Culture · 6 pages · 12 min

How watercolor relies on the paper

In transparent watercolor the paper is the light, and the sheet steers the wash.

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From the opening

Watercolor relies on the paper because the paint is a thin wash of pigment in a water-soluble binder, usually gum arabic, and the light is mostly the paper showing through. The support is not a backdrop behind the image, and it is the white the paint never fully covers. The opening covers the paper as the white, sizing, tooth, and the wash, and reserved lights, not added white.

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Inside

The paper as the white
Sizing, tooth, and the wash
Reserved lights, not added white
Why gouache covers instead
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Transparent watercolor and reserved paper highlights
Sizing and surface of watercolor paper

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How watercolor relies on the paper

From the opening

Inside

Sources

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