to determine if painting art therapy is effective in lowering levels of depression in cancer patients. Patients undergoing chemotherapy were split up into a control group and a tested group. The tested group participated in the art therapy program and painted with watercolor paint during their treatment. Participants were given a questionnaire that evaluated quality of life and depression levels before and after their treatments. Watercolor painting was found to significantly boost the moods of patients. Quality of life scores for patients who had painted increased while depression levels dropped dramatically compared to patients who did not participate in the art therapy program. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acrylic paint</span> Water resistant paint type

Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted with water, or modified with acrylic gels, mediums, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor, a gouache, or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil painting</span> Process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of the world. The advantages of oil for painting images include "greater flexibility, richer and denser colour, the use of layers, and a wider range from light to dark". But the process is slower, especially when one layer of paint needs to be allowed to dry before another is applied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pastel</span> Powdered-pigment-based art medium

A pastel is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square, a pebble, or a pan of color, though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those used to produce some other colored visual arts media, such as oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation. The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than that of any other process. Pastels have been used by artists since the Renaissance, and gained considerable popularity in the 18th century, when a number of notable artists made pastel their primary medium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gouache</span> Type of paint

Gouache, body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent, and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache has a long history, having been used for at least twelve centuries. It is used most consistently by commercial artists for posters, illustrations, comics, and other design work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watercolor painting</span> Type of painting method using water-based solutions

Watercolor or watercolour, also aquarelle, 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. Aquarelles painted with water-soluble colored ink instead of modern water colors are called aquarellum atramento by experts. However, this term has now tended to pass out of use.

Water-miscible oil paint is oil paint either engineered or to which an emulsifier has been added, allowing it to be thinned and cleaned up with water. These paints make it possible to avoid using, or at least reduce volatile organic compounds such as turpentine that may be harmful if inhaled. Water-miscible oil paint can be mixed and applied using the same techniques as traditional oil-based paint, but while still wet it can be removed from brushes, palettes, and rags with ordinary soap and water. One of the ways its water solubility comes from is the use of an oil medium in which one end of the molecule has been engineered to be hydrophilic and thus bind loosely to water molecules, as in a solution. This type of paint is different to those that are engineered to enable cleaning of brushes and application equipment in water but are not in themselves water reducible.

The expressive therapies are the use of the creative arts as a form of therapy, including the distinct disciplines expressive arts therapy and the creative arts therapies. The expressive therapies are based on the assumption that people can heal through the various forms of creative expression. Expressive therapists share the belief that through creative expression and the tapping of the imagination, people can examine their body, feelings, emotions, and thought process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art therapy</span> Creation of art to improve mental health

Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drybrush</span> Painting technique

Drybrush is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is relatively dry, but still holds paint, is used to create a drawing or painting. Load is applied to a dry support such as paper or primed canvas. The resulting brush strokes have a characteristic scratchy and textured look that lacks the smooth appearance that washes or blended paint commonly have. This technique can be used to achieve a blurred or soft appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wash (visual arts)</span> A background in an artwork created by applying dilute colour

A wash is a term for a visual arts technique resulting in a semi-transparent layer of colour. A wash of diluted ink or watercolor paint applied in combination with drawing is called pen and wash, wash drawing, or ink and wash. Normally only one or two colours of wash are used; if more colours are used the result is likely to be classified as a full watercolor painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Therapy</span> Attempted medical remediation of a health problem

A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis.

Acrylic painting techniques are different styles of manipulating and working with polymer-based acrylic paints. Acrylics differ from oil paints in that they have shorter drying times and are soluble in water. These types of paint eliminate the need for turpentine and gesso, and can be applied directly onto canvas. Aside from painting with concentrated color paints, acrylics can also be watered down to a consistency that can be poured or used for glazes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Painting</span> Practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oncology</span> Branch of medicine dealing with, or specializing in, cancer

Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an oncologist. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (ónkos), meaning "tumor", "volume" or "mass". Oncology is concerned with:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treatment of cancer</span> Overview of various treatment possibilities for cancer

Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient. Cancer genome sequencing helps in determining which cancer the patient exactly has for determining the best therapy for the cancer. A number of experimental cancer treatments are also under development. Under current estimates, two in five people will have cancer at some point in their lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Talens</span>

Royal Talens is a Dutch company located in Apeldoorn that specializes in art materials. The company produces and markets its own products, apart from commercializing other licensed brands such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Bruynzeel. Products commercialised include acrylic paints, oil paints, watercolor paintings, brushes, markers, inks, pastels, pencils, pens, gouache, canvas, papers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watercolor paper</span> Substrate onto which artists apply watercolor paints

Watercolor paper is paper or substrate onto which an artist applies watercolor paints, pigments, or dyes. Artists generally no longer use stone or tomb walls as a substrates. Many types of watercolour papers that are manufactured for the use of watercolors are currently available. Watercolor paper can be made of wood pulp exclusively, or mixed with cotton fibers. Pure cotton watercolor paper is also used by artists, though it typically costs more than pulp-based paper. It is also available as an acid-free medium to help its preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of paintings</span>

The conservation and restoration of paintings is carried out by professional painting conservators. Paintings cover a wide range of various mediums, materials, and their supports. Painting types include fine art to decorative and functional objects spanning from acrylics, frescoes, and oil paint on various surfaces, egg tempera on panels and canvas, lacquer painting, water color and more. Knowing the materials of any given painting and its support allows for the proper restoration and conservation practices. All components of a painting will react to its environment differently, and impact the artwork as a whole. These material components along with collections care will determine the longevity of a painting. The first steps to conservation and restoration is preventive conservation followed by active restoration with the artist's intent in mind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliot O'Hara</span> American painter

Eliot O'Hara was an American artist and educator known for his masterful watercolors, especially his impressionistic landscapes. The Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine has over 120 of his watercolors representing all aspects of his work. His paintings are in the collections of many museums in the USA and have been the subject of exhibitions throughout the United States. He was an influential educator through his nearly 40 years of teaching, writing, and film making.

References

  1. In addition to the usual method of dipping the brush into a receptacle or mixing water into the gouache on a palette there is apparently the very unusual method of allowing rainfall to dilute the gouache. John Lincoln. "Artbreak.com forums post on "Gouache modified with rainwater"" . Retrieved 2008-08-01.[ dead link ]
  2. "Denise's Watermedia Collage". Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  3. [ dead link ]
  4. "Home". johnnyobrady.com.
  5. Computer-generated watercolor | Proceedings of the 24th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques. 3 August 1997. pp. 421–430. doi:10.1145/258734.258896. ISBN   9780897918961. S2CID   3051452 . Retrieved 2020-03-29.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  6. Bozcuk, H.; Ozcan, K.; Erdogan, C.; Mutlu, H.; Demir, M.; Coskun, S. (2017-02-01). "A comparative study of art therapy in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and improvement in quality of life by watercolor painting". Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 30: 67–72. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2016.11.006. ISSN   0965-2299. PMID   28137529.

7. Ultimate Beginners Guide to Mastering Watercolor Painting & Free Tutorials (2020)