The Watercolor Medium

In the Quiet Places 27 x 39” Watercolor John Hulsey

What attracts us to using watercolor is this—you only need water and you’re ready to paint. It is a very quick and direct way to get working quickly—ideal for plein air or travel. Of course things aren’t so simple when one tries to make watercolor cooperate! It takes many miles of paper to get on friendly terms with the medium and learn the “watercolor dance”. However, it is a journey worth taking! Having a knowledgeable guide to help you along the way can be enormously useful to shorten the learning curve. That is one of the reasons we offer online watercolor classes each week—to help our students learn the joys of working in this wonderful painting medium without all the frustrations which can develop.

Recently, a student asked us about watercolor mediums and additives, and we decided to do some up-to-date research on what products are now available, and their properties. We start with the old-school mediums th…