Palitra Studio. Art Factory EDUCATION

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Learn to sketch and paint.

Classes in different techniques [Oil, acrylic, pastel, water colors].

Create beautiful art work for you, home or gift.

The Palitra is Studio of ART offers its students a dynamic arrangement of in-depth programs of study, including Art and Visual Culture Education, Art History, and Studio Art. No matter what discipline you choose, you will find it here.

Does not matter of age and skills, you can choose private or group art sessions. Both at your place or in studio.

All 2D courses are offered in well-ventilated classroom.

Non-toxic and less hazardous substitutions for traditional toxic solvents, pigments and grounds are used wherever possible.

Painting courses are primarily held in one painting lab with window providing abundant north light.

A small room support courses in drawing, combined media and watercolor.

All painting and drawing studios are wireless and have access to digital projectors.

Mission Statement: The Palitra Studio is devoted to a rigorous and dynamic education in the visual arts, challenging students to think, research, produce, and teach art critically, with an awareness of historical as well as contemporary contexts.

Vision Statement: The Palitra Studio is committed to preparing students for careers in Studio Art, Art History, and Art and Visual Culture Education in an increasingly diverse and technological world. It is not for long in our lives that we are able to create art free of inhibition, judgment, skepticism and self-criticism. In fact, it is only for about the first seven years of our lives that we can truly express ourselves creatively without worrying about what other people think.

At the Palitra Studio. Art Factory , we wholeheartedly support the idea that child art is about engaging in a natural creative process rather than about producing things that we judge to be aesthetically pleasing.

We believe in the power of artistic learning, experimentation, exploration, play, and discovery as the foundation upon which children will begin to build a life-long relationship with art.

We also believe in extending the playful spirit and approach to making art beyond the first seven years of life, inspiring older children to continue seeing the world and expressing themselves with imagination.

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Alexandra was born in the Ukraine in 1987 as a second child in the family.

From the early childhood the girl showed great interest in painting and drawing, which was noticed by her parents who tried to encourage her interest in the arts and develop her skills.

At the age of 10 Alexandra started attending Smolensk Arts School, and at the age of 16 she entered the Department of Fine Arts and Graphics of Smolensk State University.

Five years of the University studies and self-development perfected her skills, gave her profound knowledge of the arts schools and techniques, and helped her to work out her own artistic style and vision of “life in the art�.

Alexandra took a number of master classes from famous Russian artists and started learning more about realism - her favorite artistic school. During her university years she organized a few exhibitions locally and proved to be a talented teacher while having her school practice. Her unique style was positively marked by some of her teacher and treated as a deviation from the classics by the others, but it was recognized by all.

Alexandra enjoys making portraits and believes that every face is beautiful in its own ways and it is becoming more beautiful while you are reflecting it on the paper (drawing or painting).

And it is in the power of the artist to show the life of the face (emotions) on the paper- real artist should be able to do that.

Recently Alexandra has got interested in the abstract art and is going to work more in that direction.

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“The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating” -Debora James

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Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.

It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings.

The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics, whereas disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and psychology analyze its relationship with humans and generations.

Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".

Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.

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Humanities are the creative and intellectual expressions of each of us in the moment of inspiration.

In other words is joy of being alive.

The humanities offer a safe heaven, a quiet harbor where we can moor our vessels and, at least for a time, confirm who we are.

Each of us is more than a gender, an age, an address, an occupation.

Each of us are thoughts, expressed or not, the capacity to be moved, the need to laugh or cry, longing for things just beyond our reach.

The humanities gives us the ideas to stimulate our intellect, musical sounds to excite our passions and knowledge which we can use to create something beautiful and inspiring.

Humanities provide us as well as teach us moments of critical thoughts and aesthetic pleasure.

In other words humanities are Techniques for living for the people who wants to do more with their life.

The key to richer life is to be as open minded as possible.

The recourses of the humanities are unlimited, but all too often our wants are meager.

In the economic world you can’t always be rich by choice, but in the world of humanities you can be “poor” by choice.

The pleasure that beauty inspires in us is called aesthetic.

The humanities can be enjoyed for both theirs aesthetic and communicative functions.

Learning to distinguish one from another is an important part of critical thinking.

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Art has had a great number of different functions throughout its history, making its purpose difficult to abstract or quantify to any single concept.

This does not imply that the purpose of Art is "vague", but that it has had many unique, different reasons for being created.

The different purposes of art may be grouped according to those that are non-motivated, and those that are motivated.

Non-motivated functions of art The non-motivated purposes of art are those that are integral to being human, transcend the individual, or do not fulfill a specific external purpose. Aristotle said, "Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature."

In this sense, Art, as creativity, is something humans must do by their very nature (i.e., no other species creates art), and is therefore beyond utility.

1. Basic human instinct for harmony, balance, rhythm.

Art at this level is not an action or an object, but an internal appreciation of balance and harmony (beauty), and therefore an aspect of being human beyond utility.

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2. Experience of the mysterious.

Art provides a way to experience one's self in relation to the universe.

This experience may often come unmotivated, as one appreciates art, music or poetry.

3. Expression of the imagination.

Art provide a means to express the imagination in nongrammatical ways that are not tied to the formality of spoken or written language. Unlike words, which come in sequences and each of which have a definite meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with meanings that are malleable.

3. Universal communication.

Art allows the individual to express things toward the world as a whole.

Earth artists often create art in remote locations that will never be experienced by another person. The practice of placing a cairn, or pile of stones at the top of a mountain, is an example. (Note: This need not suggest a particular view of God, or religion.)

Art created in this way is a form of communication between the individual and the world as a whole.

4. Ritualistic and symbolic functions.

In many cultures, art is used in rituals, performances and dances as a decoration or symbol. While these often have no specific utilitarian (motivated) purpose, anthropologists know that they often serve a purpose at the level of meaning within a particular culture.

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This meaning is not furnished by any one individual, but is often the PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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result of many generations of change, and of a cosmological relationship within the culture.

Motivated purposes of art refer to intentional, conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. These may be to bring about political change, to comment on an aspect of society, to convey a specific emotion or mood, to address personal psychology, to illustrate another discipline, to (with commercial arts) to sell a product, or simply as a form of communication.

1. Communication.

Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. As most forms of communication have an intent or goal directed toward another individual, this is a motivated purpose. Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as communication. Maps are another example. However, the content need not be scientific. Emotions, moods and feelings are also communicated through art.

2. Art as entertainment.

Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood, for the purpose of relaxing or entertaining the viewer. This is often the function of the art industries of Motion Pictures and Video Games.

3. The Avante-Garde. Art for political change.

One of the defining functions of early twentieth century art has been to use visual images to bring about political change. Art movements that had this goal—Dadaism, Surrealism, Russian Constructivism, and PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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Abstract Expressionism, among others—are collectively referred to as the avant-garde arts.

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4. Art for psychological and healing purposes.

Art is also used by art therapists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as art therapy.

The Diagnostic Drawing Series, for example, is used to determine the personality and emotional functioning of a patient. The end product is not the principal goal in this case, but rather a process of healing, through creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy.

5. Art for social inquiry, subversion and/or anarchy.

While similar to art for political change, subversive or DE constructivist art may seek to question aspects of society without any specific political goal. In this case, the function of art may be simply to criticize some aspect of society.

Graffiti art and other types of street art are graphics and images that are spray-painted or stenciled on publicly viewable walls, buildings, buses, trains, and bridges, usually without permission. Certain art forms, such as graffiti, may also be illegal when they break laws (in this case vandalism).

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6. Art for propaganda or commercialism.

Art is often utilized as a form of propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood. In a similar way, art that tries to sell a product also influences mood and emotion. In both

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cases, the purpose of art here is to subtly manipulate the viewer into a particular emotional or psychological response toward a particular idea or object.

The functions of art described above are not mutually exclusive, as many of them may overlap. For example, art for the purpose of entertainment may also seek to sell a product, i.e. the movie or video game.

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Critical thinking is the process of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false; sometimes true, or partly true. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic method of Ancient Greece and in the East, to the Buddhist kalama sutta and Abhidharma. Critical thinking is an important component of most professions. It is a part of the education process and is increasingly significant as students’ progress through university to graduate education, although there is debate among educators about its precise meaning and scope.

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Critical thinking calls for the ability to:

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Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources (although, under circumstances unpublished sources can be exempt).

The word literature literally means "acquaintance with letters" and the pars pro toto term "letters" is sometimes used to signify "literature," as in the figures of speech "arts and letters" and "man of letters."

The two major classifications of literature are poetry and prose.

Literature is usually differentiated from popular and ephemeral classes of writing, and terms such as "literary fiction" and "literary merit" are used to denote art-literature rather than vernacular writing.

Texts based on factual rather than original or imaginative content, such as informative and polemical works and autobiography, are often denied literary status, but reflective essays or belles-lettres are accepted.

In imaginative literature criticism traditionally excluded genres such as romance, crime and mystery and the various branches of fantastic fiction like science fiction and horror, along with mainstream fiction with insufficiently elevated style, but the idea of genre has broadened and is now harder to apply as a border-line.

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A poem is a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction).

Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet) or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize rhyme. One cannot readily

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s a form of literature makes some significant use of the formal PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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properties of the words it uses – the properties of the written or spoken form of the words, independent of their meaning. Meter depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on the sounds of words.

Some poetry uses specific forms. Examples include the haiku, the limerick, and the sonnet.

A traditional haiku written in Japanese relate to nature, contain seventeen onji (syllables), distributed over three lines in groups of five, seven, and five, and should also have a kigo, a specific word indicating a season.

A limerick has five lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, and line lengths of 3,3,2,2,3 stressed syllables. It traditionally has a less reverent attitude towards nature.

Poetry not adhering to a formal poetic structure is called "free verse".

Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: Persian poetry always rhymes, Greek poetry rarely rhymes, Italian or French poetry often does, English and German poetry can go either way. Perhaps the most paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and Milton, consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters. Some languages prefer longer lines; some shorter ones.

Some of these conventions result from the ease of fitting a specific language's vocabulary and grammar into certain structures, rather than into others; for example, some languages contain more rhyming words than others, or typically have longer words. Other structural conventions come about as the result of historical accidents, where many speakers of a language associate good poetry with a verse form preferred by a particular skilled or popular poet.

Works for theatre traditionally took verse form. This has now become rare outside opera and musicals, although many would argue that the language of drama remains intrinsically poetic.

In recent years, digital poetry has arisen that takes advantage of the artistic, publishing, and synthetic qualities of digital media.

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1. TO BEGIN Read the poem all the way through at least twice. Read it aloud.

Listen to it. Poetry is related to music, so the sound is important. You listen to your favorite CDs many times; the principle is the same. It takes time to fully appreciate and understand a work of art.

Make a note of your first impressions or immediate responses, both positive and negative.

You may change your mind about the poem later, but these first ideas are worth recording.

2. LITERAL MEANING AND THEME Before you can understand the poem as a whole, you have to start with an understanding of the individual words. Get a good dictionary.

Look up, and write down, the meanings of: • words you don’t know • words you “sort of know” • any important words, even if you do know them. Maybe they have more than one meaning, or maybe they can function as different parts of speech. If the poem was written a long time ago, maybe the history of the word matters or maybe the meaning of the word has changed over the years (“jet” did not mean an airplane in the 16th century).

As you pay attention to the literal meanings of the words of the poem, you may see some patterns emerging. These patterns may relate to the diction of the poem: does the poet use “street talk” or slang, formal English, foreign language phrases, or jargon?

Your goal, now that you’ve understood the literal meanings, is to try to determine the

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theme of the poem – the purpose the poet has in writing this poem, the idea he wants to express. In order to discover the theme, however, you need to look at the poem as a whole and the ways the different parts of the poem interact.

3. TITLE Start your search for the theme by looking at the title of the poem. It was probably carefully chosen. What information does it give you?

What expectations does it create? (For example, a poem called “The Garden of Love” should cause a different response from the one called “The Poison Tree.”) Does the title tell you the subject of the poem (ex. “The 2 Groundhog”)? Does the title label the poem as a specific literary type? (ex. “Ode to Melancholy”; “Sonnets at Christmas) If so, you should check what characteristics such forms have and discuss how the poet uses the “rules.” Is the title an object or event that becomes a key symbol?

4. TONE Next you might consider the tone. Who is peaking? Listen to the voice. ? Is it a man or a woman? Someone young or old? Is any particular race, nationality, religion, etc. suggested? Does the voice sound like the direct voice of the poet speaking to you, expressing thoughts and feelings? Is a separate character being created, someone who is not necessarily like the poet at all (a persona)?

Is the speaker addressing someone in particular? Who or what? Is the poem trying to make a point, win an argument, move someone to action? Or is it just expressing something without requiring an answer (ex. A poem about spring may just want to express joy about the end of winter, or it may attempt to seduce someone, or it may encourage someone to go plough in a field.

What is the speaker’s mood? Is the speaker angry, sad, happy, cynical? How do you know?

This is all closely related to the subject of the poem (what is the speaker talking about?) and the theme (why is the speaker talking about this? What is the speaker trying to say about this subject?).

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5. STRUCTURE How is the poem organized? How is it divided up? Are there individual stanzas or numbered sections? What does each section or stanza discuss? How are the sections or stanzas related to each other?

(Poems don’t usually jump around randomly; the poet probably has some sort of organization in mind, like steps in an argument, movement in time, changes in location or viewpoint, or switches in mood.)

If there are no formal divisions, try breaking down the poem sentence by sentence, or line by line. The poet’s thinking process may not be absolutely logical, but there is probably an emotional link between ideas.

A very controlled structure may tell you a lot about the poet’s attitude toward the subject. Is it a very formal topic? Is the poet trying to get a grip on something chaotic? A freer poetic form is also worth examining. What is appropriate or revealing about the lack of structure?

6. SOUND AND RHYTHM Poetry is rooted in music. You may have learned to scan poetry-to break it into accented/unaccented syllables and feet per line. There are different types of meter, like iambic pentameter, which is a 5-beat line with alternating unaccented and accented syllables. You can use a glossary of literary terms to find a list of the major types of meter.

Not all poems, however, will have a strict meter. What is important is to listen to the rhythm and the way it affects the meaning of the poem. Just like with music, you can tell if a poem is sad or happy if you listen carefully to the rhythm. Also, heavily stressed or repeated words give you a clue to the overall meaning of the poem.

Does the poem use "special effects" to get your attention? Some words take time to pronounce and slow the reader down (ex. "the ploughman homeward plods his weary way" echoes the slow plodding pace). Other words can hurry the reader along (ex. "run the rapids"). If you are unfamiliar with the terms alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia, you can look them up and see if they apply to your poem-but naming them is less

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important than experiencing their effect on the work you are examining.

Does your poem rhyme? Is there a definite rhyme scheme (pattern of rhymes)? How does this scheme affect your response to the poem? Is it humorous? Monotonous? Childish like a nursery rhyme? Are there internal rhymes (rhymes within the lines instead of at the ends)? If you read the poem aloud, do you hear the rhymes? (They could be there without being emphasized.) How does the use of rhyme add to the meaning?

Certain poetic forms or structures are supposed to follow specific "rules" of rhyme and meter (ex. sonnets or villanelles). If you are studying a poem of this type, ask yourself if the poet followed the rules or broke them-and why.

Different parts of a poem may have different sounds; different voices may be speaking, for example. There are lots of possibilities. No matter what, though, the sound should enforce the meaning.

7. LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY Every conclusion you have drawn so far has been based on the language and imagery of the poem. They have to be; that's all you have to go on. A poem is only words, and each has been carefully chosen. You began by making sure you understood the dictionary meanings of these words (their denotative meaning). Now you have to consider their visual and emotional effects, the symbols and figures of speech (the connotative meaning).

Look for the concrete pictures, or images, the poet has drawn.

