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Watercolor Paint

How Watercolor Paint Is Made

Prior to the mid-18th century, watercolor artists handmade their paints by mixing powdered pigments with sugars and/or hide glues or some other binder and preservatives. Brothers William Reeves and Thomas Reeves invented the moist watercolor paint-cake in 1781, at the start of the “golden age” of English watercolor painting. The “cake” was immediately soluble when touched by a wet brush; a time-saving convenience.

William Winsor secured the patent for the metal paint tube invented by American oil painter John Goffe Rand. Winsor improved the design by adding the screw cap in 1904 and started manufacturing the Winsor & Newton moist watercolors in tubes.

Today, watercolor paints are sold in tubes and pans in a variety of sizes. Tubes are the most commonly used and are sold in sizes 5ml, 10ml, 14ml, 15ml, 21ml, and 37ml depending upon the manufacturer’s brand. Pans come in full-pan and half-pan sizes.

Where Watercolor Pigments Come From

Watercolor paint begins with pigment, the finely ground substance that provides color. Historically, pigments were derived from natural sources such as minerals, plants, insects, and metals. Famous examples include ultramarine made from lapis lazuli and carmine derived from cochineal insects.

Modern watercolor paints rely primarily on synthetic pigments. These pigments are engineered to provide greater color consistency, improved lightfastness, and safer handling compared to many historical pigments. While the names of some colors remain traditional, their chemical composition has often changed significantly over time.

Pigment Grinding and Particle Size

Before pigments can be made into paint, they are milled and ground into fine particles. The size of these particles plays a critical role in how watercolor paint behaves on paper.

  • Larger, heavier particles tend to settle into the paper’s texture, creating granulation.
  • Smaller particles disperse more evenly, resulting in smoother washes.
  • Particle size also affects transparency and staining properties.

Natural earth pigments such as ochres, siennas, and umbers tend to granulate more due to their heavier particle structure, while many modern organic pigments produce smooth, flat washes.

The Role of Gum Arabic in Watercolor Paint

Once the pigment is prepared, it is mixed with a binder—most commonly gum arabic. Gum arabic is a natural resin harvested from acacia trees, primarily grown in parts of Africa.

Gum arabic serves several essential functions:

  • It binds pigment particles together.
  • It allows paint to adhere to watercolor paper.
  • It influences flow, sheen, and rewetting ability.

Different manufacturers use varying concentrations of gum arabic, which is one reason watercolor paints can feel and behave differently from brand to brand, even when using the same pigment.

Additives Used in Watercolor Paint Manufacturing

In addition to gum arabic, watercolor paint contains small amounts of additives that affect performance and longevity.

Common additives include:

  • Glycerin, which improves moisture retention and helps paint rewet easily.
  • Honey, used by some manufacturers to enhance softness and flow.
  • Wetting agents, which help paint spread evenly across damp paper.
  • Preservatives, which prevent mold growth during storage.

These subtle differences in formulation contribute to each brand’s unique handling characteristics.

Tube Watercolor Paints

Watercolor paints in tubes are soft and moist. They are made with natural or synthetic pigments suspended in a binder of gum arabic with glycerin added as a wetting agent. By reading the label on the tube, you will discover the pigment formula number(s), transparency rating, lightfastness rating, staining property rating, and an approved product seal.

Tube vs. Pan Watercolor Paints: How They Are Made

Although tube and pan watercolor paints may appear similar, they are manufactured differently.

Tube paints are poured while still fluid and sealed to retain moisture. Pan paints are typically poured in multiple layers and allowed to dry slowly between pours. This process creates a firmer cake that withstands repeated wetting.

Some manufacturers use the same paint formulation for both tubes and pans, while others adjust binder ratios specifically for pan strength and durability.

Understanding Pigment Numbers on Paint Labels

Pigment numbers are standardized internationally and provide valuable information to artists. Each code begins with letters identifying the color family (such as PB for blue or PR for red), followed by a number that identifies the specific pigment.

Pigment numbers matter because:

  • Color names can vary between brands, but pigment numbers do not.
  • Single-pigment paints produce cleaner color mixes.
  • They help artists avoid unintended color shifts or muddiness.

Learning to read pigment labels is an essential skill for watercolor painters.

Lightfastness Testing and Paint Permanence

Lightfastness refers to a pigment’s resistance to fading when exposed to light. Modern watercolor manufacturers test their paints using controlled ultraviolet exposure over extended periods.

Results are often rated according to industry standards, allowing artists to choose colors that will remain stable over time. This testing is one reason modern professional watercolor paints are significantly more reliable than historical formulations.

