watercolor
Enable an AI agent to recognise a watercolor painting activity, assess its working state and judge which interventions remain possible for the intended result.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions
Watercolor intent and boundaries Establishes what watercolor means in this activity and which visual effects guide its handling.
Operative medium
Locates watercolor within the activity and any mixed-media passages.
Role of watercolor
Record the medium identification and the passages whose handling depends on watercolor.
- What identifies the paint or application as watercolor in this activity? definition
- Which passages use another medium and require separate handling constraints? boundary
Intended light and marks
Connects transparency, reserves and edge character to the intended image.
Target wash character
Record desired wash, edge and light-area effects so that variation can be judged against intent.
- Which areas should retain support white, transparent colour or deliberately opaque accents? definition
- Where are hard edges, soft transitions or broken drybrush marks intended? definition
Paint, support and handling tests Records the material combination actually being used and evidence of its behaviour.
Paint and mixture behaviour
Associates working colours with their identities, mixtures and observed responses.
Working colour evidence
Record paint identification and tests relevant to transparency, texture, mixing and removal.
- Which paint labels, pigment identifiers or preparation records identify the working colours? provenance
- What do swatches on the working support show about transparency, granulation, mixture appearance and lifting? measurement
Support response
Records how the prepared surface responds to the intended water and brush handling.
Surface tolerance
Capture observed spreading, pooling, buckling and surface disturbance without assuming a universal tolerance.
- What support and preparation are in use, including any stretching, mounting or surface treatment? provenance
- What evidence indicates whether this surface can tolerate the proposed repeated wetting or lifting? action
Water state and pigment movement Tracks local working conditions during application and drying.
Regional wetness
Treats wetness as spatially uneven and time dependent.
Wetness map
Record the condition of the intended application region and adjacent areas it may affect.
- Where are pooling, sheen, dampness or apparent dryness observed, and when were they observed? measurement
- What further check is needed before treating the target region as ready for the intended mark? action
Flow and edge development
Relates paint additions, water additions and support orientation to visible movement.
Wash movement
Record advancing pigment, wash beads, merging boundaries and developing blooms against the intended effect.
- How are pigment fronts, beads and edges moving relative to the desired boundary? measurement
- Would adding paint or water, changing tilt, removing a pool or waiting best support the intended transition? action
Wash sequence and light reserves Organises applications around underlying passages and areas that must remain light.
Application dependencies
Records what each wash or glaze depends on and what it is expected to change.
Next wash requirements
Specify the target region, desired effect and readiness conditions for the next application.
- Is the next passage intended to merge into a wet area, lie over a dry passage or leave broken marks on the surface? definition
- What must be checked in the underlying passage before the application proceeds? action
Reserve management
Tracks untouched support and temporary barriers through the painting sequence.
Light-area protection
Record which light areas depend on exposed support and how they will survive neighbouring applications.
- Which light shapes must remain unpainted, and are they protected by brush control, masking or another method? definition
- If masking is used, what product guidance or local test supports its application and removal on this surface? provenance
Assessment, correction and stopping Judges the emerging result and bounds further intervention.
Settled appearance
Separates provisional wet appearance from observations made after the passage has dried.
Result against intent
Assess value relationships, edges, wash evenness and pigment texture at a recorded drying state.
- At what drying state were the passage's value, colour and edge relationships assessed? measurement
- Which blooms, textures or uneven areas support the intended effect, and which require a decision? boundary
Bounded intervention
Connects possible corrections with material evidence and acceptable visual changes.
Correction or stop
Record a proposed intervention, its evidence, expected tradeoffs and stopping condition.
- What test or prior observation supports lifting, softening, glazing or repainting this particular passage? action
- What loss of surface integrity, transparency, edge control or reserved light would make further intervention unacceptable? boundary
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of watercolor this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.ACT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- wash technique, transparent watercolor
What it is Filled
Watercolor is a water-borne painting system in which finely divided pigments are dispersed in a hydrophilic binder (classically gum arabic, often with a humectant such as honey or glycerin) so that the paint can be diluted, applied in typically transparent washes, and reactivated with water after drying, almost always on an absorbent support such as paper.
In scope
- The intended role of washes, transparency, paper white and visible marks
- The working relationship among watercolor paint, water, tools and support
- Local wetness, pigment movement and drying readiness
- Application sequences including washes, glazing, lifting and reserved areas
- Assessment of emerging effects and feasible corrective or finishing actions
Out of scope
- Manufacture, formulation and commercial inventory of watercolor paints
- Paper manufacture and general material certification
- Artwork ownership, valuation, exhibition and sale
- Long-term conservation and restoration of completed artworks
- General drawing, composition and colour theory independent of watercolor handling
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise a watercolor painting activity, assess its working state and judge which interventions remain possible for the intended result.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Identify whether watercolor paint is the operative medium; dilution with water alone does not distinguish watercolor from acrylic, gouache or ink.
- Check whether support wetness and water loading are being used to control pigment spread and edge formation, rather than merely to clean or dilute materials.
- Check whether transparent passages and exposed or reserved support contribute to the intended light areas; opaque accents should be recorded without automatically excluding watercolor.
