Make Your Own Watercolour Paint

Review of a two hour course run by Immy Smith at Rising Sun Arts Centre – Saturday 21st September 2024
On a recent visit to Reading, Broad Canvas picked up a leaflet for events happening at the Rising Sun Arts Centre and listed just above the Dolly Parton Tribute Night was an interesting afternoon course on how to create your own watercolours. Eleven of us attended, which felt like just the right amount for the size of the room and the amount of time that each of us required.

The course was run by Immy Smith who was a knowledgeable, relaxed and witty host.

We began by finding out:
• What pigments, binders and paints actually are.
• Where you can get pigments safely.
• How binders are made and what each ingredient does
• The difference between vegetarian and vegan binders.

We later moved on to:
• Tools for mulling
• How to fill half pans and store fresh paint
• Safety considerations
• How to forage for your own pigments

The first session mostly covered pigments. These come from many sources and can be animal based, mineral or synthetic. They each have their own pigment colour index numbers, which are the industry standard method of categorizing each one and these can be found on the paint tubes in our shop. The letters tell you which colour group a pigment belongs to: PB pigments are blue, PY is yellow, etc. Yellow ochres, for example, all have the same number but may be varying shades of yellow.

We learnt that, along with the toxicity of certain pigments (natural or synthetic) there are ethical considerations to bear in mind when buying pigments too.  Some are known to be mined using child labour or produced in ways which are not friendly to the environment. It is up to the individual to choose which they feel comfortable buying. We looked at several, making sure to wear proper masks to protect ourselves from the dust which billowed into the air as each beautifully coloured tub was opened. It was interesting to prod and feel each pigment with a wooden lolly stick as Immy explained the different qualities of each one. Some were fine, some were gritty and others clumped together easily. These qualities could affect how they each reacted to the paint making procedure.

After a tea break with an inspired selection of biscuits, we settled down to the task of creating a binder to add to the pigment to turn it into paint. Using a different binder with the same pigment, you can create oil colours, acrylics or egg tempera paints. Today we were creating water colours and so first we required some kind of gum – in this case, gum arabic. I had only been aware of the liquid version that we stock in the shop but Immy’s came as unrefined lumps of gum which looked a lot like cough sweets. This was ground down to a powder and would need to be dissolved in water – usually distilled water but boiled and cooled tap water would do too.

Vegetable glycerine was another ingredient. This is a humectant that helps the mixed paint retain enough moisture to stop your pans from drying out completely. We also added honey because the glucose acts as a plasticiser. Honey is also a humectant and so the dual benefits make it especially useful but vegans could use agave syrup or glucose syrup instead. Ox-gall, used to improve the flow of paint, is another ingredient that vegans and vegetarians might want to avoid – we didn’t use it today.

Immy’s binder recipe was as follows:
•  200ml water 
•  100g gum arabic powder 
•  50ml vegetable glycerine 
•  25ml honey 
•  1 drop each clove oil & tea tree oil 

Easy to remember with the numbers decreasing by half as it goes along (except for the oils but you can remember that it’s just a drop each). As Immy says:

‘Don’t take mine as the single best method - that’s not how this work! Try recipes, tweak them… trial and error is how it goes.’ 

So Immy carefully added the powdered gum arabic to the water and we all gave it a stir. As we were warned, it looked disgusting but should, after 24-48 hours, result in a clear-ish concoction. To that, you add your glycerine solution, the honey and the oils and leave overnight. This is not a quick process, have patience.

The next stage was the most fun. Just before tea break we had taken Immy’s glass plate and muller (a sort of mushroom shaped glass object with a flat bottom), sprinkled some carborundum grit onto the plate and then rubbed it furiously with the muller. The noise was close to unbearable but this was a step that couldn’t be skipped. The grit was thoroughly scraped away into a bin (never down the drain) and we were left with a rough, abrasive surface on both the muller and the plate.

Immy measured out a certain volume of pigment, made a well in the centre and added a controlled amount of binder into it. A palette knife, like the ones we stock for oil painting was first used to thoroughly combine the pigment and binder. After this, the muller was used to mix them even further. We all took turns at this, moving the muller in circles over the plate and watching as the mixture became gloopier and glossier. Even though we were using a relatively small muller, it was incredible to feel the vacuum that was created between the surfaces. It took quite an effort to prise it away from the newly paint-covered glass panel.

At this stage, Immy would normally make swatches using the paint, to judge whether or not enough binder has been added. This sort of judgement comes with experience – too dusty and powdery and you need more binder. If it’s too shiny, transparent or cracks when you flex the painted page, then you need more pigment.

When it is judged to be correct, the paint is gathered with a metal scraper and sucked up using a large syringe, being careful to capture every precious drop. When the air is removed from the syringe and it is covered, it can stay there for quite a while. Normally half or whole pans are filled in layers, roughly a third at a time to allow each layer to dry but for the purposes of the demonstration, several of us received a freshly squeezed half pan with a small amount of our Yellow Ochre in it.

The two hour course flew by and we left with heads full of new knowledge. Immy kindly forwarded some very comprehensive notes to accompany the course and ensure that nothing was forgotten. I dreamt of one day making my own paper and perhaps my own brush, if people run courses on such subjects, and then painting a picture entirely using my own creations… but, one step at a time. 

I would recommend Immy’s course wholeheartedly and will keep an eye out for other similar learning opportunities.

To find other courses or events:
www.risingsunartscentre.org

Find out more about Immy Smith’s work and interests at:
linktr.ee/lycomorpha

To buy Immy’s paint-related items:
lycomorpha.etsy.com