Consider why these particular things have been chosen. If an owl is described, does that set up a mood, or a time of day? If a morning is called "misty", what specific effects does that have? Are certain patterns built up, clusters of words that have similar connotations? For example, descriptions of buds on trees, lambs, and children are all pointing toward a theme involving spring, youth and new birth. 4 Symbolism is also often used in a poem. A symbol is an event or a physical object (a thing, a person, a place) that represents something non-physical such as an idea, a value, or an emotion. For example, a ring is symbolic of unity and marriage; a budding tree in

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spring might symbolize life and fertility; a leafless tree in the winter could be a symbol for death.

Poets use techniques and devices like metaphors, similes, personification, symbolism and analogies to compare one thing to another, either quickly and simply ("He was a tiger") or slowly over a stanza or a whole poem (an extended metaphor like this is called a conceit).

Work out the details carefully. Which comparisons are stressed?

Are they all positive? How are they connected?

A description of birds flying could have any number of meanings. Are the birds fighting against the wind? Soaring over mountains?

Circling a carcass? Pay close attention and pick up the clues.

Poems, like music videos and movies, employ a series of images and symbols to build up mood and meaning. You need to take time to feel the mood and think about the meaning.

Now that you have considered some of the key elements of the poem, it is time to step back and decide what the poem means as a whole.

To do this, you need to synthesize (combine) the separate parts of your analysis into one main idea--your idea about what the poet is trying to say in this poem.

What is the poet trying to say? How forcefully does he or she say it and with what feeling?

Which lines bring out the meaning of the poem? Does the poet gradually lead up to the meaning of the poem or does he or she state it right at the beginning? The last lines of a poem are usually important as they either emphasize or change the meaning of the poem.

Is this so in the poem that you are analyzing?

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In painting, "media" refers to both the type of paint used and the base (or ground) to which it is applied. A paint's medium refers to what carries a paint's pigments (colors), and is also called a "vehicle", "base" or binder. A painter can mix a medium with solvents, pigments, and other substances in order to make paint, and control consistency.

Traditional paint media                  

Acrylic paint Blacklight paint Encaustic paint Fresco Gesso Glaze Gouache Ink Latex paint Magna paint Oil paint Primer Stencil Sumi-e (ink wash painting) Tempera or poster paint Vinyl paint (toxic/poisonous) Vitreous enamel Watercolor

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Acrylic paint is fastdrying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints are water soluble, but become water-resistant when dry.

Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.

History As early as 1934 the first usable acrylic resin dispersion was developed by German chemical company BASF, which was patented by Rohm and Haas. The synthetic paint was first used in 1940s, combining some of the properties of oil and watercolor.

Between 1946 and 1949, Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden invented a solution acrylic paint under the brand Magna paint. These were mineral spirit-based paints.

Acrylics were made commercially available in the 1950s. A waterborne acrylic paint called "Aquatec" would soon follow. Otto Rohm invented acrylic resin, which quickly transformed into acrylic paint. In 1953, the year that Rohm and Haas developed the first acrylic emulsions, Jose L. Gutierrez produced Politec Acrylic Artists' Colors in Mexico, and Permanent Pigments Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, producedLiquitex colors. These two product lines were the very first acrylic emulsion artists' paints.

Water-based acrylic paints were subsequently sold as latex house paints, as latex is the technical term for a suspension of polymer microparticles in water. Interior latex house paints tend to be a combination of binder (sometimes acrylic, vinyl, pva, and PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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others), filler, pigment, and water. Exterior latex house paints may also be a copolymer blend, but the best exterior waterbased paints are 100% acrylic, due to elasticity and other factors, but vinyl costs half of what 100 percent acrylic resins cost, and PVA (polyvinyl acetate) is even cheaper, so paint companies make many combinations of them to match the market.

Soon after the water-based acrylic binders were introduced as house paints, artists and companies alike began to explore the potential of the new binders. Water-soluble artists' acrylic paints became commercially available in the 1950s, offered by Liquitex, with high-viscosity paints similar to those made today becoming available in the early 1960s. In 1963, Rowney (now part of DalerRowney since 1983) was the first manufacturer to introduce an artist’s acrylic color in Europe, under the brand name Cryla.

Techniques Acrylic artist paints may be thinned with water and used as washes in the manner of watercolor paints, but the washes are not re-hydratable once dry. For this reason, acrylics do not lend themselves to color lifting techniques as do gum arabic based watercolor paints.

Acrylic paints with gloss or matte finishes are common, although a satin (semi-matte) sheen is most common; some brands exhibit a range of finish (e.g., heavy-body paints from Golden, Liquitex, Winsor & Newton and Daler-Rowney). Politec acrylics are fully matte. As with oils, pigment amounts and particle

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size or shape can naturally affect the paint sheen. Matting agents can also be added during manufacture to dull the finish. The artist can mix media with their paints and use topcoats or varnishes to alter or unify sheen if desired.

When dry, acrylic paint is generally non-removable from a solid surface. Water or mild solvents do not re-solubilize it, although isopropyl alcohol can lift some fresh paint films off. Toluene and acetone can remove paint films, but they do not lift paint stains very well and are not selective. The use of a solvent to remove paint may result in removal of all of the paint layers, acrylic gesso, etc. Oils and warm, soapy water can remove acrylic paint from skin.

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Only a proper, artist-grade acrylic gesso should be used to prime canvas in preparation for painting with acrylic (however, acrylic paint can be applied to raw canvas if so desired without any negative effect or chemical reaction as would be the case with oils). It is important to avoid adding non-stable or non-archival elements to the gesso upon application. However, the viscosity of acrylic can successfully be reduced by using suitable extenders that maintain the integrity of the paint film. There are retarders to slow drying and extend workability time and flow releases to increase color-blending ability.

Painters and acrylic Prior to the 19th century, artists mixed their own paints, which allowed them to achieve the desired color and thickness and to control the use of fillers, if any. While suitable media and raw pigments are available for the individual production of acrylic paint, hand mixing may not be practical due to the fast drying time and other technical issues.

Acrylic painters can modify the appearance, hardness, flexibility, texture, and other characteristics of the paint surface by using acrylic media or simply by adding water. Watercolor and oil painters also use various media, but the range of acrylic media is much greater. Acrylics have the ability to bond to many different surfaces, and media can be used to adjust their binding characteristics. Acrylics can be used on paper, canvas and a range of other materials. However, their use on engineered woods such as medium-density fiberboard can be problematic because of the porous nature of those surfaces.[10] In these cases it is recommended that the surface first be sealed with an appropriate sealer. Acrylics can be applied in thin layers or washes to create

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effects that resemble watercolors and other water-based media.

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They can also be used to build thick layers of paint—gel and molding paste media are sometimes used to create paintings with relief features that are literally sculptural.

Acrylic paints are also used in hobbies such as train, car, house, and human models.

People who make such models use acrylic paint to build facial features on dolls or raised details on other types of models.

Acrylic paint is easily removed from paint brushes and skin with water, unlike oil paints that require the use of a hydrocarbon.

Acrylic paints are the most common paints used in grattage.

Grattage is a surrealist technique that became popular with the release of acrylic paint. Acrylics are used for this purpose because they easily scrape or peel from a surface.

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Grades Commercial acrylic paints come in three grades: 

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Artist or professional acrylics are designed with the professional artist in mind. Highly pigmented with a focus on single pigment colors for the cleanest mixing results, they tend to have viscosity similar to oil paints and can thus hold a brush stroke for impasto applications. Acrylics can be applied to canvas, boards, paper, panels, wood, and a number of other prepared surfaces.

Student acrylics have working characteristics similar to professional artist acrylics, but with lower pigment concentrations, less expensive formulas, and a smaller range of colors. More expensive pigments are generally replicated by hues. Colors are designed to be mixed, although color strength is lower. Hues may not have the exact mixing characteristics of full-strength colors.

Scholastic acrylics use less expensive pigments as well as dyes in formulations that are safe for younger artists, and economical for classroom use. The color range is limited to common primary and secondary colors, and the actual pigments are unspecified.

Because scholastic acrylics use dyes as well as pigments, lightfastness may be poor.

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Varieties 

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Craft acrylics can be used on surfaces besides canvas, such as wood, metal, fabrics, and ceramics. They are used in decorative painting techniques and faux finishes, often to decorate objects of ordinary life. Although colors can be mixed, pigments are often not specified. Each color line is formulated instead to achieve a wide range of pre-mixed colors. Craft paints usually employ vinyl or PVA resins to increase adhesion and lower cost.

Heavy body acrylics are typically found in the Artist and Student Grade paints, they are the best choice for impasto or heavier paint applications. Heavy Body refers to the viscosity or thickness of the paint. They will hold a brush or knife stroke and even a medium stiff peak. Gel Mediums "pigment-less paint" are also available in various viscosities and used to thicken or thin paints, as well as extend and add transparency.

Interactive acrylics are all purpose acrylic artist colors which have the characteristic fast drying nature of artists acrylics, but are formulated to allow artists to delay drying when they need more working time, or rewet their work when they want to do more wet blending.

Open acrylics were created to address the one major difference between oil and acrylic paints, the shortened time it takes acrylic paint to dry. Designed by Golden Artist Colors, Inc. with a hydrophilic acrylic resin, these paints can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, or even a few weeks to dry completely

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depending on paint thickness, support characteristics, temperature and humidity.

Fluid acrylics, or flow, soft body acrylics, have a lower viscosity but generally have the same heavy pigmentation of the heavy body acrylics. Available in either Artist quality or Craft quality, there is a fluid acrylic for every level of art and budget. These paints are good for watercolor techniques, airbrush application, or when smooth coverage is desired. Mix the fluid acrylics with any of the mediums to thicken them for impasto work or thin them for glazing applications.

Iridescent, pearl and interference acrylic colors combine conventional pigments with powdered mica (aluminium silicate) or powdered bronze to achieve complex effects. Colors have shimmering or reflective characteristics, depending on the coarseness or fineness of the powder. Iridescent colors are used in both fine arts and crafts.

Acrylic gouache is like traditional gouache in that dries to a matte finish and is opaque. However, unlike traditional gouache, the acrylic binder in the acrylic gouache makes it water resistant once dry. Like craft acrylics, it will stick to a variety of surfaces other than canvas and paper. This paint is typically used by watercolorists, cartoonists, illustrators, and for decorative or folk art applications.

Exterior acrylics are paints that can withstand outdoor conditions. Like craft acrylics, they adhere to many surfaces.

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They are more resistant to both water and ultraviolet light.

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Differences between acrylic and oil paint The vehicle and binder of oil paints is linseed oil or another drying oil, whereas water serves as the vehicle for an emulsion (suspension) of acrylic polymer that is the binder in acrylic paint. Thus, oil paint is said to be "oil-based", whereas acrylic paint is "water-based" (or sometimes "water-borne").

The main practical difference between most acrylics and oil paints is the inherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colors and apply even glazes over underpaintings. This slow drying aspect of oil can be seen as an advantage for certain techniques, but in other regards it impedes the artist trying to work quickly. The fast evaporation of water from regular acrylic paint films can be slowed with the use of acrylic retarders.

Retarders are generally glycol or glycerinbased additives. The addition of a retarder slows the evaporation rate of the water.

Oil paints may require the use of solvents such as mineral spirits or turpentine to thin the paint and clean up; these generally have some level of toxicity and are often found objectionable. Relatively recently, water-miscible oil paints have been developed for artists' use. Oil paint films can become increasingly yellow and brittle with time and lose much of their flexibility in a few decades. Additionally, the rules of "fat over lean" must be employed to ensure the paint films are durable.

Oil paint has a higher pigment load than acrylic paint. As linseed oil has a smaller molecule than acrylic, oil paint is able to absorb substantially more pigment. Oil provides a different (less clear)

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refractive index than acrylic dispersions, imparting a unique "look and feel" to the resultant paint film. Not all pigments in oil are available in acrylic. Prussian blue has been recently added to the acrylic colors. Acrylic paints, unlike oil, may also be fluorescent.

Due to acrylic's more flexible nature and more consistent drying time between colors, the painter does not have to follow the "fat over lean" rule of oil painting, where more medium must be applied to each layer to avoid cracking. It usually takes between fifteen to twenty minutes for one to two layer of acrylic paint to dry. Although canvas needs to be properly sized and primed before painting with oil (otherwise it will eventually rot the canvas), acrylic can be safely applied to raw canvas. The rapid drying of the paint tends to discourage the blending of color and use of wet-in-wet technique as in oil painting. Even though acrylic retarders can slow drying time to several hours, it remains a relatively fast-drying medium, and the addition of too much acrylic retarder can prevent the paint from ever drying properly.

Meanwhile, acrylic paint is very elastic, which prevents cracking from occurring. Acrylic paint's binder is acrylic polymer emulsion; as this binder dries the paint remains flexible.

Another difference between oil and acrylic paints is the versatility offered by acrylic paints: acrylic is very useful in mixed media, allowing use of pastel (oil & chalk), charcoal, pen, etc. on top of the dried acrylic painted surface. Mixing other bodies into the acrylic is possible—sand, rice, even pasta may be incorporated in the artwork. Mixing artist or student quality acrylic paint with household acrylic emulsions is possible, allowing the use of premixed tints straight from the tube or tin, so presenting the painter with a vast color range at his or her disposal. This versatility is also illustrated in the wide variety of additional artistic uses that acrylics afford the artist. Specialist acrylics have been manufactured and used for lino block printing (acrylic block printing ink produced by Derivan since the early 1980s), face painting, airbrushing, watercolor techniques, and fabric screen printing.

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Blacklight ink or blacklight-reactive Ink is ink that glows under a black light, a source of light whose wavelengths are primarily in theultraviolet. The paint may or may not be colorful under ordinary light. It is also known as luminous paint or fluorescent paint.

Blacklight paints can be mixed with similar shades of normal pigments, "brightening" them when viewed in sunlight.

The word "dayglo" is commonly used as an ordinary noun; however, "Dayglo" is a registered trademark of the DayGlo Color Corporation.

The invention of fluorescent paints is attributed to Robert Switzer, who was confined to a dark room after a fall, and his brother Joseph, who was a chemistry major at UC Berkeley, in 1934. They took a black light into the storeroom of their father's drugstore looking for naturally fluorescent organic compounds and from that developed paints.

Blacklight paints and inks are commonly used in the production of blacklight posters. Under daylight, the ultraviolet light ordinarily present makes the colors especially vivid. Under blacklight (with little or no visible light present), the effect produced can be psychedelic.

The inks are normally highly sensitive to direct sunlight and other powerful light sources. The fluorescent dyes cause a chemical reaction when exposed to high intensity light sources (HILS) and the visual result is a fading in the colors of the inks. With paper, significant visible change in the color saturation can typically be observed within 45 minutes to one hour of exposure to the HILS. To date, there is no absolute method to prevent this phenomenon, although certain laminations, lacquer coatings and glass or plastic protective sheets can effectively slow the fading characteristics of the dyes.

Other common usage of the blacklight inks is in security features of money notes, various certificates printed on paper, meal coupons, tickets and similar things that represent a value (monetary or

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otherwise). The blacklight printed figures used for this purpose are usually invisible under normal lighting, even when they are exposed to direct sunlight (which contains ultraviolet light) but they show up glowing when exposed to blacklight source. This defeats simple and inexpensive attempts to counterfeit them by scanning the original using a high resolution scanner and printing them using an inexpensive high resolution printer (most if not all inexpensive printers do not allow using blacklight inks for printing)[citation needed] and no special equipment is needed to verify the presence and correctness of this feature (an inexpensive blacklight source being all that is required). Some coupons and tickets use colorful blacklight inks.

On many German locomotives the control panel labels were printed with blacklight paint and a blacklight source was provided in the cab. This left the driver with full night-vision while still enabling him to distinguish between the different switches and levers to operate his locomotive.

Blacklight paints are sometimes used in the scenery of amusement park dark rides: a blacklight illuminates the vivid colors of the scenery, while the vehicle and other passengers remain dimly lit or barely visible. This can enhance the effect of being in a fantasy world.

