Paper Painting

Painting on Paper generally involves the fine art of watercolors. Watercolors involve the mixing of colorants with water and using fine brush strokes on a ground generally made of paper.

Watercolors have the easy understated elegance which most other mediums lack. The ready mixing of water with the pigments gives the paintings a very fluid look. Paper is the ideal base for these paintings because it absorbs the colors very fast and dries very quickly too.

The History of Painting on Paper

With the invention of Paper in Chinain about 100 A.D. a new kind of art came into being, Watercolors, or Painting on Paper with water-soluble pigments. The Chinese used this medium the fullest possible extent and some calligraphies and paintings of this period is still preserved.

By the 12 th Century A.D, watercolors spread to Spain through the Moors. From Spain it spread to neighboring Italy. Italy has some of the worlds oldest paper manufactures.

Watercolors came into wide use during the late 15th century in Great Britain. Albrecth Durer was one of the earliest proponents of this medium. He painted a series of landscape paintings using water-soluble paints on parchment. The use of layers of transparent colors was to represent the dark tones, but for the light colors he used the tone of the paper.

By the 18th Century many artists began to recognize the possibilities of the medium. Many artists have had important roles in the development of this incredible medium but two of the most glittering luminaries are J.M.W. Turner and John Sell Cotman .