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We are Reg and Emma, a husband and wife team who live on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon. We met in the painting studios of Exeter art college in the 1990s. So as artists ourselves, we understand that using fine quality materials matters in your creative practice.
We’ve been making watercolour paint since 2019, using the traditional process known as ‘Mulling’. Our paint mulling journey grew from our passion for colour, painting and a deep regard for keeping traditional art processes and craftsmanship alive.
Why choose Art Scribe hand mulled paint?
Our slower, hands-on and small batch approach to paint making means we get up-close and personal with each pan of colour we produce.
Through the intimate process of suspending pigment and binder together, we can detect the subtle characteristics of each pigment. This allows us to adjust the mulling or the binder accordingly and bring out the best of each colour.
From selecting the finest pigments, making our own binders, even the way we dry our paint. Every part of our process is carefully considered. The result is seriously good paint that is well-blended, strong in colour and a pleasure to work with.
Paint making has led us on an exciting journey of colour stories, rare and historical pigment discoveries and the endless potential to create our own colours. We can’t wait to pass on to you our excitement of colour and love of painting through Art Scribe watercolour paints.
The binder holds the coloured pigment and gives flow and smoothness to the paint. We have finely tuned the recipe of our binder so we know exactly what goes into each pan of watercolour paint.
We finely grind, then dissolve the resin crystals from the Acacia tree in distilled water. This mixture is then filtered through organic muslin cloth.
The non toxic, colourless and viscous qualities of vegetable glycerin acts as a moisture retainer and plasticity to the paint. This means that with the application of a wet brush you can easily lift the watercolour from the pan.
We are very thankful to our local bee keeper. His bees, which most probably visit our garden, provide us with a little honey to prevent the gum arabic from setting too hard and prevents the paint from cracking.
Spike of Lavender oil and Clove oil are added as natural preservative and
anti-fungal agents.
We never add fillers or artificial preservatives as these make watercolours dull on the page
We source the finest pigments from well established and reputable companies. The finer ground the pigments, the more evenly dispersed the colour particles will be within our binder. By selecting artists’ grade pigments, we ensure that the brilliance and strength of colour is retained within our handmade watercolours. So you will find that our paints come alive on the paper when water is added. And because they are highly pigmented a little paint goes a long way.
We source our artist grade pigments from Cornelissen & Son & Kremer Pigments.
Mulling is the process of mixing the pigment and binder together to make paint. We use the traditional method using a hand held glass muller over a glass slab. It is labour intensive, but this hands-on approach means we can mull each pigment according to its unique characteristics while ensuring the pigment and binder are evenly blended.
We slowly dry the paint, free from dust, in our temperature controlled wooden drying cabinet. This ensures beautifully distributed watercolour and is an important part of delivering the high pigment content in each pan.
The paint is carefully poured into the pans in six or seven layers. As each layer dries, the water content evaporates leaving you with as much pure colour as possible.
The pans are secured in a pocket sized tin using magnets, so can be easily rearranged or replaced once you run out. Included with your set of colours is a hand painted swatch card showing you the nature and characteristic of each colour. If you build your own palette then you will receive a blank card to fill out with your chosen colours.
You will receive your Art Scribe watercolour paints in a letterbox friendly eco box.