laquarelle

Laquarelle, often anglicized as aquarelle, is the term for watercolor painting and for the water-based pigments and techniques used to create translucent washes on paper. The medium relies on pigments dispersed in water with a binder, typically gum arabic. When applied to sized paper, colors appear luminous and transparent, allowing the white or pale tone of the paper to contribute to the final effect.

Common supports include papers made from cotton or wood pulp, with high weight and good sizing. Surfaces range from smooth hot-pressed to rough textures. Techniques include wet-on-wet for soft edges, wet-on-dry for detail, glazing to build color depth, and lifting to recover whites. The white of the paper is often preserved as part of the image, and layering transparent washes is used to model light and atmosphere.

Historically, watercolor practice dates to earlier manuscript illumination, but the standalone medium gained prominence in Europe from the 15th to 18th centuries. The term aquarelle/laquarelle became standard in French and English during the 18th century. In Britain, watercolor developed into a major school with artists such as J. M. W. Turner and John Constable advancing the medium through large, luminous landscapes. In continental Europe, it was widely used for travel sketches, studies, and illustrated books. In modern practice, laquarelle remains popular among painters and illustrators for its immediacy, portability, and ability to capture light with transparent layers. It is distinguished from gouache, which is opaque, and from oils and acrylics, which rely on different binders and drying properties.