Successful Watercolor artists possess the ability to balance control and freedom, creating stunning effects that often emerge serendipitously. They employ various techniques such as washes, wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry applications, highlighting through pulling out and masking, and a plethora of other methods to achieve textural effects. Ultimately, Watercolor painting emphasizes the importance of letting go and finding a harmonious balance between control and liberation within the medium.

Watercolor, both as a painting technique and the finished artwork, utilizes pigments dispersed in a water-based solution. Watercolor paper is the traditional and popular support for these paintings, but other materials like stone, silk, reed, and Watercolor canvas are also used. Cotton is often incorporated into Watercolor paper to provide the desired texture and prevent deformation when wet. Transparency is a key characteristic of Watercolors, although the use of Chinese white can add opacity, albeit deviating from the traditional technique.

Watercolor painting has a rich history, particularly in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese art, where it has been the predominant medium. In East Asia, Watercolor paintings created with inks are known as brush paintings or scroll paintings. Ethiopia, India, and other countries also have a long-standing tradition of Watercolor painting. In the Western art world, Watercolor was commonly employed by artists as a preparatory medium for "finished" works in oil or engraving, especially in the early 19th century. The term "tinted drawings" was used to describe traditional Watercolors until the late eighteenth century.