Blacklight paints may be fluorescent or, more rarely, phosphorescent, containing a phosphor that continues to glow for a time after the blacklight has been removed.

Some clothes worn in survival and rough weather situations sometimes have dayglo strips and patches for conspicuity.

In nature Some natural pigments (for example, on some scorpions) shine in visible light if illuminated with ultraviolet light.

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Gouache (/ɡuːˈæʃ/; French: [ˈɡwaʃ]), also spelled guache, is a type of paint consisting of pigment, a binding agent (usually gum arabic), and sometimes added inert material, designed to be used in an opaque method. It also refers to paintings that use this opaque method. The name derives from the Italian guazzo.

Gouache paint is similar to watercolor but modified to make it opaque. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is present, just as in watercolor. Gouache differs from watercolor in that the particles are larger, the ratio of pigment to water is much higher, and an additional, inert, white pigment such as chalk may also be present.

This makes gouache heavier and more opaque, with greater reflective qualities.

Gouache generally dries to a different value than it appears when wet (lighter tones generally dry darker, while darker tones tend to dry lighter), which can make it difficult to match colors over multiple painting sessions. Its quick coverage and total hiding power mean that gouache lends itself to more direct painting techniques than watercolor.

"En plein air" paintings take advantage of this, as do works of J.M.W. Turner and Victor Lensner. It is used most consistently by commercial artists for works such as posters, illustrations, comics, and for other design work. Most 20th-century animations used it to create an opaque color on a cel with watercolor paint used for backgrounds, and gouache as "poster paint" is desirable for its speed and durability.

As with all types of paint, gouache has been used on some unusual papers or surfaces.

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One variation of the medium is gouaches dĂŠcoupĂŠes created

by Henri Matisse, cut collages. His Blue Nudes series is a good example of the technique.

A relatively new variation is acrylic gouache. It is similar to traditional gouache with highly concentrated pigment but, unlike traditional gouache that is tempered with gum arabic, it is mixed with an acrylic-based binder. It is water soluble when wet and dries to a matte, opaque and water-resistant surface when dry. Acrylic gouache differs from acrylic paintbecause it contains additives to ensure the matte finish and the reworking time of the applied paint is slightly extended. Some brands can sometimes be removed or "lifted" for several hours after application during their drying time.

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Oil paint is a type of slowdrying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the dried oil paint film. Oil paints have been used in Europe since the 12th century for simple decoration, but were not widely adopted as an artistic medium until the early 15th century. Common modern applications of oil paint are in finishing and protection of wood in buildings and exposed metal structures such as ships and bridges. Its hard-wearing properties and luminous colors make it desirable for both interior and exterior use on wood and metal. Due to its slow-drying properties, it has recently been used in paint-on-glass animation. Thickness of coat has considerable bearing on time required for drying: thin coats of oil paint dry relatively quickly.

The technical history of the introduction and development of oil paint, and the date of introduction of various additives (driers, thinners) is still—despite intense research since the mid 18th century—not well understood. The literature abounds with

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incorrect theories and information: in general, anything published before 1952 is suspect.

Till 1991 nothing was known on the organic part of parietal paintings from the Paleolithic time. Many assumptions were made about the chemistry of the binders.

The oldest known oil paintings date from 650 AD, found in 2008 in caves in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley, "using walnut and poppy seed oils."

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Though the ancient Mediterranean civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Egypt used vegetable oils, there is little evidence to indicate their use as media in painting.

Indeed, linseed oil was not used as a medium because of its tendency to dry very slowly, darken, and crack, unlike mastic and wax.

Greek writers such as Aetius Amidenus recorded recipes involving the use of oils for drying, such as walnut, poppy, hempseed, pine nut, castor, and linseed.

When thickened, the oils became resinous and could be used as varnish to seal and protect paintings from water.

Additionally, when

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yellow pigment was added to oil, it could be spread over tin foil as a less expensive alternative to gold leaf.

Early Christian monks maintained these records and used the techniques in their own artworks. Theophilus Presbyter, a 12thcentury German monk, recommended linseed oil but advocated against the use of olive oil due to its long drying time. Oil paint was mainly used as it is today in house decoration, as a tough waterproof cover for exposed woodwork, especially outdoors.

In the 13th century, oil was used to detail tempera paintings.

In the 14th century, Cennino Cennini described a painting technique utilizing tempera painting covered by light layers of oil. The slow-drying properties of organic oils were commonly known to early painters. However, the difficulty in acquiring and working the materials meant that they were rarely used (and indeed the slow drying was seen as a disadvantage).

As public preference for naturalism increased the quickdrying tempera paints became insufficient to achieve the very detailed and precise effects that oil could achieve. The Early Netherlandish painting of the 15th century saw the rise of the panel painting purely in oils, or oil painting, or works combing tempera and oil painting, and by the 16th century easel painting in pure oils had become the norm, using much the same techniques and materials found today.

The claim by Vasari that Jan van Eyck "invented" oil painting is not correct but has cast a long shadow, but van Eyck's use of oil paint achieved novel results in terms of precise detail and PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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mixing colours wet-on-wet with a skill hardly equalled since.

Van Eyck’s mixture may have consisted of piled glass, calcined bones, and mineral pigments boiled in linseed oil until they reached a viscous state—or he may have simply used sun-thickened oils (slightly oxidized by Sun exposure). He left no written documentation.

The Flemish-trained or influenced Antonello da Messina, who Vasari wrongly credited with the introduction of oil paint to Italy,[4] does seem to have improved the formula by addinglitharge, or lead (II) oxide. The new mixture had a honey-like consistency and better drying properties (drying evenly without cracking).

This mixture was known as oglio cotto—"cooked oil." Leonardo da Vinci later improved these techniques by cooking the mixture at a very low temperature and adding 5 to 10% beeswax, which prevented darkening of the paint. Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto each may have altered this recipe for their own purposes.

The use of any cooked oils or Litharge (sugar of Lead) darkens an oil painting rapidly. None of the old Masters whose work survives used these in their paintings. Both ingredients became popular in the 19th century. Since that time, experiments to improve paint and coatings have been conducted with other oils.

Modern oil paints are created frombladderpod, ironweed, calendula and sandmat, plants used to increase the resistance or to reduce the drying time.

The paint tube was invented in 1841 by portrait painter John Goffe Rand, superseding pig bladders and glass syringes as PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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the primary tool of paint transport. Artists, or their assistants, previously ground each pigment by hand, carefully mixing the binding oil in the proper proportions. Paints could now be produced in bulk and sold in tin tubes with a cap. The cap could be screwed back on and the paints preserved for future use, providing flexibility and efficiency to painting outdoors.

The manufactured paints had a balanced consistency that the artist could thin with oil, turpentine, or other mediums.

Paint in tubes also changed the way some artists approached painting. The artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir said, “Without tubes of paint, there would have been no Impressionism.� For the Impressionists, tubed paints offered an easily accessible variety of colors for their plein airpalettes, motivating them to make spontaneous color choices. With greater quantities of preserved paint, they were able to apply paint more thickly.

Pigments for sale at a market stall in Goa, India.

The color of oil paint derives from small particles of colored pigments mixed with the carrier.

Some of the earliest known pigments arecharcoal (black), iron oxide (rust red), and gypsum (white).

Common pigment types include mineral salts such as white oxides: lead, now most often replaced by less toxic zinc and titanium, and the red to yellow cadmium pigments.

Another class consists of earth types,

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e.g. sienna or umber. Still another group of pigments comes from living organisms, such as madder root.

Synthetic pigments are also now available. Natural pigments have the advantage of being well understood through centuries of use, but synthetics have greatly increased the spectrum of available colors, and many are tested well for their lightfastness.

Many of the historical pigments were dangerous, and many pigments still in popular use today are highly toxic. Some of the most poisonous pigments, such as Paris green (copper(II) acetoarsenite) and orpiment (arsenic sulfide), have fallen from use.

Many pigments still in use are toxic to some degree.

Commonly used reds and yellows are produced using cadmium, and vermilion red uses natural or synthetic mercuric sulfide orcinnabar. Flake white and Cremnitz white are made with basic lead carbonate. Some intense blue colors, including cobalt blue and cerulean blue, are made with cobalt compounds. Some varieties of cobalt violet are made with cobalt arsenate.

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Fresco (plural frescos or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment and, with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco (Italian: affresco) is derived from the Italian Adjective fresco meaning "fresh". Fresco may thus be contrasted with secco mural painting techniques, on plasters of lime, earth, or gypsum, or applied to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

Buon fresco pigment mixed with room temperature water on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. Because of the chemical makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco, which itself becomes the medium holding the pigment. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries and reacts with the air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the pigment particles in the plaster. The chemical processes are as follows:

In painting buon fresco, a rough underlayer called the arriccio is added to the whole area to be painted and allowed to dry for some days. Many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia; these drawings are also called sinopia. Later,

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techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of the drawing were pricked over with a point, held against the wall, and a bag of soot (spolvero) banged on them on produce black dots along the lines. If a previous fresco was being painted over, the surface would be roughened to give a key. On the day of painting, a thinner, smooth layer of fine plaster, the intonaco, is added to the amount of wall that can be expected to be completed in a day, sometimes matching the contours of the figures or the landscape, but more often just starting from the top of the composition. This area is called the giornata ("day's work"), and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, by a sort of seam that separates one from the next.

Buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Generally, a layer of plaster will require ten to twelve hours to dry; ideally, an artist would begin to paint after one hour and continue until two hours before the drying time—giving seven to nine hours working time. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, and the unpainted intonaco must be removed with a tool before starting again the next day. If mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later a secco.

A technique as seen in the popular frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael is to actually scrape into certain areas of the plaster while still wet to increase the illusion of depth and to accent certain areas over others. The eyes of the people of the School of athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark 'outlining' of his central figures within his frescoes.

In a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After centuries, these giornate (originally, nearly invisible) have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes, these divisions may be seen from the ground.

Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by a secco painting, which has since fallen off.

One of the first painters in the post-classical period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist.

A secco painting, in contrast, is done on dry plaster (secco is "dry" in Italian). The pigments thus require a binding medium, such as egg(tempera), glue or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. It is important to distinguish between a secco work done on top of buon fresco, which according to most authorities was in fact standard from the Middle Ages onwards, and work done entirely a secco on a blank wall. Generally, buon fresco works are more durable than any a secco work added on top of them, because a secco work lasts better with a roughened plaster surface, whilst true fresco should have a smooth one. The additional a secco work PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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would be done to make changes, and sometimes to add small details, but also because not all colours can be achieved in true fresco, because only some pigments work chemically in the very alkalineenvironment of fresh lime-based plaster. Blue was a particular problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli, the only two blue pigments then available, works well in wet fresco.

It has also become increasingly clear, thanks to modern analytical techniques, that even in the early Italian Renaissance painters quite frequently employed a secco techniques so as to allow the use of a broader range of pigments. In most early examples this work has now entirely vanished, but a whole fresco done a secco on a surface roughened to give a key for the paint may survive very well, although damp is more threatening to it than to buon fresco.

A third type called a mezzo-fresco is painted on nearly dry intonaco—firm enough not to take a thumb-print, says the

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sixteenth-century author Ignazio Pozzo—so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster. By the end of the sixteenth century this had largely displaced buon fresco, and was used by painters such as Gianbattista Tiepolo or Michelangelo. This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages of a secco work.

The three key advantages of work done entirely a secco were that it was quicker, mistakes could be corrected, and the colours varied less from when applied to when fully dry—in wet fresco there was a considerable change.

For wholly a secco work, the intonaco is laid with a rougher finish, allowed to dry completely and then usually given a key by rubbing with sand. The painter then proceeds much as he would on a canvas or wood panel. The two types of fresco painting are buon fresco and fresco secco. Buon fresco is painting into wet plaster, which makes a painting last a long time. Fresco secco is painting onto dry plaster, which does not last as long.

The 18th-century BC fresco of the Investiture of Zimrilimdiscovered at the Royal Palace of ancient Mari in Syria

The earliest known examples of frescoes done in the Buon Fresco method date at around 1500 BC and are to be found on the island of Crete in Greece. The most famous of these, The Toreador, depicts a sacred ceremony in which individuals jump over the backs of large bulls. While some similar frescoes have been found in other locations around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Egypt and Morocco, their origins are subject to speculation.

Some art historians believe that fresco artists from Crete may have been sent to various locations as part of a trade exchange, a possibility which raises to the fore the importance of this art form within the society of the times. The most common form

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of fresco was Egyptian wall paintings in tombs, usually using the a secco technique.

Classical antiquity

Fresco of "Sappho" fromPompeii, c. 50 CE.

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Etruscan fresco of Velia Velcha from the Tomb of Orcus, Tarquinia.

Frescoes were also painted in ancient Greece, but few of these works have survived. In southern Italy, at Paestum, which was a Greek colony of the Magna Graecia, a tomb containing frescoes dating back to 470 BC, the so-called Tomb of the Diver was discovered on June 1968. These frescoes depict scenes of the life and society of ancient Greece, and constitute valuable historical testimonials. One shows a group of men reclining at a symposium while another shows a young man diving into the sea.

Roman wall paintings, such as those at the magnificent Villa dei Misteri (1st century B.C.) in the ruins ofPompeii, and others at Herculaneum, were completed in buon fresco.

Late Roman Empire (Christian) 1st-2nd-century frescoes were found in catacombs beneath Rome and Byzantine Icons were also found in Cyprus, Crete, Ephesus, Cappadocia and Antioch. Roman frescoes were done by the artist painting the artwork on the still damp plaster of the wall, so that the painting is part of the wall, actually colored plaster.

Also a historical collection of Ancient Christian frescoes can be found in the Churches of Goreme Turkey.

Indian fresco

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Fresco from the Ajanta cavesbuilt and painted during the Gupta Empire in the 6th century AD

Sigiriya Fresco, Sri Lanka. c. 477 -495 AD

Chola Fresco of Dancing girls. Brihadisvara Temple c. 1100

Fresco in the Church of theMonastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian in Syria Thanks to large number of ancient rock-cut cave temples, valuable ancient and early medieval frescoes have been preserved in more than 20 locations of India.[5] The frescoes on the ceilings and walls of theAjanta Caves were painted between c. 200 BC and 600 and are the oldest known frescoes in India. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research on the subject since the time of the site's

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rediscovery in 1819. Other locations with valuable preserved ancient and early medieval frescoes include Bagh Caves, Ellora Caves,Sittanavasal, Armamalai Cave, Badami Cave Temples and other locations. Frescoes have been made in several techniques including tempera technique.

The later Chola paintings were discovered in 1931 within the circumambulatory passage of theBrihadisvara Temple in India and are the first Chola specimens discovered.

Researchers have discovered the technique used in these frescos.

A smooth batter of limestone mixture is applied over the stones, which took two to three days to set. Within that short span, such large paintings were painted with natural organic pigments.

During the Nayak period the Chola paintings were painted over.

The Chola frescos lying underneath have an ardent spirit of saivismexpressed in them. They probably synchronised with the completion of the temple by Rajaraja Cholan the Great.

The frescoes in Dogra/ Pahari style paintings exist in their unique form at Sheesh Mahal of Ramnagar (105 km from Jammu and 35 km PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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west of Udhampur).

Scenes from epics of Mahabharat and Ramayan along with portraits of local lords form the subject matter of these wall paintings.Rang Mahal of Chamba (Himachal Pradesh) is another site of historic Dogri fresco with wall paintings depicting scenes of Draupti Cheer Haran, and Radha- Krishna Leela. This can be seen preserved at National Museum at New Delhi in a chamber called Chamba Rang Mahal.

The Sigiriya Frescoes are found in Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. Painted during the reign of King Kashyapa I (ruled 477 — 495 AD). The generally accepted view is that they are portrayals of women of the royal court of the king depicted as celestial nymphs showering flowers upon the humans below. They bear some resemblance to the Gupta style of painting found in the Ajanta Caves in India. They are, however, far more enlivened and colorful and uniquely Sri Lankan in character. They are the only surviving secular art from antiquity found in Sri Lanka today.

