The world’s oldest watercolor paintings date back to paleolithic cave paintings in southern France, but the art form didn’t grow roots as an artistic mainstay until thousands of years later, thanks to early watercolor masters like Albrecht Dürer. The art of watercolor has come quite a long way since its days as a primitive depiction of bison, mammoth, and reindeer. Often called spontaneous and unpredictable, watercolors can be tricky business, but under the brush of a skilled artist, their fluidity and immediacy can produce magical results. The watercolorists in the following pages reveal how varied, vibrant, and tremendously lifelike the results can be, too.