Watercolor painting is an extremely old medium, dating perhaps to the cave paintings of Paleolithic Europe, and has been used for manuscript illumination since at least Egyptian times but especially in the European Middle Ages, its continuous history as an art medium begins in the Renaissance. Despite this early start, watercolors were generally used by Baroque easel painters only for sketches, copies or cartoons (small scale design drawings). However, botanical and wildlife illustrations are perhaps the oldest and most important tradition in watercolor painting.

From the late 18th century through the 19th century, the market for printed books and domestic art contributed substantially to the growth of the medium. Watercolors were used as the basic document from which collectible landscape or tourist engravings were developed, and hand painted watercolor originals or copies of famous paintings contributed to many upper class art portfolios. The three English artists credited with establishing watercolor as an independent, mature painting medium are Paul Sandby (1730-1809), often called "the father of the English watercolor", Thomas Girtin (1775-1802), who pioneered its use for large format, romantic or picturesque landscape painting, and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), who brought watercolor painting to the highest pitch of power and refinement.

During the same time, Indian artists adopted watercolor for miniatures and landscapes. Since then watercolor has been a popular medium with some artists.

Samir Mondal, a well-known watercolor artist of India says, “Picture making in watercolor is an exciting game. Color becomes my opponent. Every stroke of my brush is countered by color itself and overwhelms me”.