The painting technique used on the Sigiriya paintings is “fresco lustro.” It varies slightly from the pure fresco technique in that it also contains a mild binding agent or glue. This gives the painting added durability, as clearly demonstrated by the fact that they have survived, exposed to the elements, for over 1,500 years.

Located in a small sheltered depression a hundred meters above ground only 19 survive today. Ancient references however refer to the existence of as many as five hundred of these frescoes.

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Middle Ages

Myrrhbearers on Christ's monastery inSerbian

Grave,

c

1235

AD,

Mileševa

The late Medieval period and the Renaissance saw the most prominent use of fresco, particularly in Italy, where most churches and many government buildings still feature fresco decoration. In Denmark too, church wall paintings or kalkmalerier were widely used in the Middle Ages (first Romanesque, then Gothic) and can be seen in some 600 Danish churches as well as in churches in the south of Sweden which was Danish at the time.

One of the rare examples of Islamic fresco painting can be seen in Qasr Amra, the desert palace of the Umayyads in the 8th century Magotez.

Northern Romania (historical region of Moldavia) boasts about a dozen painted monasteries, completely covered with frescos inside and out, that date from the last quarter of the 15th century to the second quarter of the 16th century. The most remarkable are the monastic foundations at Voroneţ (vo ro nets) (1487), Arbore (are' bo ray) (1503), Humor (hoo mor) (1530), and Moldoviţa (mol do vee' tsa) (1532).Suceviţa (sue che vee' tsa), dating from 1600, represents a late return to the style developed some 70 years earlier. The PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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tradition of painted churches continued into the 19th century in other parts of Romania, although never to the same extent.

Andrea Palladio, the famous Italian architect of the 16th century, built many mansions with plain exteriors and stunning interiors filled with frescoes.

Henri Clément Serveau produced several frescos including a three by six meter painting for the Lycée de Meaux, where he was once a student. He directed the École de fresquesat l'École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, and decorated the Pavillon du Tourisme at the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (Paris),Pavillon de la Ville de Paris; now at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.[10] In 1954 he realized a fresco for the Cité Ouvrière du Laboratoire Débat, Garches.[11] He also executed mural decorations for the Plan des anciennes enceintes de Paris in the Musée Carnavalet.

The Foujita chapel in Reims completed in 1966, is an example of modern frescos, the interior being painted with religious scenes by the School of Paris painter Tsuguharu Foujita. In 1996, it was designated an historic monument by the French Government.

José Clemente Orozco, Fernando Leal, David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera the famous Mexican artists, renewed the art of fresco painting in the 20th century. Orozco, Siqueiros, Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo contributed more to the history of Mexican fine arts and to the reputation of Mexican art in general than anybody else.

Together with works by Orozco, Siqueiros, and others, Fernando Leal and Rivera's large wall works in fresco established the art movement known as Mexican Muralism.

Among contemporary artists, Fernando Leal developed a technique of transportable frescos.

Audirac

has

Ustaad Saif ul Rehman, Asif Shareef, and their student Shahid Altaf (shayaf) are the famous Muslim artists who have renewed the art of

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fresco painting in the 21st century. They have introduced new trends in fresco painting and are known as heritage of Pakistan.

Basic subject matter is floral designs, Islamic geometrical patterns and also figure in miniature style.

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Gesso (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒɛsːo] "chalk," from the Latin: gypsum, from Greek: γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a bindermixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these.

It is used in artwork as a preparation for any number of substrates such as wood panels, canvas and sculpture as a base for paint and other materials that are applied over it.

"Gesso", also known "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso" is a traditional mix of an animal glue binder (usually rabbitskin glue), chalk, and white pigment, used to coat rigid surfaces such as wooden painting panels as an absorbent primer coat substrate for painting.

The colour of gesso was usually white or offwhite.

Its absorbency makes it work with all painting media, including water-based media, different types oftempera, and oil paint. It is also used as a base on three-dimensional surfaces for the application of paint or gold leaf.

Mixing and applying it is an art form in itself since it is usually applied in 10 or more extremely thin layers. It is a permanent and brilliant white substrate used on wood, masonite and other surfaces. The PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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standard hide glue mixture is rather brittle and susceptible to cracking, thus making it suitable for rigid surfaces only. For priming flexible canvas, an emulsion of gesso and linseed oil, also called "half-chalk ground", is used.

In geology, the Italian "gesso" corresponds to the English "gypsum", as it is a calcium sulfate mineral (CaSO4路2H2O).

Modern "acrylic gesso" is a widely used ground that is a combination of calcium carbonate with an acrylic polymer medium latex, apigment and other chemicals that ensure flexibility, and increase archival life. It is technically not gesso at all and its non-absorbent acrylic polymer base makes it incompatible with media that require traditional gesso such as egg tempera.

It is sold premixed for both sizing and priming panels and flexible canvas for painting. While it does contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to increase the absorbency of the primer coat, titanium dioxide or "titanium white" is often added as the whitening agent. This allows gesso to remain flexible enough to use on canvas.

Acrylic gesso can be colored, either commercially by replacing the titanium white with another pigment, such as carbon black, or by the artist directly, with the addition of an acrylic paint. Acrylic gesso can be odorous, due to the presence of ammonia and/or formaldehyde, which are added in small amounts as preservatives. Art supply manufacturers market canvases pre-primed with gesso.

The Painter's Handbook notes a problem with using oil paints over an acrylic gesso ground instead of a traditional oil ground, citing a mismatch in flexibility over time that could cause the oil paint to delaminate.

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Soy-based gesso is a low emitting bio-based gesso made from recycled soy content. Soy gesso is made with new bio-based dispersion technology that uses a soy ester with a modified soyvegetable oil acrylic. The surface is similar to acrylic gesso, but is not a solid acrylic. Soy gesso is made using a thin film of a modified acrylic and the soy ester. The penetration and adhesion of the soy ester to the substrate and the thin film of modified acrylic may have advantages in creating a surface that allows a physical bond between the gesso and the oil paint. In addition, the thinner modified acrylic film is more resistant to cracking than a solid acrylic gesso.

Gesso is also used by sculptors to prepare the shape of the final sculpture (fused bronze) or directly as a material for sculpting.

Gesso can also be used as a layer between sculptured wood and gold leaf. In this case, a layer of red shellac called "assiette" is used to cover the gesso before applying the gold. A collection of gesso sculptures is properly called a gypsotheque.

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Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design.

Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, or quill.

Thicker inks, in paste form, in letterpress and lithographic printing.

are

used

extensively

Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescers, and other materials. The components of inks serve many purposes; the ink’s carrier, colorants, and other additives affect the flow and thickness of the ink and its appearance when dry.

Types

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Magnified line drawn by a fountain pen.

Ink formulas vary, but commonly involve four components:    

Colorants Vehicles (binders) Additives Carrier substances

Inks generally fall into four classes:    

Aqueous Liquid Paste Powder

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Colorants Pigment inks are used more frequently than dyes because they are more color-fast, but they are also more expensive, less consistent in color, and have less of a color range than dyes.

Pigments are solid, opaque particles suspended in ink to provide color.

Pigment molecules typically link together in crystalline structures that are 0.1–2 ¾m in size and comprise 5–30 percent of the ink volume.

Qualities such as hue, saturation, and lightness vary depending on the source and type of pigment.

Dyes Dye-based inks are generally much stronger than pigment-based inks and can produce much more color of a given density per unit of mass. However, because dyes are dissolved in the liquid phase, they have a tendency to soak into paper, making the ink less efficient and potentially allowing the ink to bleed at the edges of an image.

To circumvent this problem, dye-based inks are made with solvents that dry rapidly or are used with quick-drying methods of printing, such as blowing hot air on the fresh print.

Other methods include harder paper sizing and more specialized paper coatings. The latter is

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particularly suited to inks used in nonindustrial settings (which must conform to tighter toxicity and emission controls), such as inkjet printer inks. Another technique involves coating the paper with a charged coating. If the dye has the opposite charge, it is attracted to and retained by this coating, while the solvent soaks into the paper.

Cellulose, the woodderived material most paper is made of, is naturally charged, and so a compound that complexes with both the dye and the paper's surface aids retention at the surface. Such a compound is commonly used in ink-jet printing inks.

An additional advantage of dye-based ink systems is that the dye molecules can interact with other ink ingredients, potentially allowing greater benefit as compared to pigmented inks from optical brighteners and color-enhancing agents designed to increase the intensity and appearance of dyes.

A more recent development in dye-based inks are dyes that react with cellulose to permanently color the paper. Such inks are not affected by water, alcohol, and other solvents.

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As such, their use is recommended to prevent frauds that involve removing signatures, such as check washing. This kind of ink is most commonly found in gel inks and in certain fountain pen inks.

Ink drawing of Ganesha under an umbrella (early 19th century). Ink, calledmasi, an admixture of several chemical components, has been used in India since at least the 4th century BC. The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in early South India.

Several Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.

Many ancient cultures around the world have independently discovered and formulated inks for the purposes of writing and drawing. The knowledge of the inks, their recipes and the

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techniques for their production comes from archaeological analysis or from written text itself.

The history of Chinese inks can be traced back to the 23rd century BC, with the utilization of natural plant (plant dyes), animal, and mineral inks based on such materials as graphite that were ground with water and applied with ink brushes. Evidence for the earliest Chinese inks, similar to modern inksticks, is around 256 BC in the end of the Warring States period and produced from soot andanimal glue.

The best inks for drawing or painting on paper or silk are produced from the resin of the pine tree. They must be between 50 and 100 years old. The Chinese inkstick is produced with a fish glue, whereas Japanese glue (č† "nikawa") is from cow or stag.

The India ink used in ancient India since at least the 4th century BC was called masi, and was made of burnt bones, tar, pitch, and other substances.

Indian documents written in Kharosthi with ink have been unearthed in Chinese Turkestan.

The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in early South India. Several Buddhist and Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.

In ancient Rome, atramentum was used. In an article for the Christian Science Monitor, Sharon J. Huntington describes these other historical inks: About 1,600 years ago, a popular ink recipe was created. The recipe was used for centuries. Iron salts, such as ferrous sulfate (made by treating iron with sulfuric acid), were mixed with tannin from gallnuts (they grow on trees) and a thickener. When first put to paper, this ink is bluish-black. Over time it fades to a dull brown.

Scribes in medieval Europe (about AD 800 to 1500) wrote principally on parchment or vellum. One 12th century ink recipe called for hawthorn branches to be cut in the spring and left to dry. Then the bark was pounded from the branches and soaked in water for eight days. The water was boiled until it thickened and turned black.

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Wine was added during boiling. The ink was poured into special bags and hung in the sun. Once dried, the mixture was mixed with wine and iron salt over a fire to make the final ink.

The reservoir pen, which may have been the first fountain pen, dates back to 953, when Ma'Ä d al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen that would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen that held ink in a reservoir.

In the 15th century, a new type of ink had to be developed in Europe for the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. Two types of ink were prevalent at the time: the Greek and Roman writing ink (soot, glue, and water) and the 12th century variety composed of ferrous sulfate, gall, gum, and water.

Neither of these handwriting inks could adhere to printing surfaces without creating blurs. Eventually an oily, varnish-like ink made of soot, turpentine, and walnut oil was created specifically for the printing press.

In 2011 worldwide consumption of printing inks generated revenues of more than 20 billion US-dollars. Demand by traditional print media is shrinking, on the other hand more and more printing inks are consumed for packagings.

There is a misconception that ink is non-toxic even if swallowed.

Once ingested, ink can be hazardous to one's health. Certain inks, such as those used in digital printers, and even those found in a common pen can be harmful. Though ink does not easily cause death, inappropriate contact can cause effects such as severe headaches, skin irritation, or nervous system damage. These effects can be caused by solvents, or by pigment ingredients such as pAnisidine, which helps create some inks' color and shine.

Three main environmental issues with ink are: PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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Heavy metals Non-renewable oils Volatile organic compounds

Some regulatory bodies have set standards for the amount of heavy metals in ink.

There is a trend toward vegetable oils rather than petroleum oils in recent years in response to a demand for better environmental sustainability.

The two most used black writing inks in history are carbon inks and iron gall inks. Both types create problems for preservationists.

Carbon

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Chinese inkstick; carbon-based and made from soot and animal glue.

Carbon inks were commonly made from lampblack or soot and a binding agent such as gum arabic or animal glue. The binding agent keeps the carbon particles in suspension and adhered to paper. The carbon particles do not fade over time even when in sunlight or when bleached. One benefit of carbon ink is that it is not harmful to the paper. Over time, the ink is chemically stable and therefore does not threaten the strength of the paper. Despite these benefits, carbon ink is not ideal for permanence and ease of preservation. Carbon ink has a tendency to smudge in humid environments and can be washed off a surface.

The best method of preserving a document written in carbon ink is to ensure it is stored in a dry environment (Barrow 1972).

Recently, carbon inks made from carbon nanotubes have been successfully created. They are similar in composition to the traditional inks in that they use a polymer to suspend the carbon nanotubes. These inks can be used in inkjet printers and produce electrically conductive patterns.

Iron gall Iron gall inks became prominent in the early 12th century; they were used for centuries and were widely thought to be the best type of ink. However, iron gall ink is corrosive and damages the paper it is on (Waters 1940). Items containing this ink can become brittle and the writing fades to brown. The original scores of Johann Sebastian Bach are threatened by the destructive properties of iron gall ink.

The majority of his works are held by the German State Library, and about 25% of those are in advanced stages of decay (American PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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Libraries 2000). The rate at which the writing fades is based on several factors, such as proportions of ink ingredients, amount deposited on the paper, and paper composition (Barrow 1972:16).

Corrosion is caused by acid catalysed hydrolysis and iron(II)catalysed oxidation of cellulose (Rouchon-Quillet 2004:389).

Treatment is a controversial subject. No treatment undoes damage already caused by acidic ink. Deterioration can only be stopped or slowed. Some think it best not to treat the item at all for fear of the consequences. Others believe that non-aqueous procedures are the best solution. Yet others think an aqueous procedure may preserve items written with iron gall ink. Aqueous treatments include distilled water at different temperatures, calcium hydroxide, calcium bicarbonate, magnesium carbonate, magnesium bicarbonate, and calcium phytate. There are many possible side effects from these treatments. There can be mechanical damage, which further weakens the paper. Paper color or ink color may

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change, and ink may bleed. Other consequences of aqueous treatment are a change of ink texture or formation of plaque on the surface of the ink (Reibland & de Groot 1999).

Iron gall inks require storage in a stable environment, because fluctuating relative humidity increases the rate that formic acid, acetic acid, and furan derivatives form in the material the ink was used on. Sulfuric acid acts as a catalyst to cellulose hydrolysis, and iron (II) sulfate acts as a catalyst to cellulose oxidation. These

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chemical reactions causing brittleness.

physically

weaken

the

paper,

Indelible means "un-removable". Some types of indelible ink have a very short shelf life because of the quickly evaporating solvents used. India, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia and other developing countries have used indelible ink in the form of electoral stain to prevent electoral fraud. The Election Commission in India has used indelible ink for many elections. Indonesia used it in their last election in Aceh. In Mali, the ink is applied to the fingernail. Indelible ink itself is not infallible as it can be used to commit electoral fraud by marking opponent party members before they have chances to cast their votes. There are also reports of 'indelible' ink washing off voters' fingers.

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Latex is the stable dispersion (emulsion) of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic. It can bemade synthetically by polymerizing a monomer such as styrene that has been emulsified with surfactants.

Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms).

It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins,alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins, and gums that coagulate on exposure to air. It is usually exuded after tissue injury. In most plants, latex is white, but some have yellow, orange, or scarlet latex. Since the 17th century, latex has been used as a term for the fluid substance in plants.

It serves mainly as defense against herbivorous insects.

Latex is not to be confused with plant sap; it is a separate substance, separately produced, and with separate functions.

