Acrylic is a fast drying water based paint used by most artists. Acrylic paint is also known as
acrylic resin, acrylate resin, polymethyl methacrylate, Acrilan,
synthetic resin etc.
The acrylic painting was invented by
Otto Rohm and introduced around 1934 by
Leonard Bocour and
Sam Golden. Later it was used by most famous artists like
Andy Warhol,
David Hockney,
Robert Motherwell.
On the other hand, Watercolor is also a fast drying water soluble color, but its drying time is comparatively lower than the acrylic painting. Watercolors painted with water-soluble color inks instead of modern watercolors are called aquarellum atramento.
Watercolor paintings are very ancient, probably originating from Europe's
Paleolithic Age. Its history as an artistic medium, on the other hand, stretches back to the Renaissance, almost at 15th century.
Albrecht Dürer, a Northern German
Renaissance painter known for his stunning watercolors of flowers, animals, and landscapes, is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of watercolor painting.
Hans Bol founded an influential watercolor painting school in
Germany during the Dürer Renaissance.