<p>It's an aquarelle painting and from the looks of it either watercolors or inks (or both) were used. </p>

<p>This technique uses lots of water, so you need really thick paper for it. Many hobby / craft / art shops sell special aquarelle paper. It's as thick as cardboard but white.</p>

<p>Acrylic colors are not well suited for this kind of art because they dry too fast and become waterproof after drying. But you can experiement with acrylic colors and see what kind of effects they produce.</p>

<p>You might get the idea of using a cheap, school grade box of watercolors, but these will produce muddy and chalky colors and nothing like the warm glow in the center of the picture. Aquarelle colors are rather expensive compared to acrylic or oil colors because they contain lots of pigments and not much more. They are usually sold in little cubess or disks and you use them by brushing a wet paint brush over them. And one disk or cube of watercolor goes a long way.</p>

<p>If you want to learn painting with watercolors, start with learning about the different effects of wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry technique.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-22T10:42:06.600Z
@WebHead Have a look at this [old question](https://crafts.stackexchange.com/q/556/6316). "The way you use tube colors is quite different from the way you use pan colors." and "pan colors tend to be more washed, so think runny light watercolor. Tubes tend to be more opaque". I'm no expert in water colors, but it should be possible to recreate a similar effect using tube colors if you adapt your technique and dilute them accordingly.
Elmy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-20T22:14:16.040Z
@user24 - there is no real difference between the two, one is just wet. They both use the same binder and they can both produce fully saturated colors unlike that old (and unaccepted) answer suggests. For aquarelle techniques the tube form is slightly handier because they start wet and will require less work to get ready for use.  Acylics can absolutely be used since it is about wetness. They do dry faster and will not remix once dried but a retarder can be used to slow the drying processs.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-09T08:21:34.407Z
2018-11-09T08:36:53.010Z
2018-11-09T08:36:53.010Z
Elmy
<p>What is the type of art below called?<br />
And what type of paper and colors are used here? Can I do that using acrylic colors?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XRoKe.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/XRoKe.jpg" alt="water color art" /></a></p>

<painting><technique-identification>
What is this type of art called?
Roohi Zuwairiyah
# What is this type of art called?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-08)

What is the type of art below called?  
And what type of paper and colors are used here? Can I do that using acrylic colors?

[![water color art](https://i.sstatic.net/XRoKe.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/XRoKe.jpg)

**Tags:** painting, technique-identification


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-09. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

It's an aquarelle painting and from the looks of it either watercolors or inks (or both) were used.

This technique uses lots of water, so you need really thick paper for it. Many hobby / craft / art shops sell special aquarelle paper. It's as thick as cardboard but white.

Acrylic colors are not well suited for this kind of art because they dry too fast and become waterproof after drying. But you can experiement with acrylic colors and see what kind of effects they produce.

You might get the idea of using a cheap, school grade box of watercolors, but these will produce muddy and chalky colors and nothing like the warm glow in the center of the picture. Aquarelle colors are rather expensive compared to acrylic or oil colors because they contain lots of pigments and not much more. They are usually sold in little cubess or disks and you use them by brushing a wet paint brush over them. And one disk or cube of watercolor goes a long way.

If you want to learn painting with watercolors, start with learning about the different effects of wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry technique.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: @WebHead Have a look at this [old question](https://crafts.stackexchange.com/q/556/6316). "The way you use tube colors is quite different from the way you use pan colors." and "pan colors tend to be more washed, so think runny light watercolor. Tubes tend to be more opaque". I'm no expert in water colors, but it should be possible to recreate a similar effect using tube colors if you adapt your technique and dilute them accordingly.  
> **username_2**: @user24 - there is no real difference between the two, one is just wet. They both use the same binder and they can both produce fully saturated colors unlike that old (and unaccepted) answer suggests. For aquarelle techniques the tube form is slightly handier because they start wet and will require less work to get ready for use.  Acylics can absolutely be used since it is about wetness. They do dry faster and will not remix once dried but a retarder can be used to slow the drying processs.  

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