The word is also used to refer to natural latex rubber particularly non-vulcanized rubber. Such is the case in products like latex gloves, latex condoms and latex clothing. Many people are allergic to rubber latex.

Articulated laticifers The cells (laticifers) in which latex is found make up the laticiferous system, which can form in two very different ways. In many plants, the laticiferous system is formed from rows of cells laid down in the meristem of the stem or root. The cell walls between these cells are dissolved so that continuous tubes, called latex vessels, are formed. Since these vessels are made of many cells, they are known as articulated laticifers. This method of formation is found in the poppy family and in the rubber trees (Para rubber tree, PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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members of the family Euphorbiaceae, members of the mulberry and fig family, such as the Panama rubber tree Castilla elastica), and members of the family Asteraceae. For instance, Parthenium argentatum the guayule plant, is in the tribe Heliantheae; other latex-bearing Asteraceae with articulated laticifers include members of the Cichorieae, a clade whose members produce latex, some of them in commercially interesting amounts. This includes Taraxacum kok-saghyz, a species cultivated for latex production.

Non-articulated laticifers In the milkweed and spurge families, on the other hand, the laticiferous system is formed quite differently. Early in the development of the seedling latex cells differentiate, and as the plant grows these latex cells grow into a branching system extending throughout the plant. In many euphorbs, the entire structure is made from a single cell - this type of system is known as a non-articulated laticifer, to distinguish it from the multi-cellular structures discussed above. In the mature plant, the entire laticiferous system is descended from a single cell or group of cells present in the embryo.

The laticiferous system is present in all parts of the mature plant, including roots, stems, leaves, and sometimes the fruits. It is particularly noticeable in the cortical tissues. Latex is usually exuded as a white liquid, but is some cases it can be clear, yellow or red, as in Cannabaceae.

Latex is produced by 20,000 species from over 40 families occurring in multiple lineages in both dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous types of plant. It is also found in conifersand pteridophytes. 14% of tropical plant species create latex, as opposed to 6% of temperate plant species.

Several members of the fungal kingdom also produce latex upon injury, such as Lactarius deliciosus and other milk-caps. This suggests

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it is the product of convergent evolution and has been selected for on many separate occasions.

Defense function

Rubber latex Latex functions to protect the plant from herbivores. The idea was first proposed in 1887 by Tommy Di Fraia who noted that latex "... carries with it at the same time such disagreeable properties that it becomes a better protection to the plant from enemies than all the thorns, prickles, or hairs that could be provided. In this plant, so copious and so distasteful has the sap become that it serves a most important purpose in its economy".

Evidence showing this defense function include the finding that slugs will eat leaves drained of their latex but not intact ones, that PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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many insects sever the veins carrying latex before they feed, and that the latex of Asclepias humistrata (sandhill milkweed) kills by trapping 30% of newly hatched monarch butterfly caterpillars.

Other evidence is that latex contains 50–1000× higher concentrations of defense substances than other plant tissues.

These toxins include ones that are also toxic to the plant and consist of a diverse range of chemicals that are either poisonous or "antinutritive".

Latex is actively moved to the area of injury; in the case of Cryptostegia grandiflora, this can be more than 70 cm.

The clotting property of latex is functional in this defense since it limits wastage and its stickiness traps insects and their mouthparts.

It has been noted that while there exist other explanations for the existence of latex including storage and movement of plant nutrients, waste, and maintenance of water balance that "[e]ssentially none of these functions remain credible and none have any empirical support".

Examples of synthetic butadiene rubber, acrylonitrile polymers, polyvinyl acetate.

latexes butadiene

are styrenerubber, acrylic

Opium poppy exuding fresh latex from a cut The latex of many species can be processed to produce many materials.

Natural rubber is the most important product obtained from latex; more than 12,000 plant species yield latex containing rubber, though in the vast majority of those species the rubber is not suitable for commercial use.

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This latex is used to make many other products as well, includingmattresses, gloves, swim caps, condoms, catheters and balloons.

Balatรก and gutta percha latex contain an inelastic polymer related to rubber.

Latex from the chicle and jelutong trees is used in chewing gum.

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useful opiates and other alkaloids of high value.

Synthetic latexes are used in coatings (e.g. latex paint) and glues because they solidify by coalescence of the polymer particles as the water evaporates, and therefore can form films without releasing potentially toxic organic solvents in the environment. Other uses include cement additives, and to conceal information on scratchcards. Latex, usually styrene-based, is also used in immunoassays.

Latex clothing Latex is used in many types of clothing. Worn on the body (or applied directly by painting) it tends to be skin-tight, producing a "second skin" effect.

Allergic reactions Some people have a serious latex allergy, and exposure to latex products such as latex gloves can cause anaphylactic shock. Guayule latex has only 2% of the levels of protein found in Hevea latexes, and is being researched as a lower-allergen substitute.[8] Additionally, chemical processes may be employed to reduce the amount of antigenic protein inHevea latex, yielding alternative materials such as Vytex Natural Rubber Latex which provide significantly reduced exposure to latex allergens.

About half of people with spina bifida are also allergic to natural latex rubber, as well as people who have had multiple surgeries, and people who have had prolonged exposure to natural latex.

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Watercolor or watercolour, also aquarelle from French, is a paintingmethod in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle. The term "watercolor" refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork. The traditional and most common support for watercolor paintings is paper; other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum or leather, fabric, wood, and canvas. Watercolors are usually transparent, and appear luminous because the pigments are laid down in a relatively pure form with few fillers obscuring the pigment colors.

Watercolor can also be made opaque by adding Chinese white. In East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting or scroll painting.

In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or browns.

India, Ethiopia and other countries also have long traditions. Finger painting with watercolor paints originated in China.

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for manuscript illumination since at least Egyptian times but especially in the European Middle Ages, its continuous history as an art medium begins in the Renaissance. The German Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer(1471–1528) who painted several fine botanical, wildlife and landscape watercolors, is generally considered among the earliest exponents of the medium. An important school of watercolor painting in Germany was led

by Hans Bol (1534–1593) as part of the Dürer Renaissance.

Albrecht Dürer, Young color, Albertina, Vienna

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Despite this early start, watercolors were generally used by Baroque easel painters only for sketches, copies or cartoons (full-scale design drawings). Among notable early practitioners of watercolor painting were Van Dyck (during his stay in England), Claude Lorrain, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, and many Dutch and Flemish artists. However, Botanical illustrations and those depicting wildlife are perhaps the oldest and most important tradition in watercolor painting. Botanical illustrations became popular in the Renaissance, both as hand tintedwoodblock illustrations in books or broadsheets and as tinted ink drawings on vellum or paper. Botanical artists have always been among the most exacting and accomplished watercolor painters, and even today watercolors—with their unique ability to summarize, clarify and idealize in full color—are used to illustrate PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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scientific and museum publications. Wildlife illustration reached its peak in the 19th century with artists such as John James Audubon, and today many naturalist field guides are still illustrated with watercolor paintings. Many watercolors are more vibrant in pigment if they are higher quality. Some British market watercolors can be found in many craft stores In America and in other countries too.

Several factors contributed to the spread of watercolor painting during the 18th century, particularly in England. Among the elite and aristocratic classes, watercolor painting was one of the incidental adornments of a good education, especially for women.

By contrast, watercoloring was also valued by surveyors, mapmakers, military officers and engineers for its usefulness in depicting properties, terrain, fortifications or geology in the field and for illustrating public works or commissioned projects.

Watercolor artists were commonly brought with the geological or archaeological expeditions funded by the Society of Dilettanti (founded in 1733) to document discoveries in the Mediterranean, Asia and the New World. These stimulated the demand for topographical painters who churned out memento paintings of famous sites (and sights) along the Grand Tour to Italy that was undertaken by every fashionable young man of the time.

In the late 18th century, the English cleric William Gilpin wrote a series of hugely popular books describing his "picturesque" journeys throughout rural England and illustrated with his own sentimentalized monochrome watercolors of river valleys, ancient castles and abandoned churches; his example popularized watercolors as a form of personal tourist journal. The confluence of these cultural, engineering, scientific, tourist and amateur interests culminated in the celebration and promotion of watercolor as a distinctly English "national art". Among the many significant watercolor artists of this period were Thomas Gainsborough, John Robert Cozens, Francis Towne, Michael Angelo Rooker, William Pars, Thomas Hearne and John Warwick Smith. William Blake published several books of hand-tinted engraved poetry, PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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illustrations to Dante's Inferno, and he also experimented with large monotype works in watercolor.

Thomas Girtin, Jedburgh Abbey from the River, 1798–99, watercolor on paper From the late 18th century through the 19th century, the market for printed books and domestic art contributed substantially to the growth of the medium. Watercolors were the used as the basic document from which collectible landscape or tourist engravings were developed, and handpainted watercolor originals or copies of famous paintings contributed to many upper class art portfolios.

Satirical broadsides by Thomas Rowlandson, many published

by Rudolph Ackermann, were also extremely popular.

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Girtin (1775–1802), who pioneered its use for large format, romantic or picturesque landscape painting, and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), who brought watercolor painting to the highest pitch of power and refinement and created with it hundreds of superb historical, topographical, architectural and mythological paintings. His method of developing the watercolor painting in stages, starting with large, vague color areas established on wet paper, then refining the image through a sequence of washes and glazes, permitted him to produce large numbers of paintings with workshop efficiency and made him a multimillionaire in part through sales from his personal art gallery, the first of its kind. Among the important and highly talented contemporaries of Turner and Girtin wereJohn Varley, John Sell Cotman, Anthony Copley Fielding, Samuel Palmer, William Havell and Samuel Prout. The Swiss painterLouis Ducros was also widely known for his large format, romantic paintings in watercolor.

An unfinished watercolor by William Berryman, created between 1808 and 1816, using watercolor, ink, and pencil. The use of partial pigmentation draws attention to the central subject.

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The confluence of amateur activity, publishing markets, middle class art collecting and 19th-century painting technique led to the formation of English watercolor painting societies: the Society of Painters in Water Colours (1804, now known as the Royal Watercolour Society), and the New Water Colour Society (1832). (A Scottish Society of Painters in Water Colour was founded in 1878.) These societies provided annual exhibitions and buyer referrals for many artists and also engaged in petty status rivalries and esthetic debates, particularly between advocates of traditional ("transparent") watercolor and the early adopters of the denser color possible with bodycolor or gouache ("opaque" watercolor). The late Georgian and Victorian periods produced the zenith of the British watercolor, among the most impressive 19thcentury works on paper, by Turner, Varley, Cotman, David Cox, Peter de Wint, William Henry Hunt, John Frederick Lewis, Myles Birket Foster, Frederick Walker, Thomas Collier and many others. In particular, the graceful, lapidary and atmospheric genre paintings byRichard Parkes Bonington created an international fad for watercolor painting, especially in England and France, in the 1820s.

The popularity of watercolors stimulated many innovations, including heavier and more heavily sized wove papers and brushes (called "pencils") manufactured expressly for watercolor painting.

Watercolor tutorials were first published in this period by Varley, Cox and others, innovating the step-by-step painting instructions that still characterizes the genre today; "The Elements of Drawing", a watercolor tutorial by the English art critic John Ruskin, has been out of print only once since it was first published in 1857. Commercial PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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paintmaking brands appeared and paints were packaged in metal tubes or as dry cakes that could be "rubbed out" (dissolved) in studio porcelain or used in portable metal paint boxes in the field.

Contemporary breakthroughs in chemistry made many new pigments available, including prussian blue, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, viridian, cobalt violet, cadmium yellow, aureolin (potassium cobaltinitrite), zinc white and a wide range of carmine and madder lakes. These in turn stimulated a greater use of color throughout all painting media, but in English watercolors particularly by the Pre-Raphaelite painters.

Winslow Homer, The Blue Boat, 1892 Watercolor painting also became popular in the United States during the 19th century; outstanding early practitioners include John James Audubon, as well as early Hudson River School painters such as William H. Bartlett and George Harvey. At mid-century, the influence of John Ruskin led to increasing interest in watercolors and particularly in use of a detailed "Ruskinian" style PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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by such artists as John W. Hill Henry, William Trost Richards, Roderick Newman, and Fidelia Bridges. The American Society of Painters in Watercolor (now the American Watercolor Society) was founded in 1866. Major late-19th-century American exponents of the medium included Thomas Moran, Thomas Eakins, John LaFarge, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, and, preeminently, Winslow Homer.

Stanisław Masłowski, Pejzaż jesienny z landscape of Rybiniszki), watercolor, 1902

Rybiniszek

(Autumn

Watercolor was less popular on the Continent. In the 18th century, gouache was an important medium for the Italian artists Marco Ricci andFrancesco Zuccarelli, whose landscape paintings were widely collected.

Gouache was used by a number of artists in France as well. In the 19th century, the influence of English examples helped popularize transparent watercolor in France, and it became an important PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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medium for Eugène Delacroix, François Marius Granet, HenriJoseph Harpignies and the satirist Honoré Daumier. Other European painters who worked frequently in watercolor include Adolph Menzel in Germany and Stanisław Masłowski in Poland.

Paul Cézanne, self-portrait Unfortunately the careless and excessive adoption of brightly colored, petroleum–derived aniline dyes (and pigments compounded from them), which all fade rapidly on exposure to light, and the efforts to properly conserve the 20,000 Turner paintings inherited by the British Museum in 1857, led to an PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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examination and negative re-evaluation of the permanence of pigments in watercolor. This caused a sharp decline in their status and market value. Nevertheless, isolated exponents continued to prefer and develop the medium into the 20th century. In Europe, gorgeous landscape and maritime watercolors were produced

by Paul Signac, and Paul CĂŠzanne developed a watercolor painting style consisting entirely of overlapping small glazes of pure color.

Egon Schiele, Mädchen, 1911

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Among the many 20th-century artists who produced important works in watercolor, mention must be made of Wassily Kandinsky, Emil Nolde, Paul Klee, Egon Schiele and Raoul Dufy; in America the major exponents included Charles Burchfield, Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Charles Demuth, and John Marin, 80% of whose total output is in watercolor. In this period American watercolor (and oil) painting was often imitative of European Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, but significant individualism flourished within "regional" styles of watercolor painting in the 1920s to 1940s, in particular the "Cleveland School" or "Ohio School" of painters centered around the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the "California Scene" painters, many of them associated with Hollywood animation studios or the Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts). The California painters exploited their state's varied geography, Mediterranean climate and "automobility" to reinvigorate the outdoor or "plein air" tradition; among the most influential were Phil Dike, Millard Sheets, Rex Brandt,Dong Kingman and Milford Zornes. The California Water Color Society, founded in 1921 and later renamed the National Watercolor Society, sponsored important exhibitions of their work.

Although the rise of abstract expressionism, and the trivializing influence of amateur painters and advertising- or workshopinfluenced painting styles, led to a temporary decline in the popularity of watercolor painting after c.1950, watercolors continue to be utilized by artists such as Joseph Raffael, Andrew Wyeth, Philip Pearlstein, Eric Fischl, Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer and Francesco Clemente. In Spain,Ceferí Olivé created an innovative style, also followed by his students, such as Rafael Alonso LópezMontero and Francesc Torné Gavaldà. In Mexico the major exponents are Ignacio Barrios, Edgardo Coghlan, Ángel Mauro, Vicente Mendiola and Pastor Velázquez.

Modern watercolor paints are now as durable and colorful as oil or acrylic paints, and the recent renewed interest in drawing and multimedia art has also stimulated demand for fine works in watercolor. As art markets continue to expand, painting societies continue to add members and aging baby boomers increasingly PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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retire to more contemplative hobbies, watercolor on both the amateur and professional levels continues to become more and more popular.

A set of watercolors

Watercolor paint consists of four principal ingredients:   

pigments, natural or synthetic, mineral or organic; gum arabic as a binder to hold the pigment in suspension and fix the pigment to the painting surface; additives like glycerin, ox gall, honey, preservatives: to alter the viscosity, hiding, durability or color of the pigment and vehicle mixture; and

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solvent, the substance used to thin or dilute the paint for application and that evaporates when the paint hardens or dries.

