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Art & Art History vocabulary · Materials & Techniques

Watercolour

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/ˈwɔːtərkʌlər/nounCore term

In art & art history, watercolour means: Paint that is mixed with water and used on paper, giving thin, transparent layers of colour; also a picture painted with it.

In Turkish: suluboya, suluboya resim

How it is used

Uncountable for the medium (she paints in watercolour) and countable for a work (a watercolour by Turner). Painters talk about washes, wet-on-wet and dry brush techniques, and about keeping the white of the paper.

Example sentences

  1. Watercolour is hard to correct, because the white of the paper shows through every layer.

  2. The exhibition shows the watercolours Turner made on his travels in Italy.

Common collocations

  • watercolour paper
  • paint in watercolour
  • watercolour wash
  • a small watercolour
  • mediumThe material or technique an artist uses to make a work, such as oil paint, bronze, video or photography; also a liquid added to paint to change how it behaves.
  • pigmentA coloured powder, made from minerals, plants, insects or chemicals, that gives paint its colour when it is mixed with a binder such as oil, egg or gum.
  • landscapeA painting or drawing whose main subject is natural scenery such as mountains, fields, rivers or the sky; also the genre of such pictures.
  • sketchA quick, rough drawing or painting that records an idea or a scene, often made to plan a larger, finished work.

More terms: Materials & Techniques

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