…is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments combined in a water-soluble vehicle. The term “watercolor” refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork.
The traditional and most common support for watercolor paintings is paper; other supports include bark papers, vellum and canvas. Watercolors are usually transparent, and appear luminous because the pigments are laid down in a relatively pure form without fillers to obscure the pigment colors.
Watercolor can also be made opaque by adding Chinese white. In East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting. In the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures, watercolor painting has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or browns.