The term "watermedia" refers to any painting medium that uses water as a solvent and that can be applied with a brush, pen or sprayer; this includes most inks, watercolors, temperas, gouaches and modern acrylic paints.

The term watercolor refers to paints that use water soluble, complex carbohydrates as a binder. Originally (16th to 18th centuries) watercolor binders were sugars and/or hide glues, but since the 19th century the preferred binder is natural gum arabic, with glycerin and/or honey as additives to improve plasticity and dissolvability of the binder, and with other chemicals added to improve product shelf life.

Bodycolor refers to paint that is opaque rather than transparent, usually opaque watercolor, which is also known as gouache.

Modern acrylic paints are based on a completely different chemistry that uses water soluble acrylic resin as a binder.

Watercolor painters before c.1800 had to make paints themselves using pigments purchased from an apothecary or specialized "colourman"; the earliest commercial paints were small, resinous blocks that had to be wetted and laboriously "rubbed out" in water.

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William Reeves (1739–1803) set up in business as a colorman about 1766. In 1781 he and his brother, Thomas Reeves, were awarded the Silver Palette of the Society of Arts, for the invention of the moist watercolor paint-cake, a time-saving convenience the introduction of which coincides with the "golden age" of English watercolor painting.

Modern commercial watercolor paints are available in two forms: tubes or pans.

The majority of paints sold are in collapsible metal tubes in standard sizes (typically 7.5, 15 or 37 ml.), and are PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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formulated to a consistency similar to toothpaste. Pan paints (actually, small dried cakes or bars of paint in an open plastic container) are usually sold in two sizes, full pans (approximately 3 cc of paint) and half pans (favored for compact paint boxes). Pans are historically older but commonly perceived as less convenient; they are most often used in portable metal paint boxes, also introduced in the mid 19th century, and are preferred by landscape or naturalist painters.

Among the most widely used brands of commercial watercolors today are Daler Rowney, Daniel Smith, DaVinci, Holbein, Maimeri, M. Graham. Reeves, Schmincke, Sennelier, Talens, and Winsor & Newton.

Thanks to modern industrial organic chemistry, the variety, saturation (brilliance) and permanence of artists' colors available

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today is greater than ever before. However, the art materials industry is far too small to exert any market leverage on global dye PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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or pigment manufacture. With rare exceptions, all modern watercolor paints utilize pigments that were manufactured for use in printing inks, automotive and architectural paints, wood stains, concrete, ceramics and plastics colorants, consumer packaging, foods, medicines, textiles and cosmetics. Paint manufacturers buy very small supplies of these pigments, mill (mechanically mix) them with the vehicle, solvent and additives, and package them.

Many artists are confused or misled by labeling practices common in the art materials industry. The marketing name for a paint, such as "indian yellow" or "emerald green", is often only a poetic color evocation or proprietary moniker; there is no legal requirement that it describe the pigment that gives the paint its color. More popular color names are "viridian hue" and " chinese white" To remedy this confusion, in 1990 the art materials industry voluntarily began listing pigment ingredients on the paint packaging, using the common pigment name (such as "cobalt blue" or "cadmium red"), and/or a standard pigment identification code, the generic color index name (PB28 for cobalt blue, PR108 for cadmium red) assigned by the Society of Dyers and Colourists (UK) and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (USA) and known as the Colour Index International. This allows artists to choose paints according to their pigment ingredients, rather than the poetic labels assigned to them by marketers. Paint pigments and formulations vary across manufacturers, and watercolor paints with the same color name (e.g., "sap green") from different manufacturers can be formulated with completely different ingredients.

Watercolor paints are customarily evaluated on a few key attributes. In the partisan debates of the 19th-century English art world, gouache was emphatically contrasted to traditional watercolors and denigrated for its high hiding power or lack of "transparency"; "transparent" watercolors were exalted. Paints with PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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low hiding power are valued because they allow an underdrawing or engraving to show in the image, and because colors can be mixed visually by layering paints on the paper (which itself may be either white or tinted). The resulting color will change depending on the layering order of the pigments. In fact, there are very few genuinely transparent watercolors, neither are there completely opaque watercolors (with the exception of gouache); and any watercolor paint can be made more transparent simply by diluting it with water.

"Transparent" colors do not contain titanium dioxide (white) or most of the earth pigments (sienna, umber, etc.) which are very opaque.

The 19th-century claim that "transparent" watercolors gain "luminosity" because they function like a pane of stained glass laid on paper[citation needed] – the color intensified because the light passes through the pigment, reflects from the paper, and passes a second time through the pigment on its way to the viewer—is false: watercolor paints do not form a cohesive paint layer, as do acrylic or oilpaints, but simply scatter pigment particles randomly across the paper surface; the transparency consists in the paper being directly visible between the particles.

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Watercolors appear more vivid than acrylics or oils because the pigments are laid down in a more pure form with no or fewer fillers (such as kaolin) obscuring the pigment colors. Furthermore, typically most or all of the gum binder will be absorbed by the paper, preventing it from changing the visibility of the pigment.

Even multiple layers of watercolor do achieve a very luminous effect without fillers or binder obscuring the pigment particles.

Staining is a characteristic assigned to watercolor paints: a staining paint is difficult to remove or lift from the painting support after it has been applied or dried. Less staining colors can be lightened or removed almost entirely when wet, or when rewetted and then "lifted" by stroking gently with a clean, wet brush and then blotted up with a paper towel. In fact, the staining characteristics of a paint depend in large part on the composition of the support (paper) itself, and on the particle size of the pigment. Staining is increased if the paint manufacturer uses a dispersant to reduce the paint milling (mixture) time, because the dispersant acts to drive pigment particles into crevices in the paper pulp, dulling the finished color.

Granulation refers to the appearance of separate, visible pigment particles in the finished color, produced when the paint is PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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substantially diluted with water and applied with a juicy brush stroke; pigments notable for their watercolor granulation include viridian (PG18), cerulean blue (PB35), cobalt violet (PV14) and some iron oxide pigments (PBr7).

Flocculation refers to a peculiar clumping typical of ultramarine pigments (PB29 or PV15). Both effects display the subtle effects of water as the paint dries, are unique to watercolors, and are deemed attractive by accomplished watercolor painters.

This contrasts with the trend in commercial paints to suppress pigment textures in favor of homogeneous, flat color.

Commercial watercolor paints come in three grades: "Artist" (or "Professional"), "Student", and "Scholastic". 





Artist Watercolors contain a full pigment load, suspended in a binder, generally natural gum arabic. Artist quality paints are usually formulated with fewer fillers (kaolin or chalk) which results in richer color and vibrant mixes. Conventional watercolors are sold in moist form, in a tube, and are thinned and mixed on a dish or palette. Use them on paper and other absorbent surfaces that have been primed to accept water-based paint.

Student grade paints have less pigment, and often are formulated using two or more less expensive pigments. Student Watercolors have working characteristics similar to professional watercolors, but with lower concentrations of pigment, less expensive formulas, and a smaller range of colors. More expensive pigments are generally replicated by hues. Colors are designed to be mixed, although color strength is lower. Hues may not have the same mixing characteristics as regular full-strength colors.

Scholastic watercolors come in pans rather than tubes, and contain inexpensive pigments and dyes suspended in a synthetic binder. Washable formulations feature colors that are chosen to be non-staining, easily washable, suitable for use even by young children with proper supervision. They are an excellent choice for

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teaching beginning artists the properties of color and the techniques of painting.

As there is no transparent white watercolor, the white parts of a watercolor painting are most often areas of the paper "reserved" (left unpainted) and allowed to be seen in the finished work. To preserve these white areas, many painters use a variety of resists, including masking tape, clear wax or a liquid latex, that are applied to the paper to protect it from paint, then pulled away to reveal the white paper. Resist painting can also be an effective technique for beginning watercolor artists. The painter can use wax crayons or oil pastels prior to painting the paper. The wax or oil mediums repel, or resist the watercolor paint. White paint (titanium dioxide PW6 or zinc oxide PW4) is best used to insert highlights or white accents into a painting. If mixed with other pigments, white paints may cause them to fade or change hue under light exposure.

White paint (gouache) mixed with a "transparent" watercolor paint will cause the transparency to disappear and the paint to look much duller. White paint will always appear dull and chalky next to the white of the paper; however this can be used for some effects.

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A brush consists of three parts: the tuft, the ferrule and the handle.  



The tuft is a bundle of animal hairs or synthetic fibers tied tightly together at the base; The ferrule is a metal sleeve that surrounds the tuft, gives the tuft its cross sectional shape, provides mechanical support under pressure, and protects from water wearing down the glue joint between the trimmed, flat base of the tuft and the handle; The lacquered wood handle, which is typically shorter in a watercolor brush than in an oil painting brush, has a distinct shape—widest just behind the ferrule and tapering to the tip.

When painting, painters typically hold the brush just behind the ferrule for the smoothest brushstrokes.

Brushes hold paint (the "bead") through the capillary action of the small spaces between the tuft hairs or fibers; paint is released

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through the contact between the wet paint and the dry paper and the mechanical flexing of the tuft, which opens the spaces between the tuft hairs, relaxing the capillary restraint on the liquid.

Because thinned watercolor paint is far less viscous than oil or acrylic paints, the brushes preferred by watercolor painters have a softer and denser tuft. This is customarily achieved by using natural hair harvested from farm raised or trapped animals, in particular sable, squirrel or mongoose. Less expensive brushes, or brushes designed for coarser work, may use horsehair or bristles from pig or ox snouts and ears.

However, as with paints, modern chemistry has developed many synthetic and shaped fibers that rival the stiffness of bristle and mimic the spring and softness of natural hair. Until fairly recently, nylon brushes could not hold a reservoir of water at all so they were extremely inferior to brushes made from natural hair. In recent years, improvements in the holding and pointing properties of synthetic

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filaments have gained them much greater acceptance among watercolorists.

There is no market regulation on the labeling applied to artists' brushes, but most watercolorists prize brushes from kolinsky (Russian or Chinese) sable. The best of these hairs have a characteristic reddish brown color, darker near the base, and a tapering shaft that is pointed at the tip but widest about halfway toward the root.

Squirrel hair is quite thin, straight and typically dark, and makes tufts with a very high liquid capacity; mongoose has a characteristic salt and pepper coloring. Bristle brushes are stiffer and lighter colored.

"Camel" is sometimes used to describe hairs from several sources (none of them a camel).

In general, natural hair brushes have superior snap and pointing, a higher capacity (hold a larger bead, produce a longer continuous stroke, and wick up more paint when moist) and a more delicate release. Synthetic brushes tend to dump too much of the paint bead at the beginning of the brush stroke and leave a larger puddle of paint when the brush is lifted from the paper, and they cannot compete with the pointing of natural sable brushes and are much less durable. On the other hand they are typically much cheaper than natural hair, and the best synthetic brushes are now very serviceable; they are also excellent for texturing, shaping, or lifting color, and for the mechanical task of breaking up or rubbing paint to dissolve it in water.

A high quality sable brush has five key attributes: pointing (in a round, the tip of the tuft comes to a fine, precise point that does not splay or split; in a flat, the tuft forms a razor thin, perfectly straight edge); snap (or "spring"; the tuft flexes in direct response to the pressure applied to the paper, and promptly returns to its original shape); capacity (the tuft, for its size, holds a large bead of paint and does not release it as the brush is moved in the air); release (the amount of paint released is proportional to the pressure applied to the paper, and the paint flow can be precisely controlled by the pressure and speed of the stroke as the paint bead is depleted); and durability (a large, high quality brush may withstand decades of daily use).

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Most natural hair brushes are sold with the tuft cosmetically shaped with starch or gum, so brushes are difficult to evaluate before purchasing, and durability is only evident after long use. The most common failings of natural hair brushes are that the tuft sheds hairs (although a little shedding is acceptable in a new brush), the ferrule becomes loosened, or the wood handle shrinks, warps, cracks or flakes off its lacquer coating.

Natural and synthetic brushes are sold with the tuft shaped for different tasks. Among the most popular are: 







Rounds. The tuft has a round cross section but a tapering profile, widest near the ferrule (the "belly") and tapered at the tip (the "point"). These are general purpose brushes that can address almost any task.

Flats. The tuft is compressed laterally by the ferrule into a flat wedge; the tuft appears square when viewed from the side and has a perfectly straight edge. "Brights" are flats in which the tuft is as long as it is wide; "one stroke" brushes are longer than their width. "Sky brushes" or "wash brushes" look like miniature housepainting brushes; the tuft is usually 3 cm to 7 cm wide and is used to paint large areas.

Mops (natural hair only). A round brush, usually of squirrel hair and, decoratively, with a feather quill ferrule that is wrapped with copper wire; these have very high capacity for their size, especially good for wet in wet or wash painting; when moist they can wick up large quantities of paint.

Filbert (or "Cat's Tongue", hair only). A hybrid brush: a flat that comes to a point, like a round,

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  

useful for specially shaped brush strokes.

Rigger (hair only). An extremely long, thin tuft, originally used to paint the rigging in nautical portraits.

Fan. A small flat in which the tuft is splayed into a fan shape; used for texturing or painting irregular, parallel hatching lines.

Acrylic. A flat brush with synthetic bristles, attached to a (usually clear) plastic handle with a beveled tip used for scoring or scraping.

A single brush can produce many lines and shapes. A "round" for example, can create thin and thick lines, wide or narrow strips, curves, and other painted effects. A flat brush when used on end can produce thin lines or dashes in addition to the wide swath typical with these brushes, and its brushmarks display the characteristic angle of the tuft corners.

Every watercolor painter works in specific genres and has a personal painting style and "tool discipline", and these largely determine his or her preference for brushes. Artists typically have a few favorites and do most work with just one or two brushes. Brushes are typically the most expensive component of the watercolorist's tools, and a minimal general purpose brush selection would include:      

4 round (for detail and drybrush) 8 round 12 or 14 round (for large color areas or washes) 1/2" or 1" flat 12 mop (for washes and wicking) 1/2" acrylic (for dissolving or mixing paints, and scrubbing paints before lifting from the paper)

Major watercolor brush manufacturers include DaVinci, Escoda, Isabey, Raphael, Kolonok, Robert Simmons, Daler-Rowney, Arches, and Winsor & Newton. As with papers and paints, it is common for retailers to commission brushes under their own label from an established manufacturer. Among these are Cheap Joe's, Daniel Smith, Dick Blick and Utrecht.

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The size of a round brush is designated by a number, which may range from 0000 (for a very tiny round) to 0, then from 1 to 24 or higher. These numbers refer to the size of the brass brushmakers' mould used to shape and align the hairs of the tuft before it is tied off and trimmed, and as with shoe lasts, these sizes vary from one manufacturer to the next. In general a #12 round brush has a tuft about 2 to 2.5 cm long; tufts are generally fatter (wider) in brushes made in England than in brushes made on the Continent: a German or French #14 round is approximately the same size as an English #12. Flats may be designated either by a similar but separate numbering system, but more often are described by the width of the ferrule, measured in centimeters or inches.

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Watercolor pencil is another important tool in watercolors techniques. This water-soluble color pencil allows to draw fine details and to blend them with water. Noted artists who use watercolor pencils include illustrator Travis Charest.

A similar tool is the watercolor pastel, broader than watercolor pencil, and able to quickly cover a large surface.

Most watercolor painters before c.1800 had to use whatever paper was at hand: Thomas Gainsborough was delighted to buy some paper used to print a Bath tourist guide, and the young David Cox preferred a heavy paper used to wrap packages. James Whatman first offered a wove watercolor paper in 1788, and the first machinemade ("cartridge") papers from a steam powered mill in 1805.

All art papers can be described by eight attributes: furnish, color, weight, finish, sizing, dimensions, permanence and packaging.

