What are Water Colors?

Water colors are water soluble pigments. While most people have grown up with memories of water colors in trays for school and home artistic projects, many do not know water colors are also sold in tubes to professional and amateur artists.
Moms really appreciate water colors because they are an inexpensive and easy medium to clean up after a child has created his or her prized project. But, professional artists also have a variety of reason for preferring watercolors to other types of paints.

1.Water soluble
2.Easy to clean up
3.Bleeding colors
4.Definition painting
5.No canvas

One of the great aspects of professional watercolors is its water solubility. Forget turpentine to clean the brushes or any other sort of additive to the mixture. Simply squeeze the paint from the tube and add droplets of water until it reaches the desired viscosity.

For the same reason water colors are easy to set up and paint anywhere, they are also very easy to clean up. Forget the horrid smells of turpentine. Simply swish the brush in the water to wash away the pigment, and choose a different color for your brush, or put the supplies away.

Watercolors actually absorb onto the surface of the paper being painted. The grade and thickness of the paper determines how the paints are absorbed. Regardless, water colors tend to bleed somewhat into the adjoining pigment, which can make the medium fun and free to use, as well as blending the paints.

Working with watercolors is a great method of creating a defined piece of art. The size and shape of the brush determines how the paint will be received by the paper. For example, artist for book covers, cartoons, and outdoor scenery often implement watercolors to get the desired results.

A hair thin brush makes excellent tree limbs and fine lines in architecture. A bigger rounded brush is used to create a natural looking sky with just a hint of wispy clouds in the background. Since watercolors do not come in a white pigment, the paper is simply left untouched where white is required.

Finally, there is no canvas to stretch or prime when working with watercolors. Although the paper can be purchased in various sizes and weights to clip on an easel, artists can also opt to use watercolor pads, so their artwork and portfolio is mobile. Thus, it is easy to take this medium along for the ride when leaving home.

In short, water color paints are not just the little trays purchased at the discount store. Professional artists also use the water soluble medium that comes in tubes with a greater concentration of pigmentation. Plus, the painter can control the thickness of the paint by the amount of water added to the water-based colors.

The watercolor medium is often used for cartoons, designing book covers, and creating paintings with greater definition. Also watercolors do not require stretching canvas over a frame or buying some sort of primer for a base coat before starting a project. Simply get an idea, sketch it out, and bring it to life with paint. For the beginning artist, water colors are an excellent way to hone your talents. For the more experienced artist, water colors still offer ease of use, vibrant colors and warm memories of your very first childhood painting.