This medium, particularly in England, was used as a preliminary sketch for many of the landscape paintings and it was the famous painter J.M.W. This subject matter was thought of as beneath for some painters, but the printmaker used the watercolor medium to produce this fine study of light and texture of the rabbit, as well as fine botanical, wildlife and landscape watercolors. His most famous watercolor Young Hare, kept today in Albertina in Vienna and often out on view for the public, is a study of a rabbit. As mentioned above, the travel sketches and the documentation of the new discoveries and the voyages led the watercolor art to become a form of intimate documentation, but it was the printmaker Albrecht Dürer who led the new school of thought and the use of the medium. The increased availability of the paper allowed for the possibility of the drawing as an artistic activity. Image via william One Rabbit and The Vast Landscape Turner - A View of the Archbishop's Palace, Lambeth. The easy cleanup and easy transportations influenced the use of the watercolor medium, but many famous artists used this medium for the creation of their finalized and celebrated works. This form of watercolor art is just one of many that saw this medium rise throughout its history, standing as a painting medium side to side with oil paintings. All of the described documentation and mappings, you guessed it, was done with the use of watercolor. The need to discover and travel was also an important educational element among the elite and aristocratic classes. This saw the rise of the botanical art, as well as the rise in the need for the artists who were able to produce maps and topography paintings. The earliest illustrators carried with themselves the boxes of watercolors and they accompanied the famous explorers, such as Captain Cook, and recorded the wildlife, new terrains, and the new world. Image via / Right: William Blake, The Ancient of Days, 1794. The Sistine Chapel, painted by the master artist Michelangelo, is the most famous example of the early use of watercolors as fine arts. The rise of the watercolor in Europe is seen as a result of the development in Chinese papermaking and the decorative use of watercolor and a century later, European artists were preparing their own watercolor mixes for the fresco wall paintings. This use of the watercolor art is also evident in the works of the Limbourg Brothers and in the production of their most famous illuminated book Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, or sometimes called The Book of Hours. The watercolor, seemed a perfect technique to be used for the painting on silk and on paper in China while in the Middle East we do see the use of the fresco technique, but the more dominant use of the watercolor is seen in the production of small manuscripts and in the painting of illustrations. The watercolor medium then moves towards China and the Middle East. It is in the fresco art of the Ancient Romans that we see a certain leap forward, with the more powerful use of color, more of a realistic approach to the subject matter and more delicate and detailed works. The Ancient Greeks used watercolor medium on plaster, known as fresco, to paint their temples, buildings, and sculptures. Early on, we witness the use of the watercolor medium for the paintings of funerary and ritual art found in Ancient Egypt and Greek art. The definition of watercolor is pretty simple it is a type of paint mixed with water and this would include mediums such as gauche, tempera and even fresco techniques. The history of watercolor art is said to go back as far as cave paintings and ancient Egyptians. The earliest forms of paintings were variations of watercolor. Left: Limbourg Brothers - Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, February / Right: Limbourg Brothers - Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1416, The Fall. The watercolor sketches and paintings for many are statements of pure color, and they aid the artist in his exploration of the world around us. The watercolor art technique seems to invite direct and spontaneous response to the subject and no other medium is able to convey the excitement with such speed and use of line. One of the beauties and dominating factors that can explain the existence of watercolor from the beginning of art could be found in the immediacy element that this medium is well known for. The need to express their own view of the world is one of the most important motivations for many artists, and throughout art history, we are introduced to many different techniques and materials used. The extraordinary ability of watercolor to express the effects of shifting light and color has occupied the attention of painters for more than two centuries.
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