Watercolor painters typically paint on paper specifically formulated for watermedia applications. Fine watermedia papers are manufactured under the brand names Arches, Bockingford, Cartiera Magnani, Fabriano, Hahnem端hle, Lanaquarelle, The Langton, The Langton Prestige, Millford, Saunders Waterford, Strathmore, Winsor & Newton and Zerkall; and there has been a recent remarkable resurgence in handmade papers, notably those by Twinrocker, Velke Losiny, Ruscombe Mill and St. Armand.

Watercolor paper is essentially Blotting paper marketed and sold as an art paper, and the two can be used interchangeably, as watercolor paper is more easily obtainable than blotter and can be used as a substitute for blotter. Lower end watercolor papers can resemble heavy paper more while higher end varieties are usually entirely cotton and more porous like blotter. Watercolor paper is traditionally torn and not cut.

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The traditional furnish or material content of watercolor papers is cellulose, a structural carbohydrate found in many plants. The most common sources of paper cellulose are cotton, linen, or alpha cellulose extracted from wood pulp. To make paper, the cellulose is wetted, mechanically macerated or pounded, chemically treated, rinsed and filtered to the consistency of thin oatmeal, then poured out into paper making moulds. In handmade papers, the pulp is hand poured ("cast") into individual paper moulds (a mesh screen stretched within a wood frame) and shaken by hand into an even layer. In industrial paper production, the pulp is formed by large papermaking machines that spread the paper over large cylinders—either heated metal cylinders that rotate at high speed (machinemade papers) or wire mesh cylinders that rotate at low speed (mouldmade papers).

Both types of machine produce the paper in a continuous roll or web, which is then cut into individual sheets.

The basis weight of the paper is a measure of its density and thickness. It is described as the gram weight of one square meter of a single sheet of the paper, or grams per square meter (gsm). Most watercolor papers sold today are in the range between 280gsm to 640gsm. (The previous Imperial system, expressed as the weight in pounds of one ream or 500 sheets of the paper, regardless of its size, obsolete in some areas, is still used in the United States. The most common weights under this system are 300 lb (heaviest), 200 lb 140 lb, and 90 lb.) Heavier paper is sometimes preferred over lighter weight or thinner paper because it does not buckle and can hold up to scrubbing and extremely wet washes. Watercolor papers are typically almost a pure white, sometimes slightly yellow (called natural white), though many tinted or colored papers are available.

An important diagnostic is the rattle of the paper, or the sound it makes when held aloft by one corner and shaken vigorously.

Papers that are dense and made from heavily macerated pulp

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have a bright, metallic rattle, while papers that are spongy or made with lightly macerated pulp have a muffled, rubbery rattle.

All papers obtain a texture from the mold used to make them: a wove finish results from a uniform metal screen (like a window screen); a laid finish results from a screen made of narrowly spaced horizontal wires separated by widely spaced vertical wires. The finish is also affected by the methods used to wick and dry the paper after it is "couched" (removed) from the paper mold or is pulled off the papermaking cylinder.

Watercolor papers come in three basic finishes: hot pressed (HP), cold press (CP, or in the UK "Not", for "not hot pressed"), and rough (R). These vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. 





Rough papers are typically dried by hanging them like laundry ("loft drying") so that the sheets are not exposed to any pressure after they are couched; the wove finish has a pitted, uneven texture that is prized for its ability to accent the texture of watercolor pigments and brushstrokes.

Cold pressed papers are dried in large stacks, between absorbent felt blankets; this acts to flatten out about half of the texture found in the rough sheets. CP papers are valued for their versatility.

Hot pressed papers are cold pressed sheets that are passed through heated, compressing metal cylinders (called "calendering"), which flattens almost all the texture in the sheets.

HP papers are valued because they are relatively nonabsorbent: pigments remain on the paper surface, brightening the color, and water is not absorbed, so it can produce a variety of water stains or marks as it dries.

These designations are only relative; the CP paper from one manufacturer may be rougher than the R paper from another manufacturer. Fabriano even offers a "soft press" (SP) sheet intermediate between CP and HP.

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Watercolor papers are traditionally sized, or treated with a substance to reduce the cellulose absorbency. Internal sizing is added to the paper pulp after rinsing and before it is cast in the paper mould; external or "tub" sizing is applied to the paper surface after the paper has dried. The traditional sizing has been gelatin, gum arabic or rosin, though modern synthetic substitutes (alkyl ketene dimers such as Aquapel) are now used instead.

The highly absorbent papers that contain no sizing are

designated waterleaf.

Most art papers are sold as single sheets of paper in standard sizes.

Most common is the full sheet (22" x 30"), and half sheets (15" x 22") or quarter sheets (15" x 11") derived from it. Larger (and less standardized) sheets include the double elephant (within an inch or two of 30" x 40") and emperor (40" x 60"), which are the largest sheets commercially available. Papers are also manufactured in rolls, up to about 60" wide and 30 feet long. Finally, papers are also sold as watercolor "blocks"—a pad of 20 or so sheets of paper, cut to identical dimensions and glued on all four sides, which provides high dimensional stability and portability, though block papers tend to have subdued finishes. The painter simply works on the exposed PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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sheet and, when finished, uses a knife to cut the adhesive around the four sides, separating the painting and revealing the fresh paper underneath.

Finally, the best art papers are designated archival, meaning they will last without significant deterioration for a century or more.

Archival means that the papers are made entirely of high alpha cellulose or 100% cotton or linen fiber (that is, they are lignin free, as lignincauses darkening and embrittlement under light exposure), pH neutral (meaning there is no residual acidity left from the chemical processing of the pulp), buffered (a small quantity of an alkaline compound, usually calcium carbonate, is added to the furnish to neutralize the effect of atmospheric acids), and free of any artificial paper brighteners or whiteners (e.g., ultraviolet dyes).

The content designations "100% cotton" or "100% cotton rag" have little significance to the actual quality or handling attributes of the paper. (A wide range of papers using alternative plant fibers, some of them not archival, are available from Asian manufacturers; some watercolor painters even employ sheets of printable plastic, sold under brand names such as Yupo and Polyart.) Synthetic paper has a high ph value and works well with all watermedia paint

A useful test of paper quality is simply to burn a small piece of the paper in an ashtray: pure cellulose completely burns away to a wispy, whitish gray ash. The absorbency of a paper is assessed by licking it. The mechanical strength of the paper is assessed by repeatedly folding it back and forth along a single crease. The stability of the paper (amount of cockling when soaked) and its response to lifting paint (the paper should not shred or tear) is best tested by making a painting on it.

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called cockling. Evenly wetted, machinemade papers typically curl along one dimension, revealing the curvature of the cylinder they were formed on; some mouldmade papers and all handmade papers cockle in a random, uneven pattern. Handmade papers typically have four natural deckles (feathery, uneven edges) left by the paper mould; mouldmade papers have two natural deckles along the edges of the web, and two simulated deckles produced by cutting the sheet with a jet of compressed water; machinemade papers have no deckles.

In the 19th century, before modern high quality and heavy weights of paper were available, watercolor painters preferred to "stretch" papers before painting on them, to minimize or eliminate cockling and to provide a firm painting support. The paper was first completely immersed in water for 10–15 minutes, then laid completely flat on a board. The paper edges were fixed with gummed tape, starch glue or tacks, and the paper was left to dry. (As paper dries it shrinks, producing a high tension across the paper surface; when painted on, this tension takes up the expansion produced by the paper cockling, so that the paper remains flat.) When the painting was finished, the gummed or glued edge of the paper, including the deckle (which was considered unsightly) was trimmed away. Many watercolor painters still stretch their papers, but because natural deckles are appreciated today for their decorative, handmade effect, the modern preference is to work on unstretched papers, either by using a heavier weight of paper, by allowing paper to dry out before it becomes too saturated, or by exploiting the artistic effects that cockling can produce.

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Wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry technique.

Watercolor painting has the reputation of being quite demanding; it is more accurate to say that watercolor techniques are unique to watercolor. Unlike oil or acrylic painting, where the paints essentially stay where they are put and dry more or less in the form they are applied, water is an active and complex partner in the watercolor painting process, changing both the absorbency and shape of the paper when it is wet and the outlines and appearance of the paint as it dries. The difficulty in watercolor painting is almost entirely in learning how to anticipate and leverage the behavior of water, rather than attempting to control or dominate it.

Many difficulties occur because watercolor paints do not have high hiding power, so previous efforts cannot simply be painted over; and the paper support is both absorbent and delicate, so the paints cannot simply be scraped off, like oil paint from a canvas, but must be laboriously (and often only partially) lifted by rewetting and blotting. This often induces in student painters a pronounced and inhibiting anxiety about making an irreversible mistake. Watercolor has a longstanding association with drawing or engraving, and the common procedure to curtail such mistakes is to make a precise, faint outline drawing in pencil of the subject to be painted, to use small brushes, and to paint limited areas of the painting only after all adjacent paint areas have completely dried.

Another characteristic of watercolor paints is that the carbohydrate binder is only a small proportion of the raw paint volume, and much of the binder is drawn between the hydrophilic cellulose fibers of wet paper as the paint (and paper) dries. As a result, watercolor paints do not form an enclosing layer of vehicle around the pigment particles and a continuous film of dried vehicle over the painting support, but leave pigment particles scattered and stranded like tiny grains of sand on the paper. This increases the scattering of light from both the pigment and paper surfaces, causing a characteristic whitening or lightening of the paint color as it dries. The exposed pigment particles are also vulnerable to PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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damaging ultraviolet light, which can compromise pigment permanency.

Watercolor paint is traditionally and still commonly applied with brushes, but modern painters have experimented with many other implements, particularly sprayers, scrapers, sponges or sticks, and have combined watercolors with pencil, charcoal, crayon, chalk, ink, engraving, monotype, lithography and collage, or with acrylic paint.

Many watercolor painters, perhaps uniquely among all modern visual artists, still adhere to prejudices dating from the 19th century rivalry between "transparent" and bodycolor painters. Among these are injunctions never to use white paint, never to use black paint, only to use transparent color, or only to work with "primary" color mixtures. In fact, many superb paintings flout some or all of these guidelines, and they have little relevance to modern painting practice.

Perhaps only with the exception of egg tempera, watercolor is the painting medium that artists most often compound themselves, by hand, using raw pigment and paint ingredients purchased from retail suppliers and prepared using only kitchen utensils. Even with commercially prepared paints, watercolor is prized for its nontoxic, tap ready solvent; lack of odor or flammability; prompt drying time; ease of cleanup and disposal; long shelf life; independence from accessory equipment (jars, rags, easels, stretchers, etc.). Its portability makes it ideal for plein air painting, and painters today can buy compact watercolor kits—containing a dozen or more pan paints, collapsible brushes, water flask, brush rinsing cup and fold out mixing trays—that fit neatly into a coat pocket.

Basic watercolor technique includes washes and glazes. In watercolors, a wash is the application of diluted paint in a manner that disguises or effaces individual brush strokes to produce a unified area of color. Typically, this might be a light blue wash for the sky.

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There are many techniques to produce an acceptable wash, but the student method is to tilt the paper surface (usually after fixing it to a rigid flat support) so that the top of the wash area is higher than the bottom, then to apply the paint in a series of even, horizontal brush strokes in a downward sequence, each stroke just overlapping the stroke above to pull downward the excess paint or water (the "bead"), and finally wicking up the excess paint from the last stroke using a paper towel or the tip of a moist brush. This produces an airy, translucent color effect unique to watercolors, especially when a granulating or flocculating pigment (such as viridian or ultramarine blue) is used.

Washes can be "graded" or "graduated" by adding more prediluted paint or water to the mixture used in successive brush strokes, which darkens or lightens the wash from start to finish.

"Variegated" washes, which blend two or more paint colors, can also be used, for example as a wash with areas of blue and perhaps some red or orange for a sky at sunrise or sunset.

A glaze is the application of one paint color over a previous paint layer, with the new paint layer at a dilution sufficient to allow the first color to show through. Glazes are used to mix two or more colors, to adjust a color (darken it or change its hue or chroma), or PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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to produce an extremely homogenous, smooth color surface or a controlled but delicate color transition (light to dark, or one hue to another). The last technique requires the first layer to be a highly diluted consistency of paint; this paint layer dissolves the surface sizing of the paper and loosens the cellulose tufts in the pulp.

Subsequent layers are applied at increasingly heavier concentrations, always using a small round brush, only after the previous paint application has completely dried. Each new layer is used to refine the color transitions or to efface visible irregularities in the existing color.

Painters who use this technique may apply 100 glazes or more to create a single painting. This method is currently very popular for painting high contrast, intricate subjects, in particular colorful blossoms in crystal vases brightly illuminated by direct sunlight. The glazing method also works exceptionally well in watercolor portraiture, allowing the artist to depict complex flesh tones effectively.

Wet in wet includes any application of paint or water to an area of the painting that is already wet with either paint or water. In general, wet in wet is one of the most distinctive features of watercolor painting and the technique that produces a striking painterly effect.

The essential idea is to wet the entire sheet of paper, laid flat, until the surface no longer wicks up water but lets it sit on the surface, then to plunge in with a large brush saturated with paint. This is normally done to define the large areas of the painting with irregularly defined color, which is then sharpened and refined with more controlled painting as the paper (and preceding paint) dries.

Wet in wet actually comprises a variety of specific painting effects, each produced through different procedures. Among the most common and characteristic: 

Backruns (also called blossoms, blooms, oozles, watermarks, backwashes or runbacks). Because the hydrophilic and closely

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spaced cellulose fibers of the paper provide traction for capillary action, water and wet paint have a strong tendency to migrate from wetter to drier surfaces of the painting. As the wetter area pushes into the dryer, it plows up pigment along its edge, leaving a lighter colored area behind it and a darker band of pigment along an irregular, serrated edge. Backruns can be subtle or pronounced, depending on the consistency of the paint in the two areas and the amount of moisture imbalance. Backruns can be induced by adding more paint or water to a paint area as it dries, or by blotting (drying) a specific area of the painting, causing the wetter surrounding areas to creep into it. Backruns are often used to symbolize a flare of light or the lighting contour on an object, or simply for decorative effect.

Paint Diffusion. Because of osmotic imbalance, concentrated paint applied to a prewetted paper has a tendency to diffuse or expand into the pure water surrounding it, especially if the paint has been milled using a dispersant (surfactant). This produces a characteristic feathery, delicate border around the color area, which can be enhanced or partially shaped by tilting the paper surface before the water dries, shaping the diffusion with surface water flow.

Pouring Color. Some artists pour large quantities of slightly diluted paint onto separate areas of the painting surface, then by using a brush, spray bottle of water and/or judicious tilting of the painting support, cause the wet areas to gently merge and mix.

After the color has been mixed and allowed to set for a few minutes, the painting is tipped vertically to sheet off all excess moisture (the lighter colors across the darker ones), leaving behind a paper stained with random, delicate color variations, which can be further shaped with a wet brush or added paint while the paper is still wet. A popular variation uses separate areas of red, yellow and blue paint, which when mingled and drained produce a striking effect of light in darkness; areas of white are reserved by first covering them with plastic film, masking tape or a liquid latex resist. (The technique was actually invented, and used for similar effect, by J.M.W. Turner.)

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Dropping In Color. In this technique a color area is first precisely defined with diluted paint or clear water, then more concentrated paint is dropped into it by touching the wet area with a brush charged with paint. The added paint can be shaped by tilting or stroking; backruns can be induced by adding pure water or concentrated paint, or the color can be lightened by wicking up paint with a moist brush. A striking, tesselated effect is produced when many precisely defined and interlocking areas are separately colored with this randomly diffusing technique.

Salt Texture. Grains of coarse salt, sprinkled into moist paint, produce small, snowflake like imperfections in the color. This is especially effective when the color area is a wash that displays the texture more clearly. It should be remembered when using salt that salt will rot the paper eventually. A similar effect can be produced by spraying a moist (not shiny but still cool to the touch) paint area with water, using a spray bottle held two or three feet above the painting surface, or by sprinkling a wet paint with coarse sand or sawdust.

