Both the Real watercolor and Pigment watercolor brushes paint into a watercolor layer, which enables the colors to flow and mix and absorb into the paper. In Corel Painter, you can edit the Watercolor layer as you would any other layer without changing anything in the image layer. For example, you can draw pencil outlines in the image layer and then overlay watercolor shading without smudging the pencil lines.
You can sketch on one layer and paint with watercolors on a separate Watercolor layer.
You can apply transformations to Watercolor layers without converting them to default layers. For more information about transforming layers, see Transforming layers.
You can transfer, or lift, information from the canvas to the Watercolor layer. This is useful if you want to apply Watercolor effects to a photograph. You can also wet the Watercolor layer, which activates a diffusion process.
If you select a Real watercolor or Pigment watercolor brush variant from the Brush library, a Watercolor layer is automatically created when you apply a brushstroke to the document window.
To work with a dry surface, click the Layer options button in the Layers panel, and choose Dry Watercolor Layer.