How To Make Handmade Watercolor Paints

How to make handmade watercolor paints - Intro

How to make handmade watercolor paints? How paint is made? How do you make your Manganese Blue? This is the question I am often asked. I make handmade professional artist grade paint for artist and have done so for many years now. I’m going to break down to you some simple steps of how. Soon you’ll be able to make your very own paints like manganese blue and many more.

⚠️Safety⚠️

Before we go any further I must warn you about safety. Some of things used in the paint making process can be dangerous, toxic and hazardous to one’s health and even life.

I recommend following the below points:

Wear a dust mask when handling pigment powders
Remove all distractions including pets & small children
Work in a well ventilated room.
Minimise distractions.
Wear safety gloves and apron if needed.
Wear safety goggles.
Keep food and drink at a safe distance from the pigment.
Only work if you’re healthy & hydrated.
MOST IMPORTANTLY DO NOT consume paint or pigments.

These are just some of my recommendations. Please ensure you do your own research as you are responsible for your own safety.

How to make handmade watercolor paint - Pigment

It all starts with pigments. This is the colour in which the paint becomes. Some paint has one pigment, some have multiple. It all depends on the colour I am planning to craft.

There are multiple pigment manufacturers. The most well know of these that I use is Kremer. However they are not the only manufacturer nor are the available to everyone.

I recommend doing some research into the colours that you want to make. For beginners I recommend starting with some affordable and safe pigments such as earth tones. I.E Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Brunt Sienna, Green Earth. This is because most of these are non or low toxic and they are fairly cheap. So if you get it wrong the first few times you won’t feel bad about wasting pigment. They also tend to be easier to mull and are pretty uniform across different pigment manufacturers. I recommend avoid mangeses, cadmiums, cobalts and other toxic pigments. Yes these are pretty but they can be deadly if handled incorrectly.

How to make handmade watercolor paint - Tools

You will need some basic tools to make paint. You can get these from a pigment manufacturer as well.

A paint muller (pictured right). This is what we use to grind the pigment into paint.
Palette knife. This is handy for manipulating and moving the paint.
A glass board. We need something to mull our paint on.
Safety materials (see above).
Jars to store paints.
Pans or tubes to pour our finished paint into.
Paint binder. This is what we mix with the pigment to make paint.
Measuring spoons

The Method.

Work slowly and carefully. Wear all essential safety equipment.

I recommend starting with small amounts. Add equal parts of pigment and paint binder to your glass board. Start with 1/2 teaspoon. You can increase the amounts as you go if this is not enough paint.

Use a palette knife to mix you pigment into the binder. Take your time to ensure all the loose pigment powder is mixed in. If it’s not all mixed you you’ll create a dust cloud when we move to mulling, this can be dangerous!

Once all of the powder has been mixed in we can switch to mulling. Place your muller on top of the paint puddle and grasp the handle firmly. With steady and even pressure move the muller around the slab mixing the paint. The pressure and weight of the muller will grind the pigment into the paint binder. You can move in any direction that you like. I like to mix it up with circles and zigzags.

This step can take some time depending on the coarseness of the pigment. For a small amount of earth pigment you should see results within 30 mins. Keep going until the paint feels smooth and silky, a little like melted chocolate.

Testing – Once you feel it’s ready we need to test using a method called the Bolt test (names after maker Eve Bolt). Take a brush and some water. Dilute some paint as if you’re painting and swatch it on some watercolour paper. Once try lightly rub your finger over the area. If no colour comes off you’re good to go. If a lot of colours comes off you’ll need to add some more binder and/or mull it for longer.

Now that our paint is ready we can pour it into pans to dry or store it in tubes. Pour the paint carefully into your chosen receptacle. Less mess the better. Make sure you label the paint so that you don’t forget what it is or what is in it.

For pans leave them in a place where they can dry without getting dusty. Drying usually take a minimum of a week but can take longer in some climates.

And there you go, you’ve made paint!

Trouble Shooting

You might run into some issues. Here are some of the common ones and how to fix them.

My paint wont set

If your paint isn’t setting after a couple of weeks it’s likely you’ve added to much paint binder to the mix. Pour it back onto the slap and add some more pigment and mull it again.

My paint wont rewet and has cracks

You haven’t added enough paint binder to you mixture. Use a pestle and mortar to break down the paint and return it to the slab. Add more binder and repeat the mulling process.

My paint has gone mouldy

If you’re paint goes mouldy while drying it’s most likely that there is too much moisture in the air. Use a dehumidifier or a dehydrator to speed up the process. You can also add a couple of drops of clove oil to your mix to prevent mould.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have made paint. How did it feel?

Making paint can be quite a labour intensive task even before we get to packaging and marketing. You’ve now tiptoed into the paint making world.

Any questions please feel free to ask below and I will try my best to answer. I’ve left a video below of me making paint for visual reference.