Environmental and Safety Considerations in Modern Watercolor Paints

Many traditional pigments are no longer used due to toxicity, environmental impact, or scarcity. Synthetic pigments allow manufacturers to replicate historic colors while improving safety and sustainability.

Occasionally, pigments are discontinued or reformulated as regulations change, which is why some familiar colors may disappear or return under new formulations.

Watercolor Paint Manufacturers

Here is a list of popular watercolor paint manufacturers in alphabetical order:

Other Watercolor Mediums

  • Gouache – an opaque watercolor with a higher pigment density and white chalk added
  • Liquid Watercolors – resembles ink and is sold in small dropper bottles
  • Watercolor Sticks – resembles crayon or pastels that can be used dry or wet
  • Watercolor Pencils – resembles a lead pencil but contains dry watercolor pigment

Why Professional-Quality Watercolor Paint Matters

Professional watercolor paints contain higher pigment loads, fewer fillers, and undergo stricter testing for consistency and permanence. Student-grade paints are often made with imitation pigments and extenders that reduce color strength, mixing clarity, and longevity.

Recommended

My favorite manufacturers of watercolor paints are Daniel Smith and Holbein in tube size 15 ml, and Winsor & Newton in tube sizes 14 ml and 37 ml. I recommend and use only professional-quality watercolor paints. NOTE: Student-grade watercolor paints are mostly made of imitation pigments of low quality.

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Watercolor Brushes

How Watercolor Brushes Are Made

Since prehistoric times, humans have used brush-like instruments to paint on cave walls. They most likely used sticks with the ends crushed to soften the fibers, and/or animal hair tied at the end of sticks. Until recent history, watercolor brushes were handmade by attaching animal hair to the end of wooden handles.

In the 1800s during the Industrial Age and the invention of the metal ferrule, the manufacturing of watercolor color brushes began. Today, most watercolor brushes are machine-made. Top-quality watercolor brushes are still handmade.

How Watercolor Brushes Are Made Today

Modern watercolor brush making combines traditional craftsmanship with industrial processes. While mass-produced brushes are assembled by machines, premium brushes still rely on skilled artisans for shaping and finishing. The quality of a watercolor brush depends largely on how its hair or fibers are prepared, shaped, and secured.

Preparing Natural Hair for Watercolor Brushes

Before animal hair can be used in brush making, it undergoes an extensive preparation process.

Natural hair is carefully washed to remove oils and debris, then dried and sorted by length, thickness, and resilience. For high-quality brushes, the hairs are aligned so their natural taper forms the brush point. The tips are never cut, as trimming destroys the hair’s ability to hold a fine point.

Lower-quality brushes may use trimmed or mixed-length hair, which results in uneven performance and poor point retention.

Hand-Shaped vs. Machine-Cut Watercolor Brushes

One of the most important differences between student-grade and professional watercolor brushes lies in how the brush tip is shaped.

Premium round brushes are shaped entirely by hand. Artisans use moisture and gravity to coax the hairs into a perfectly tapered point. This method preserves the natural structure of the hair and allows the brush to hold more water and pigment.

Machine-made brushes are often cut to shape, which damages the hair tips and limits water capacity. These brushes tend to lose their point quickly and feel less responsive on paper.

Watercolor Brush Construction

  • Hair or synthetic fiber tip
  • Metal ferrule
  • Handle

Hair or Synthetic Fiber Tip

Watercolor brushes are made with natural sable hair, synthetic sable fibers, or nylon. The very best are made with Kolinsky sable hair from a species of weasel in Siberia.

What Makes Kolinsky Sable Hair Special

Kolinsky sable hair is prized for its unique structure and performance. Each hair has a hollow core, allowing it to hold an exceptional amount of water while still releasing pigment smoothly and evenly. The natural scales along the hair shaft help guide paint from the belly of the brush to the tip.

Kolinsky hair comes from cold climates, which produce stronger, more resilient fibers. This is why these brushes have excellent spring, snap back into shape, and maintain a sharp point over time.

Ethical and Legal Considerations in Brush Making

Kolinsky sable hair is regulated under international wildlife protection agreements, which affects its availability and cost. Because of this, many manufacturers are now focused on ethical sourcing and developing high-quality alternatives.

Modern synthetic sable brushes have improved significantly in recent years. Advanced synthetic fibers are engineered to mimic the structure of natural hair, offering good water retention, durability, and consistent performance. These brushes are a popular choice for artists who prefer non-animal materials.

Metal Ferrule

Fine quality watercolor brushes are mounted into ferrules made of a hard but malleable, corrosion-resistant metal such as brass or copper. These are typically plated with nickel, silver, or (rarely) gold. Ferrules on cheaper brushes are made of softer aluminum or tin.

