Painted this watercolor today in the freezing cold. I think it’s been maybe two years since I did a watercolor outside. At Clearwater Beach.pic.twitter.com/t6zKGQvein
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Basically, the pigment is mixed into either honey or gum arabic, both which are basically a candy that melts in water then goes solid again. You control the amount of water to control how hard or soft a shape is (think focus), and how dark or light it is. It's also transparent.
So, it's kind of like layering pieces of liquid stained glass, which is why people really like it. It's super portable because the gum arabic goes solid after about 10 minutes, so you can transport it easily, and a small 1/2" square of it can probably do like 20-100 paintings.
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What about conservation? Do these need extra care compared to oil paintings? I may be guessing wrong as I have seen some in museums :)
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Oh hell yeah they need more protection. They find 500 year old paintings rolled up in an attic and fix them up like new. A watercolor is a piece of paper with colorful candy on it, so it will absorb dirt and can get wrecked easily. They put them under museum glass.
End of conversation
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