Watercolor distinguishes itself from other types of paint by its great transparency. In fact, the pigments and small quantity of binding agent which compose it need only be diluted in a little water, enabling the artist to cover the paper as if with a translucent veil.

The intensity of color thus depends on the quantity of pigment diluted [Read more]

The oldest watercolors ever found are attributed to the painter and sculptor Giovannino de Grassi and date back to the end of the 14th century. He made watercolor drawings of women, plants, and animals. Later, other artists, including Albrecht Dürer, developed techniques elaborated with this medium. For a long time, the latter was, [Read more]

Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, engraver, and mathematician. He's considered one of the very first master watercolorists. At the age of 15, in 1486, he learned to paint with gouache, oil, and watercolor in the studio of a Nuremberg artist, Michael Wolgemut. During his training, he equally developed great expertise in wood engraving, a [Read more]

James Pattison Cockburn was born in England in 1778 or 1779. An amateur painter but equally a respected topographer, he made his career in the army. His status as an officer of Royal Artillery brought him to live in Canada on two occasions between 1822 and 1832. He painted many watercolors of the cities of Quebec and Montreal whenever he'd make [Read more]

The work imprinted with luminous effects by English painter and watercolorist, Joseph Mallord William Turner, influenced the Impressionistic painters of the 19th century.

Born in London in 1775 into a modest family, Turner entered the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 14 where he studied, among other things, watercolors. He presented [Read more]

Towards the end of the 18th century and turn of the 19th century, England saw a rise in the number of professional and amateur watercolorists devoted to topographical studies. The goal of the painter-topographers was to reproduce, through drawings, watercolors, or engravings, places and scenes easily recognized by people who look at [Read more]