Why Ferrule Quality Matters

A well-made ferrule does more than hold the hair in place. It protects the brush from water damage by preventing moisture from seeping into the handle. Poorly fitted or thin ferrules allow water to collect inside, which can loosen the handle and cause cracking over time.

Seamless, properly crimped ferrules are usually found on higher-quality watercolor brushes and significantly improve longevity.

Handle

Better quality watercolor brush handles are made of seasoned hardwood that is sealed and lacquered for a high-gloss waterproof finish. Cheaper, mass-produced handles are made of unfinished raw wood. There are also brush handles made of molded plastic.

Short Handle vs. Long Handle Brushes

Most watercolor brushes feature short handles, which offer greater control when painting at a tabletop or desk. Long handles are more common in oil and acrylic painting, where artists often work standing at an easel.

For watercolor painting, short handles allow for precision and comfort, especially when working on detailed passages or smaller paper sizes.

Watercolor Brush Shapes

  • Round – for a variety of brush strokes with a fine tip for details.
  • Flat – for spreading paint quickly and evenly over a broad surface.
  • Mop – for broad washes, soft paint application over layers and glazing.
  • Rigger – useful for painting fine lines.

How Brush Shape Is Formed

Brush shape is determined during the hair alignment and shaping stage. In quality brushes, hairs are layered to create a full “belly” that holds water, while the natural taper forms the working tip. Poorly shaped brushes often lack this belly, resulting in frequent reloading and uneven strokes.

Watercolor Brush Sizes

There is a wide range of brush sizes from very small to very large, respectively:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30.

The most frequently used are in the mid-size range: 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18. The size indicates the width of the hair tip. The larger the size, the broader the brush stroke will be.

Why Brush Sizes Vary by Brand

Watercolor brush sizes are not standardized across manufacturers. A size 12 brush from one brand may be closer in size to a size 10 or 14 from another. Hair length, belly diameter, and taper all influence how a brush performs, which is why comparing brushes visually is often more reliable than relying on numbers alone.

Why Older Watercolor Brushes Often Perform Better

Natural hair brushes tend to improve with use. When new, brushes contain sizing that helps protect the hair during shipping. As this washes out over time, the brush becomes more responsive and flexible.

A well-cared-for brush often reaches a “sweet spot” where it holds more water, maintains a perfect point, and feels effortless to control.

How to Identify a Quality Watercolor Brush

When evaluating a watercolor brush, look for these signs of quality:

  • Forms a sharp point when wet
  • Snaps back into shape after bending
  • Holds water without dripping
  • Has evenly aligned hairs with no strays
  • Features a solid, seamless ferrule

Recommended

Quality watercolor brushes are expensive but worth the investment. If you handle your brushes with care—rinse them thoroughly after a painting session, and store them flat or in an upright brush holder to dry—they will last you for many, many years.

To start, I recommend buying Blick Masterstroke Finest Red Sable Brush – Round, Size 8, Short Handle. My favorite and most frequently used sable brush is a Round, Size 12, Short Handle.

Categories
Watercolor Paper

How Watercolor Paper Is Made

Prior to the 19th century, watercolor paper was handmade by processing wet pulp in a finely woven mesh screen. The process was slow and very expensive. Then in the early 1800s, an industrial paper machine was invented. The paper-making industry started mass producing mold-made watercolor papers. Now high-quality machine-made watercolor paper is readily available, as well as handmade.

Handmade vs. Mold-Made Watercolor Paper

Although watercolor paper is now widely available, not all paper is made the same way.

Handmade watercolor paper is still produced today using traditional methods. Each sheet is individually formed, resulting in natural variations in texture, thickness, and surface character. This type of paper is prized for its unique qualities but remains expensive due to the labor involved.

Mold-made watercolor paper, however, bridges the gap between handmade and machine-made paper. It is produced on a cylinder mold machine, which slowly rotates through a vat of pulp. This process creates a more random fiber distribution—much closer to handmade paper than standard machine-made paper.

Because of this method, mold-made paper:

  • Has stronger surface integrity
  • Handles wet washes more evenly
  • Allows for better lifting and corrections

Many professional-grade papers, including Arches and Fabriano, are still made using cylinder molds, which is why they perform so reliably for watercolor painting.

The Role of Water in Watercolor Paper Manufacturing

Water plays a critical role in how watercolor paper is made. Traditional paper mills were historically built near clean, mineral-balanced water sources because water quality directly affects the paper’s color, strength, and longevity.

Even today, high-quality watercolor paper manufacturers carefully control water chemistry during production. Clean water helps cotton fibers bond properly and contributes to the paper’s archival stability—one reason professional watercolor paper can last for generations when properly stored.

