Modes of Existence and Role Relationships of Water Across Different Material Systems

In the long-term observation of various painting and pigment materials, the position and role of water show clear differences.

Water is not a fixed or essential component in all material behaviors. Across different material systems, water may function as a direct medium of material behavior, participate indirectly through other components, act merely as a condition factor related to drying and ambient humidity, or remain completely outside material behavior, serving only auxiliary or cleaning functions.

Therefore, the focus of observation lies in identifying the specific position and functional relationship of water within a given material system.

1. Alcohol and Alcohol Ink Systems

In observations of the alcohol ink system, water does not directly participate in the material's own behavior.

• Waterless Trait of the System: The alcohol thinner used belongs to a waterless, volatile system, and the ink itself does not use water as a medium for movement or dispersion. In experimental observations, adding water to this system causes abnormal material movement and shapes; thus, water does not exist as a component of the alcohol ink behavior system. From the moment ink touches an open surface through movement, spreading, evaporation, and final drying, water plays no direct part.
• External Cleaning and Auxiliary Roles: The appearance of water in the alcohol ink system is largely limited to external cleaning outside material behavior. For non-absorbent surface materials, because ink residue remains on the surface without penetrating into the substrate, water can serve for basic surface cleanup.
• Limits of Cleaning Range: Ink residue attached to containers, cups, and tools cannot be removed simply with water; alcohol is still required. This confirms the position of water in this system—it is an external auxiliary tool for specific surface cleaning, not a participating medium in the material behavior itself.

2. Pigment Powders and Their State Transformations

Throughout the process of pigment powder transitioning from powder to a liquid state and ultimately forming solid material, water shows multi-stage, indirect participation characteristics.

• Indirect Participation via Binders: Water does not mix directly with pigment powder. In the initial stage, water first participates in preparing the binder system. Only after the binder combines with the pigment does the material proceed further into a liquid state, grinding, and pouring. Direct application of water to certain pigment powders can lead to abnormal states and clumping; some clumps become hard blocks upon drying. Therefore, water is not a direct participating medium for pigments.
• Regulation of Flow States: When the binder system is overly thick and inconvenient for pouring, adding a suitable amount of water alters the viscosity of the liquid system, bringing it to a state easier to handle. This adjustment still relies on the relationship between water and the binder system.
• Separation Process During Drying: During the pouring and drying stages in open space, water gradually leaves the material system through evaporation. As moisture leaves, the material transitions from liquid to solid. In this stage, the existence of water is expressed as "withdrawing from the system" rather than continuously driving material behavior.
• Cleaning Function for Tools and Containers: Water also serves as an essential medium for cleaning tool making equipment and storage containers, primarily used to prevent cross-contamination between different colors.
• Later Impact of Ambient Humidity: After solid forms have developed, water may affect the material again in the form of airborne moisture (ambient humidity). When exposed to high-humidity environments, the surface of certain humidity-sensitive solid pigments may soften, stick, or become locally reactivated. Water here has shifted from an internal component during material formation to an external environmental factor acting on the material surface.

3. Solid Watercolor Painting Systems

In the solid watercolor system, water carries a dual identity: both a "direct medium for material behavior" and a "cleaning medium for the work process."

• Material Activation and Transfer Medium: The prerequisite for solid watercolor to enter painting behavior is the intervention of water. Water restores solid pigment to a state that can be picked up and transferred by a brush. From pigment activation, brush dipping, fluid spreading on the substrate, to the mixing and blending of different colors, water participates throughout as a direct medium.
• Altering Substrate Conditions: When the surface of paper or another substrate is pre-wetted with water, the way pigment spreads and binds with the surface changes. Here, water directly participates in building the movement relationship between the substrate and the pigment.
• Cleaning and Auxiliary Functions: Outside of painting behavior, water simultaneously handles brush washing, palette cleaning, and tool cleanup. In this system, water is both a core medium driving material changes and a cleaning tool maintaining workflow.

4. Acrylic Fluid Painting Systems

In acrylic fluid painting, water is not a fixed or essential factor; whether it enters material behavior depends entirely on the condition of the medium system.

• Water Usage Determined by Medium: Acrylics enter a fluid state suitable for observation primarily through dedicated mediums mixed with them. If the medium itself possesses strong fluidity and sufficient moisture, adding extra water makes the system overly diluted. Only when the medium's own moisture or fluidity is insufficient will a suitable amount of water enter as a supplementary factor to adjust overall flow. Thus, water in acrylic fluid painting is a conditional factor limited by medium state.
• Cleaning Boundary Before and After Drying: Water can be used to clean tools coated with wet acrylic paint or medium. However, once acrylic dries completely and forms a stable film layer, water can no longer clean it. The effectiveness of water in acrylic cleanup has a clear time limit.

5. Oil Pastel Systems

Pure oil-based pastel systems display a complete separation between material behavior and water.

• Independence of Material Behavior from Water: Oil pastels directly enter painting and surface adhesion in a solid state, requiring no water for activation or for maintaining flow and application. In long-term observations and tests, water does not enter the main material behavior of oil pastels.
• Auxiliary Role Limited to Human Cleanup: The role of water in this system exists solely in subsequent personal cleanup. When oil pastel residue sticks to hands, water—together with soaps or cleansers—is needed for washing; for tool surface residue, wiping with a paper towel is usually sufficient without water washing. Water remains entirely outside oil pastel material behavior, serving only human cleaning activities.

6. Comparison and Summary of Water's Existential Forms Across Systems

Summarizing the observations above, the dependence on water and the position it occupies across different material systems are as follows:

Through comparison, it is evident that water does not have a single "mode of participation" across these material systems.

Determining whether water is necessary for a material does not come down to a simple "used or not used." The core is to clarify water's actual position within the system: whether it functions as a direct medium driving material behavior, a regulating factor indirectly participating via other components, an environmental condition of drying and humidity change, or merely an external human cleaning tool outside material behavior. This fundamental difference in position forms a key observation trait across different material systems.