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Images of Edinburgh
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The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries
Images of Edinburgh
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Area A - Z
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Subject A - Z
Watercolour
Watercolour
Watercolour
About the image medium
Name
Watercolour
Notes
This is a painting medium, involving the use of pigments which are soluble in water. Unlike gouache or tempera, lighter tones are not obtained by adding white pigment, but by thinning with water. This allows the paper itself to lighten the effect. It was particularly in vogue with professional artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Turner and later Constable were amongst the most successful in exploiting the quality of the base paper, when painting in watercolour. As it is a quick-drying method, watercolour lends itself to outdoor sketching of buildings and scenery.
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