Watercolor paint recipe and tutorial, part 1

See part 2, putting together a travel kit, here: eruwaedhielelleth.deviantart.c…


My experiment in making my own watercolor paints.   Updated 8/3/16 to fix some errors in the photo tutorial, suggest a better gum to water ratio, and add some tips in the comment section. I've learned a little more since writing this and felt it needed some additions. I would no longer suggest using up to 3 parts water if you're making pan paints, although it is still a usable ratio if you are mixing small amounts of fresh paint every time. You can however use 1 part gum to 1 1/2 parts water or 1 part water if you are using a difficult color very prone to cracking. Just be sure it is not so much that it causes a gloss or brittleness on the paper, test it in small amounts before mixing up large amounts of pigment. Check your paint when dry, if it's sticky and won't thoroughly dry, use less gum or humectant, if it rubs off the page or smears, add more gum. The optimal ratio will be different for each pigment. I would also strongly suggest thorough mulling, if there is any way at all to get suitable tools. It makes a great difference to the finished texture of the paint.

Making your own has some great benefits, you need few ingredients, can control the proportion of pigment, decide whether or not to add fillers, (some can actually be very beneficial) and make however much you need of the colors you use most.  If you have some, you can also add a few drops of broad spectrum preservative or clove oil to your gum arabic solution, to preserve it longer. It lasts about a month in the jar otherwise so long as you keep your utensils clean.

Some recipes call for the liquid solution to be made only from water, glycerin and honey, and the gum arabic powder is added dry to the pigment. If you're going to do this, begin with much less gum than pigment, and be cautious as it's easy to add too much gum, and you absolutely need to mull paints made this way or you'll end up with undissolved gum granules. You can choose to use either glycerin or honey, or both, (just split the measurement in half if using both) depending on your own preference. Some synthetic pigments can be difficult to wet, add a few drops of isopropyl alcohol to the pigment first before you mull it to help disperse them. Ox gall is another helpful additive you can use if you prefer.

Be sure to let your paints dry completely before storing them! Watercolors can develop mold if left wet and sealed in an airtight container.


I ordered some of my pigments from TKB trading, they have wonderful inexpensive sample bags that are just perfect for this.

howtomakecosmetics.com/
www.facebook.com/Tkbtrading


I mostly used their oxides, ultramarines, carmine, zinc white, and a few of their micas. Prussian blue is Ferric Ferrocyanide. (It sounds scary, but isn't, don't worry) The colors they have are ground for cosmetics, so they're very fine and already very easy to work with, not to mention much safer than many paint pigments out there! They give a very earthy palette, which is great for botanical painting.

Other good places to buy pigments and tools:

shop.kremerpigments.com/
www.sinopia.com/
limnersguild.com/
www.ancientearthpigments.com/
www.unearthedpaints.com/collec…
www.earthpigments.com/natural-…
www.kamapigment.com/index_en.h…
www.naturalpigments.com/
kromaacrylics.com/collections/…
www.ocres-de-france.com/index.…
www.utrechtart.com/Pigments-Pa…
www.dickblick.com/products/gam…
www.guerrapaint.com/
www.cornelissen.com/pigments-g…
www.masterpigments.com/
www.etsy.com/shop/NaturalPigme…
www.versta-k.ru/
wizartcolors.com/Pigments.aspx
www.ebay.com/sch/shweller/m.ht…
www.etsy.com/shop/AlexArtistCo…

Check out these websites for more information on paint and pigments:

artiscreation.com/
handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.htm…
www.jcsparks.com/painted/pigme…
www.webexhibits.org/pigments/
elementsunearthed.com/tag/home…
colourlex.com/

I used the back of a spoon and a kitchen knife to mix the pigment the first time I made paint, it was possible, but didn't work very well. A palette knife works so much better, if you have one. If the pigments hadn't been so fine already, or if I was making oils, I don't think it would have worked at all. If you use rough ground pigments, you at least need a palette knife, and sometime you'll find a muller to be absolutely essential. I have since made my own set of tools, you can see them and read how here: fav.me/d9y535z

If you like making your own art supplies, check out my ink tutorial here: fav.me/d9vvsev


To learn how to make your own pigments from natural substances, go here: fav.me/dad56tw

If you are interested in purchasing some of my own handmade watercolors, you can find them here: www.etsy.com/shop/RivervaleWat…

If you're curious about oil paints instead of watercolor, the process is essentially the same, but in place of the gum binder, you're using oil. You add only enough of a drying oil (linseed or walnut) to your pigment to make a dry-ish crumbly paste, sort of wet sand-like, then work it smooth with your muller. Oil paints need to be tubed or sealed in something airtight afterwards of course, or used right away, since they don't re-activate like watercolor.

Download the full image for a larger view!