Cling-film technique. The use of kitchen cling-film to create special effects in watercolor painting. A wash of watercolor is applied to paper and cling-film is laid over the wet pigment. The cling-film is then manipulated manually using fingers to form a series of ridges that resemble ripples in water or long grasses.

Once the pigment is completely dry, the cling-film is removed and the texture is revealed in greater clarity.

Watercolor painters also learn to apply paint to paper and then, when the paint has dried to the right point, brush along the edge of the paint with a flat, mop or sky brush charged with a moderate amount of clear water. This new area of water pulls the wet paint outward in a diffusion fan that is controlled by judging the wetness of the paint and the amount of water applied; if excessive water is used, this brushing produces both an outward diffusion and a backrun into the drying paint. This method is useful to produce transitions in value or color within narrow bands, such as the locks of hair in a portrait head.

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At the other extreme from wet in wet techniques, Drybrush is the watercolor painting technique for precision and control, supremely exemplified in many botanical paintings and in the drybrush watercolors of Andrew Wyeth. Raw (undiluted) paint is picked up with a premoistened, small brush (usually a #4 or smaller), then applied to the paper with small hatching or crisscrossing brushstrokes. The brush tip must be wetted but not overcharged with paint, and the paint must be just fluid enough to transfer to the paper with slight pressure and without dissolving the paint layer underneath. The goal is to build up or mix the paint colors with short precise touches that blend to avoid the appearance of pointillism.

The cumulative effect is objective, textural and highly controlled, with the strongest possible value contrasts in the medium. Often it is impossible to distinguish a good drybrush watercolor from a color photograph or oil painting, and many drybrush watercolors are varnished or lacquered after they are completed to enhance this resemblance.

Scumbling (in the 19th century, called "crumbling color" or "dragging color") is an unrelated technique of loading a large, moist flat or round brush with concentrated paint, wicking out the excess, then lightly dragging the side or heel of the tuft across the paper to produce a rough, textured appearance, for example to represent beach grass, rocky surfaces or glittering water. The amount of texture that can be produced depends on the finish or tooth of the paper (R or CP paper works best), the size of the brush, the consistency and quantity of the paint in the brush, and the pressure and speed of the brush stroke. Moist paper will cause the scumbled color to diffuse slightly before it dries.

When using watercolors, it is important to use the full range of paint consistency. The densest possible color is obtained by using the

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paint as it comes from the tube. The lightest color is obtained by using paint heavily diluted with water, or applied to the paper and then blotted away with a paper towel. Generally, paint directly from the tube should be used only with drybrush application: if the paint is used to completely cover the paper it typically dries to a dull, leathery appearance (called bronzing). Usually one part tube paint must be diluted with 2 to 3 parts water to eliminate bronzing in paint applied with a large brush to dry paper; with 4 to 6 parts water to produce the most saturated color; and with still more water to produce delicate tints of color and to enhance pigment textures (granulation or flocculation). The main point is to take advantage of the complete range of paint effects that are produced at different paint consistencies.

Tube paints are normally used with a flat palette that provides compartmentalized paint wells (for holding separate paint colors) and a large mixing area for mixing or diluting paints; pan paints are arrayed in enameled metal paint boxes that provide shallow mixing areas in the folding cover or in a fold out faceted tray. With tube paints, the excess paint remaining in the palette paint wells should be cleaned out only if the paint has become dirtied with another paint; otherwise the paints should be allowed to dry out promptly and completely, as this prevents mold from forming. Despite the common misconception, there is no visual difference between the viscous paint packaged in tubes and the dried paints in pans. Tube paints left to dry in paint wells are used in exactly the same way as pan paints—the painter simply drips or sprays water over the paint a few minutes before starting work. The only notable difference is that some tube paints, such as viridian or cerulean blue, produce a gritty, uneven paint mixture when left to dry and then rewetted.

There are three finesses to color mixtures with watercolors. First, the raw or "pure" paint in the paint wells should never be discolored with any other paint. To ensure this, colors are mixed by picking up the desired quantity of dissolved paint from the prewetted paint well, using a moist, clean brush, then applying the paint onto the flat mixing area of the palette. Then the brush is rinsed before picking up any other paint. Once all paints are on the mixing area, they are mixed and/or applied to the painting.

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Second, colors can be mixed in at least four ways: (1) by completely mixing together on the palette the paints that exactly match a desired color; (2) by loading together in a large brush the separate paints that approximately match the desired color, then letting these partially mix as the paint is applied to the paper; (3) by laying down first a single paint color, then "dropping in" the remaining paint colors with the brush while the painted area is still wet; (4) by glazing the paints as separate layers, one over another.

Each technique has its purpose—the first provides color accuracy (for photorealist painting), the second provides color variety (especially in dark colors), the third produces many "wet in wet" effects between wetter and drier paint areas (for greater color expressiveness), the fourth can produce a variety of luminous, iridescent or "broken color" effects, similar to mixtures with pastel chalks.

Third, watercolors should be used confidently: applied with a single stroke or joined strokes, then left alone to dry. Color muddiness or dullness typically comes from excessively brushing wet paint after it has been applied to the paper, or adding new layers of paint onto paper that has soaked water into its pulp (capillary action draws the paint inside the paper, dulling the color, rather than letting it dry on the surface). Overbrushing and "color soaking" are the most common flaws of novice watercolor paintings.

Palette is also the term for a specific selection of paints (or "colors").

Though commercial watercolor brands typically include up to 100 or more paint colors in tubes, subtractive pigment mixtures can produce a complete range of colors from a small number of specific paints. Indeed, as a matter of economy, convenience or technique, painters have often preferred palettes comprising the smallest practical selection of paints.

The smallest practical palette consists of one dark neutral paint, typically including a carbon black pigment or, in works before 1800, a sepia ink. As this single paint can only communicate value gradations from full strength (dark) to white paper, it produces PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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monochrome images, often supplemented and sharpened by an underdrawing or additions in pen and ink.

A familiar choice is the "primary" palette consisting of a magenta (traditionally but inaccurately identified as "red"), yellow and cyan (traditionally "blue") paint, each representing a subtractive primary color. This palette can mix all possible hues, though the purple, orange and green mixtures are characteristically rather dull or dark, and most color mixtures require use of all three paints. The primary palette is therefore useful to demonstrate that compactness also affects convenience (the difficulty involved in mixing any common color) and color saturation (generally, the paint mixture gamut or total number of unique colors it is possible to mix with a palette).

Note that Leonardo, in his notebooks, cited red, yellow, green and blue (along with white and black) as the "painter's primaries", though he may not have had a specific palette in mind; but replacing the cyan paint with a deep blue paint (such as ultramarine blue), and adding a green paint, greatly improves the saturation of both purple and green mixtures in a compact four paint selection, and allows a dark neutral or black to be mixed directly, using only red and green.

In the 19th century a six paint "split primary" palette was introduced and is still advocated today as a solution to the mixing limitations of the three paint "primary" palette. It is based on the three traditional subtractive primary colors (red, yellow and blue), each in a "warm" and "cool" version (specific pigments listed as examples for each color choice):      

"warm" yellow: Cadmium Yellow Medium (PY35) "cool" yellow: Cadmium Lemon (PY35) "warm" red: Cadmium Scarlet (PR108) "cool" red: Quinacridone Carmine (PV19) "warm" blue: Ultramarine Blue (PB29) "cool" blue": Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) (PB15).

This selection was advocated so that bright or saturated mixtures could be produced by related primary colors, e.g. the brightest orange is the mixture of a yellow with some red in it (warm yellow) PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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and a red with some yellow in it (warm red); the brightest green is the mixture of a yellow with some blue in it (cool yellow) with a blue with some yellow in it (cool blue). This palette is nearly always justified with the specious argument that paints are "impure" carriers of "primary color", a misunderstanding of subtractive color mixture that appears in Michel-Eugene Chevreul's "Simultaneous Color Harmony and Contrast" published in 1839.

A modern approach to the six paint palette (trademarked in the printing industry as a "hexachrome" palette) jettisons the "impure paint" rationalization and simply focuses on obtaining the largest gamut from a limited selection of available pigments. This leads to a more equal spacing of paints around the hue circle, and the inclusion of a green paint. As a result the mixture of any two paints adjacent on the hue circle usually produces the most saturated color mixtures for every hue between them (specific pigments listed as examples for each color choice):

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yellow: Cadmium Yellow Pale (PY35 or PY37) or Benzimidazolone Yellow (PY151 or PY154) red orange: Pyrrol Orange (PO73) or Cadmium Scarlet (PR108) magenta: Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) or Quinacridone Rose (PV19) blue violet: Ultramarine Blue (PB29) cyan: Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) or Phthalo Cyan (PB17) green: Phthalo Green (PG7 Blue Shade or PG36 Yellow Shade).

Both the "split primary" and "hexachrome" palettes obtain dull or darkened colors, including a "neutral" (dark gray or black), by mixing together paints or colors on opposite sides of the hue circle— especially orange or scarlet with cyan, and carmine or magenta with green.

As a matter of convenience, painters typically also add one or more paints made with an iron oxide pigment (the so-called "earth" pigments) and sold under the marketing names yellow ochre, raw sienna, raw umber, burnt sienna, burnt umber and/or venetian red.

Exactly the same brown or ochre colors can be matched with either of the six paint palettes, but it is tedious to do. As dark colors also require inconvenient mixing, most painters prefer to add a premixed dark neutral paint containing a carbon (black) pigment and a tinting pigment to produce a slight color bias, usually sold under the marketing names indigo, payne's gray, neutral tint or sepia.

A final consideration is lightfastness, or the ability of a pigment to retain its original color appearance under exposure to light. This is usually indicated as a numerical rating, from I (high lightfastness) to III or IV (low lightfastness), on the paint tube or in the paint technical information available from the manufacturer.

Lightfastness is a crucial issue with watercolors, because the paint pigment is not surrounded by a protective dried binder (as in oil or acrylic paints) but is left exposed on the surface of the paper. In the 19th century, watercolors acquired a market reputation for relative

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impermanence that continues to suppress their price today, and painters who admire this medium will make choices to improve its market status: in fact, lightfast watercolor paints on archival papers are more durable than any oil painting on canvas. The most stable painting medium is pastel, but modern lightfast watercolors are now more stable than oil or acrylic mediums.

Unfortunately, paint manufacturer lightfastness ratings are not always trustworthy. However, because they have been demonstrated to be impermanent in watercolors, certain pigments (paints) should never be used under any circumstances. These include: aureolin (PY40),alizarin crimson (PR83), genuine rose madder (NR9), genuine carmine (NR4), genuine vermilion (PR106), most naphthol reds and oranges, all dyes (including most "liquid watercolors" and marker pens), and paints premixed with a white pigment, including paints marketed under the names naples yellow, emerald green or antwerp blue. Most of these are colorants invented in the 19th century or before that have been superseded by far more durable modern alternatives, and these are usually sold as "hue" paints (e.g., "alizarin crimson hue" is a modern pigment that resembles alizarin crimson). Industry labeling practice is to include a lightfastness rating on the paint packaging, and painters should only use paints that have a lightfastness rating of I or II under the testing standards published the American Society of Testing and Materials (now ASTM International).

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Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a watersoluble binder medium (usually a glutinous material such as egg yolk or some other size).

Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting.

A paint consisting of pigment and glue size commonly used in the United States as poster paint is also often referred to as "tempera paint," although the binders and sizes in this paint are different from traditional tempera paint.

A 1367 tempera on wood by Niccolò Semitecolo.

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Tempera painting has been found on early Egyptians sarcophagi decorations. Many of the Fayum mummy portraits use tempera, sometimes in combination with encaustic.

A related technique has been used also in ancient and early medieval paintings found in several caves and rock-cut temples of India.

High-quality art with the help of tempera was created in Bagh Caves between the late 4th and 10th centuries AD and in the 7th century AD in Ravan Chhaya rock shelter, Orissa.

The art technique was known from the classical world, where it appears to have taken over from encaustic painting[citation needed] and was the main medium used for panel painting and illuminated manuscripts in the Byzantine world and Medieval and Early renaissance Europe. Tempera painting was the primary panel painting medium for nearly every painter in the European Medieval and Early renaissance period up to 1500.

For example, every surviving panel painting by Michelangelo is egg tempera.

Oil paint, which may have originated in Afghanistan between the 5th and 9th centuries and migrated westward in the Middle Ages[4]eventually superseded tempera. Oil replaced tempera as the principal medium used for creating artworks during the 15th century in Early Netherlandish painting in northern Europe.

Around 1500, oil paint replaced tempera in Italy. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there were intermittent revivals of tempera technique in Western art, among the Pre-Raphaelites, Social Realists, and others. Tempera painting continues to be used in Greece and Russia where it is the required medium for Orthodox icons.

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Tempera is traditionally created by hand-grinding dry powdered pigments into a binding agent or medium, such as egg, glue, honey, water, milk (in the form of casein) and a variety of plant gums.

Tempera painting starts with placing a small amount of the powdered pigment onto a palette, dish or bowl and adding about an equal volume of the binder and mixing.

Some pigments require slightly more binder, some require less. A few drops of distilled water are added; then the binder (egg emulsion) is added in small increments to the desired transparency. The more egg emulsion, the more transparent the paint.

The most common form of classical tempera painting is "egg tempera". For this form most often only the contents of the egg yolk is used. The white of the egg and the membrane of the yolk are discarded (the membrane of the yolk is dangled over a receptacle and punctured to drain off the liquid inside). Egg yolk is never used by itself with pigment; it dries almost immediately and crackles when it is dry. Some agent is always added, in variable proportions. One recipe calls for vinegar (1:1 proportion to egg yolk by volume); other recipes suggest white wine (1 part yolk, 2 parts wine). Some schools of egg tempera use various mixtures of egg yolk and water.

When used to paint icons on church walls, liquid myrrh is sometimes added to the mixture to give the paint a pleasing odor, particularly as worshipers may find the egg tempera somewhat pungent until some days and weeks after completion.

The paint mixture has to be constantly adjusted to maintain a balance between a "greasy" and "watery" consistency by adjusting the amount of water and yolk. As tempera dries, the artist will add more water to preserve the consistency and to balance the thickening of the yolk on contact with air. Once prepared, the paint PALITRA STUDIO. ART FACTORY

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cannot be stored. Egg tempera is water-resistant, but not waterproof.

Different preparations use the egg white or the whole egg for different effect. Other additives such as oil and wax emulsions can modify the medium.

Egg tempera is not a flexible paint and requires stiff boards; painting on canvas will cause crackle and pieces of paint to fall off.

Adding oil in no more than a 1:1 ratio with the egg yolk by volume produces a water soluble medium with many of the color effects of oil paint, although it cannot be painted thickly.

Some of the pigments used by medieval painters, such as cinnabar (contains mercury), orpiment (contains arsenic), or lead white (contains lead) are highly toxic. Most artists today use modern synthetic pigments, which are less toxic but have similar color properties to the older pigments. Even so, many (if not most) modern pigments are still dangerous unless certain precautions are taken; these include keeping pigments wet in storage to avoid breathing their dust.

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Tempera paint dries rapidly. It is normally applied in thin, semiopaque or transparent layers. Tempera painting allows for great precision when used with traditional techniques that require the application of numerous small brush strokes applied in a crosshatching technique. When dry, it produces a smooth matte finish.

Because it cannot be applied in thick layers as oil paints can, tempera paintings rarely have the deep color saturation that oil paintings can achieve. In this respect the colors of an unvarnished tempera painting resemble a pastel, although the color deepens if a varnish is applied. On the other hand, tempera colors do not change over time, whereas oil paints darken, yellow, and become transparent with age.

Tempera adheres best to an absorbent ground that has a lower "oil" content than the tempera binder used (the traditional rule of thumb is "fat over lean", and never the other way around).

The ground traditionally used is inflexible Italian gesso, and the substrate is usually rigid as well.

Historically wood panels were used as the substrate, and more recently un-tempered masonite and modern composite boards have been employed. Heavy paper is also used.

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