Watercolor Paper Characteristics

Watercolor paper is made of cotton and/or linen rag or a blend of cotton and synthetic fibers. A gelatin sizing is added as a protective agent that makes the paper less absorbent. Watercolor paper is available in three textures: rough, hot-pressed, and cold-pressed. And, it is available in several thicknesses.

High-quality watercolor papers for professional (and serious student) use have the following characteristics:

  • Made of 100% cotton rag
  • Cold-press texture
  • Thickness: 140 lb., 200 lb., or 300 lb. weight

Internal vs. External Sizing in Watercolor Paper

Sizing is one of the most important—and least understood—components of watercolor paper.

  • Internal sizing is added directly to the pulp before the sheet is formed.
  • External sizing is applied to the surface after the paper has dried.

High-quality watercolor paper uses both methods. This dual sizing:

  • Controls how quickly water absorbs
  • Prevents paint from sinking too deeply into the fibers
  • Allows artists to lift, glaze, and rework areas more easily

Student-grade papers often have minimal or inconsistent sizing, which is why paint can feel harder to control on them.

Why Gelatin Sizing Is Still Used Today

Gelatin sizing has been used in papermaking since the 15th century and remains the preferred sizing for watercolor paper.

Despite the availability of synthetic alternatives, gelatin is still favored because it:

  • Preserves color brilliance
  • Enhances layering and glazing
  • Improves surface durability

Many artists notice a faint smell when watercolor paper gets wet—this is the gelatin sizing reacting with water, a small but familiar sign of quality paper.

Understanding Watercolor Paper Textures

The three standard watercolor paper textures are created during the drying process:

  • Rough: Pronounced texture with deep tooth, ideal for expressive washes
  • Cold-Press (NOT): Moderately textured and the most versatile choice
  • Hot-Press: Smooth surface, well-suited for fine detail and line work

Cold-press paper remains the most popular choice for students and hobbyists because it balances texture with control.

Watercolor Paper Thickness and Weight Explained

Watercolor paper weight refers to the weight of a ream (500 sheets) before cutting.

  • 140 lb. paper is the most commonly used and usually requires stretching
  • 200 lb. paper resists buckling better and may not require stretching
  • 300 lb. paper is very thick and ideal for heavy washes

Heavier paper allows for more water and layering without warping.

What Deckle Edges Tell You About Paper Quality

Deckle edges form naturally when wet pulp spreads unevenly in a mold. On handmade and mold-made watercolor paper, deckle edges are genuine and indicate traditional production methods.

Lower-quality machine-made paper may have deckle edges that are cut or artificially pressed for appearance only. While deckle edges are not required for good painting performance, they are often a sign of higher-quality paper.

Why 100% Cotton Watercolor Paper Is Archival

Cotton fibers are longer and stronger than wood pulp fibers. This makes 100% cotton watercolor paper:

  • More resistant to yellowing
  • Less likely to become brittle over time
  • Naturally acid-free

When stored properly, cotton rag paper can last for hundreds of years, which is why it is considered archival.

Watercolor Paper Sheet Sizes

The standard size categories for watercolor paper sheets are:

  • Royal (19 x 24 inches)
  • Imperial (22 x 30 inches); also called a “full-sheet”
  • Elephant (29 1/2 x 40 inches)
  • Double-Elephant (40 x 60 inches)

Watercolor paper can also be purchased in pads, blocks, and sketchbooks in a variety of standard sizes and paper qualities. Pads and sketchbooks are usually made of cotton-blend watercolor paper for student use.

Watercolor Paper Manufacturers

The best, high-quality watercolor paper is produced in France, Italy, and Great Britain. They are:

  • Arches made in France
  • Fabriano made in Italy
  • Lana made in France
  • T. H. Saunders made in Great Britain
  • Whatman made in Great Britain

Many of these historic mills have been producing paper for hundreds of years and continue to use traditional methods combined with modern quality controls.

Why Paper Quality Matters for Learning Watercolor

Many beginner frustrations with watercolor—such as muddy colors or lack of control—are often caused by paper rather than technique. Using quality paper allows students and hobbyists to:

  • See true pigment behavior
  • Practice lifting and glazing successfully
  • Build confidence faster

Good paper supports learning rather than working against it.

Recommended

If you are a serious student or hobbyist who intends to show and sell your watercolor paintings, use professional-quality watercolor paper that is labeled as “100% cotton”, “archival”, and “cold-press”. The thickness (weight) should be 140 lb. or more.

I use Arches Watercolor Paper natural white full-sheet size for my paintings.

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