- Distinguish watercolor painting activity from a finished watercolor artwork or a container of watercolor paint by the presence of application decisions, working surface states and an actionable sequence.
- For mixed-media work, identify which passages and decisions depend on watercolor behaviour rather than assuming the whole activity follows one medium's constraints.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present a generated or copied watercolour as an original by a named artist.
- Display historic watercolours under strong light beyond conservation limits.
- Misrepresent paints' pigment content or lightfastness on labels.
- Use pigments known to be toxic around children without warning.
Only with a human decision
- Authenticating, restoring or valuing a watercolour.
May
- Explain watercolour materials and techniques from art and conservation sources.
- Create works in a general watercolour style on request without copying specific artworks.
- Monitor light and humidity for watercolour works in a collection it is authorized to support.
Moral aspects Filled
- Watercolours fade permanently in light; display choices affect what future generations can see.
- Artists deserve credit and protection from forgery.
Who is affected
- Artists
- Collectors and museums
- Children using paints
Owners Filled
Steward
Each artist or owner holds their works; the maker answers for paint labelling.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q2921001 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.watercolor
- Wikidata: Q50030 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q50030)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Activity interpretation: painting activity | finished artwork | paint material | unresolved
- Intended watercolor effects: transparent wash | graded wash | soft transition | hard edge | drybrush texture | other stated effect
- Working support: Reference to the support, its prepared surface and any tested handling behaviour
- Paint identity: References to paints or mixtures, with known identity and locally observed behaviour
- Local surface wetness: pooled | visibly wet | damp | apparently dry | uncertain, recorded by region and observation time
- Brush or applicator load: Relative water load and pigment load, with observation or preparation method
- Elapsed time since wetting: Minutes, associated with a region and wetting event
- Reserved light areas: unpainted | masked | partially covered | lost | intentionally replaced by opaque material
- Intervention readiness: ready for intended action | wait | test first | stop | unresolved
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Transparent washes of colour on paper with the white of the paper showing through.
- Soft edges, blooms and granulation where pigment settles in the paper.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Plan a wash and its wetting sequence for a specified area and edge behaviour.
- Identify regions that can receive another application and regions that need further observation or drying.
- Preserve paper white through a recorded reserve strategy.
- Run small handling tests for mixtures, support response, glazing or lifting before committing to a passage.
- Compare emerging edges, value relationships and pigment effects with the intended result.
- Choose among continuation, local correction, acceptance and stopping while recording the expected visual tradeoff.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Light exposure causes irreversible fading of many pigments.
- Some traditional pigments contain toxic metals.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- ASTM D5098 Standard Specification for Artists' Watercolor Paints, ASTM International.
Context of use required Filled
- Watercolor painting is practiced in studios, classrooms and outdoor settings for illustration, studies and finished artworks.
- Artists use water-diluted pigment to build washes, transparent layers and localized marks, usually on absorbent paper.
- The moisture state of the paint and support influences spreading, blending and the possibility of further adjustment.
Sources Filled
- Standard Specification for Artists' Watercolor Paints (ASTM D5067) - Defines artist watercolor as a gum-bound aqueous paint, sets working properties, and distinguishes it from related artists' paints such as gouache.
- The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques - Classic materials account of gum arabic binder, paper supports, transparency, lifting, and the distinction from gouache, tempera and ink.
- Handprint: Watercolor Painting (Bruce MacEvoy) - Pigment behaviour in watercolor (transparency, staining, granulation), lightfastness practice, paper weights, and the student/professional grade split.
- Standard Test Methods for Lightfastness of Colorants Used in Artists' Materials (ASTM D4303) - The I-V lightfastness categories used on artist watercolor labels and the fading hazard of fugitive colorants.
- Textiles - Tests for colour fastness - Part B02: Colour fastness to artificial light: Xenon arc fading lamp test (ISO 105-B02) - Blue Wool Scale 1-8 that manufacturers and conservators still map watercolor lightfastness onto.
- Standard Practice for Labeling Art Materials for Chronic Health Hazards (ASTM D4236) - US chronic-hazard labeling (LHAMA) that governs artist and student watercolor packaging.
- Safety of toys - Part 3: Migration of certain elements (EN 71-3) - Migration limits applied to children's watercolor cake sets sold as toys in Europe.
- Colour Index International - C.I. Generic Names (PB29, PR101, PY42, etc.) that identify the actual colorants inside named watercolor paints.
- Wikidata item Q50030: watercolor - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Watercolor painting - general description of the item
Open questions
- Does the registry intend watercolor to denote the painting activity exclusively, or also the paint material and completed artwork?
- Where should this entry draw its operational boundary with gouache, watercolor pencils, liquid watercolor products and mixed-media practices?
- Which wetness observations are sufficiently reliable across different supports and viewing conditions to justify specific next actions?
- What evidence is needed before paint properties such as lifting response or rewetting behaviour can be transferred from a test swatch to a working passage?
- Which existing Vercy models already own support condition, artwork assessment or painting procedures and should be linked rather than duplicated?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q50030/spec.json