aquarelle

Aquarelle, a French term meaning "watercolor," designates both a painting medium and a technique in which pigments are dissolved in water and applied to paper. The method relies on the paper’s absorbency and the transparency of the pigments, allowing light to pass through the washes and reflect off the white surface, producing a luminous, airy effect.

Common practices include flat or graded washes, glazing in successive layers, wet-on-wet applications for soft edges, and dry-brush texture. Techniques such as lifting to remove color, masking to preserve white areas, and salt or granulation effects are also used. The primary supports are watercolor papers specially sized for watermedia, typically around 300 gsm or heavier, with textures ranging from hot-pressed (smooth) to cold-pressed (textured) and rough. Tools include brushes made from natural hair or synthetics, watercolor pigments chosen for transparency and lightfastness, and a palette, with additional aids like masking fluid and archival framing.

Historically, aquarelle developed in Europe and reached a mature English tradition in the 18th and 19th centuries, with landscape artists such as Turner and Girtin contributing to its prominence. Today it is widely used for landscape, botanical illustration, urban sketching, and travel diaries. It is distinguished from gouache by its transparency and reliance on successive washes; gouache is opaque and often kneaded with chalk to achieve opacity. The term aquarelle remains common in French-speaking contexts, while "watercolor" is the standard English usage.