What are the artistic characteristics of watercolor painting?

What are the artistic characteristics of watercolor painting?

In addition to some basic painting rules in common with oil painting, watercolor should be attributed to its own expression techniques and appreciation, watercolor has the unique characteristics that make it an independent painting. British landscape paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries, which originated from topographic maps of England in the 16th century. Although the topographic map is simple in form and single in color, it has become the basis for the development of watercolor painting in the future because it is drawn with water as the medium. Watercolor painting began its long course with the special medium -- water.

1. Combination of water and color

In modern watercolor paintings, water is given a new meaning. It is not simply used to blend colors or render inner feelings, but on this basis, further give full play to the quality of water.
If water does not give play to its advantages, it will not be as powerful as oil painting and powder painting. If color does not give play to its characteristics, the charm of ink painting will be inferior. But the beauty of it is the combination of water and color..." ① The unique charm of watercolor painting lies in the combination of water color, and the change of water color produces infinite and vibrant vitality. The transfer of water to water, the penetration of color to color, produced wonderful variations. It made the process of painting more exotic and varied, and the corresponding techniques more complex. The painter should make full use of the advantages of water color, not only the transparent use of water color, to render infiltration techniques to fully express the typical Oriental aesthetic content such as charm, momentum, artistic conception; There is the use of water color smooth creation of incomparable brush art and modeling time. The particularity and diversity of water make it possible for the diversity of watercolor art. Watercolor dripping strokes, misty poetic situation, the performance of the atmosphere of the general blurred, the flicker of light, extremely beautiful. The first impression of the work of Turner, the true pioneer of modern watercolor painting, is bright and hazy, but there is something unreadable about it. Its color is clear, thin and smooth, the change of intensity is mysterious, the water color is clear and pure, it seems to leave a chaotic swirl of color and the movement of brilliant light waves. He was so good at using watercolors and transparent oil paints to show the light of sky and water and the fog of confusion and turbulence that Constable thought he was painting in a "stream of colored light." The personality of watercolor artists is also related to the diversity of water quality. Different degrees of use or emphasis on water, so that watercolor artists have a set of their own painting methods and techniques.
The development and maturity of watercolor depend on the degree of understanding of water quality characteristics and the essential difference between water blending agent and lucky blending agent. The development of watercolor painting history is made up of various characteristics of water quality from unconsciously to consciously to actively.
2. Transparency
The transparent quality of watercolor art generates reliance on one of the iconic features. The sense of transparency is actually the use of light transmission to play the role of light color.
Through the use of color matching, through overlapping, resetting, dizzy dyeing and other means, the color of the whole picture is staggered and mixed, and the white base is flickering and appearing. The interleaving of the coating creates a contrast between thin and thick, bright and dark.
Water-based blending agent has the characteristics of easy to dissolve, easy to stain, easy to flow, transparent blending agent makes color particle light waves clear, color particle flow and penetration in the water make these light waves shine each other, so as to show a bright and elegant beauty on the white paper. Experience has proved that covering painting usually pays attention to the last stroke after all the paving, while non-covering painting usually pays attention to the first stroke representing the saturated bright part. The former uses thick and firm colors to draw the object of light, which is of course rich in texture and strength, while the latter uses gradually darker transparent overlap to "let" the bright part of the object, more bright and attractive.
Transparency is also the degree to grasp the limit of watercolor art. If we go beyond this limited "degree" in the pursuit of innovation and change, we may lose the value of watercolor painting, become the auxiliary means of other kinds of painting, or become a new kind of painting. The performance of this quality of transparency can not only express lyrical, light, smooth, bright, wet and other beautiful feelings, but also show vigorous, robust, vast, thick and magnificent feelings.
3. Randomness and texture
The randomness, contingency and texture of the picture produced by the characteristics of water color and transparency are the expression of the richness of watercolor art. The flow of water color often produces some unexpected effects, the most difficult to control but can produce natural painting. For example, the diffuse method is to use the water color flow randomly generated traces, according to the situation, to complete the author's intention. It seems to be a beautiful picture of nature's transformation.
The appearance of the texture of watercolor painting is the trace of speculation formed by the painter in the process of painting, with the play of their different temperament, style and mood, as well as the role of natural laws of various media. The flow of water, water infiltration, water precipitation and erosion are the new visual life form of the picture. This form of combination of sensitivity and weather is the texture beauty of watercolor painting. The beauty of texture is an important part of the unique style of watercolor painting. All kinds of texture phenomena are related to the psychological effect of people. If all kinds of texture patterns are transformed into painting language as a kind of visual information, and convey emotion and meaning, it will undoubtedly enrich and improve the expressive force of painting art, so watercolor painting precisely in the painting language and psychological effect has reached a high degree of coincidence.