Hampshire chalk: handmade watercolour paint, natural pigment hand-ground, in half, quarter, eighth/mini pans, with vegan watercolor binder

Hampshire chalk: Handmade vegan watercolour paint in 3 pan sizes. *PLEASE NOTE - US CUSTOMERS: UK to US tariffs & fees are now included in the price you see. If buying more than 1 item, contact me via Etsy messaging and I can set up a custom listing for you to combine shipping, else I'll make a shipping overage refund.*
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These are handmade watercolour paints made from the chalk in my garden in Hampshire, UK. How it's made: I collect large pieces of chalk and clean them carefully to remove any mud, leaves or other debris. Then I dessicate it thoroughly in an oven, grind it to a powder, and levigate it to separate out the finest chalk particles. Then it's dried and ground again, and use it as a pigment by mulling it into a watercolour binder. The paint has a lovely creamy off-white colour. It's opaque but less dense than synthetic pigments like titanium white. It's great for painting white areas on butterfly wings or flower petals - which are a soft white in nature. I use it to under-paint drawings of moths, and for painting lichens and plants.

The binder for my paints contains; gum arabic (binding agent), vegetable glycerine (humectant), agave syrup and/or baker's glucose syrup (helps prevent cracking), and clove, tea tree and nerolina oils (preservative to prevent growth of fungi/etc.)

This handmade watercolour paint comes in standard watercolour pan sizes - half (2mL), quarter (1mL), and eighth (0.5mL). Each pan is wrapped in non-stick paper. Pans are made from biodegradable plastic (PLA) & printed by me on a Bambu 3D printer. You can order pans for your own paint-making projects here: https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1829808585/empty-watercolour-pans-marble-colour, and contact me via Etsy messaging for custom paint sets and zine + paint bundles. *US CUSTOMERS: tariffs are now included in the item price you see, but if you’re interested in buying more than 1 item you can still contact me via Etsy messaging and I can set up a custom listing for you to combine shipping (or make you a custom order!)*

* Please use my paints sensibly - these paints should only be used for artwork on paper or similar substrates, they are absolutely NOT edible or wearable, and should not be used on food or skin. You know the drill, friends.

* To find out more about what colours are new or being restocked here soon, go to: https://mothsinahumansuit.uk/whats-cooking

*To find out about upcoming workshops/art fairs and get shop news, join my mailing list at https://mailchi.mp/20162032d876/lycomorpha-mailing-list

More information about my paint, binder ingredients, and pigments are detailed below. Drop me a line via Etsy if you need any more info about pigments or ingredients I use. Thanks for looking!

About my paint-making journey
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I started exploring pigments as part of my SciArt research into botanical art and historic colours. Pretty soon I'd fallen down the rabbit hole and began making paints and pigments myself - but please be aware I don't make huge amounts. I’m part of online SciArt communities, and I’m disabled and proud - find me @Lycomorpha on social if you want to chat about pigments and SciArt, or being a disabled maker/studio adaptions. I hope you'll enjoy these paints as much as I enjoyed making them, because I am in love with the process.

About my handmade paints
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Pigments
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These paints are made from natural soil/mineral pigments (e.g. ochres, slates, marls) or are human-made pigments that achieve brighter colours (e.g. ultramarines, phthalos, quinacridone pigments.) The word 'natural' is not a synonym for 'ethical', 'safe', or 'good'. So I use human-made pigments as well as earths, especially if I have ethical issues with the production/mining of a natural pigment. I take care over where I source my synthetic human-made pigments and buy them from UK & EU suppliers that meet high standards of safety & sourcing.
About handmade pigments:
Shales, chalks, some of the ochres, marls, and clays were collected by me (with permission, or from my own garden) then ground and dried before being used as pigments. A couple of pigments are former educational geology specimens which I'm giving a second life as paint. If you’re interested in how I make pigments, I have some blog posts at https://mothsinahumansuit.uk.
I also buy and trade natural pigments with fellow pigment-makers and artists around the world. Clearwell ochres come from Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean, UK, where ochre has been mined since pre-Roman times, and where one freeminer still extracts these amazingly beautiful pigments by hand today. Find out more at https://clearwellcaves.com. A couple of my vivianite pigments come from another maker on Etsy who was recommended to me by indigenous artists from Australia; find them here as Demon’s Bluff Gems. Almagre red earth comes from TpotDesign here on Etsy too - check out her pigments and watercolours.

Binder
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My watercolour binder contains: water, gum arabic (the binding agent), vegetable glycerine (a humectant that stops the paint drying out too much and helps rewetting), agave syrup &/or baker's glucose syrup (sugar is a plasticiser that helps prevent cracking), and tea tree, nerolina, & clove essential oils (preservative oils that help stop the paint going off.)
Pls remember: my paint is only for use on paper or similar. Seriously. It’s not wearable or edible, and neither is the binder.

Making paint
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- Pigments are mixed with the liquid binder which they’re ground into using a glass muller and plate. For some synthetic pigments, e.g. nickel azo yellow, I use rubbing alcohol (AKA isopropanol, IPA) as a wetting agent to help the pigment mix with the binder. This evaporates during the process of making and drying the paint.
- Pans are filled in 3-6 layers, giving each time to dry, so that pans are filled with as much paint as possible. Small cracks and bubbles may still occur as these paints are entirely handmade
- Paints may remain slightly tacky, especially for thirstier pigments (watercolour binder contains syrup and vegetable glycerine, which makes the paint easier to re-wet and helps prevent cracking.)
- Individual biodegradable PLA pans are packaged in non-stick paper, and each has a mag-sticker on so it can be stored in a tin. The magnets can be peeled off and reused.
- My watercolours are ideal for painting on their own or under-painting drawings. Use as you would any other watercolour, bearing in mind hand-mulled paints may take a little longer to re-wet than commercially milled paint, and each has its own unique properties and texture (especially the earth pigments.)

Just a final reminder. Please use my paints sensibly - these paints should only be used for artwork on paper or similar substrates, they are not edible or wearable. They should not be used on food or skin. Thanks again, friends. <3