SWEET & SOUR PALETTE handmade watercolours | handcrafted artisan watercolors | two-colour gift for artist/painter | mini curated bright set

~ SWEET & SOUR PAIR ~

This beautiful watercolour pair has been carefully handcrafted right here in my studio in sunny old Leeds. Clementine is a bright orange made from a two-pigment blend and my own unique binder recipe and Beetle Green is a two-pigment blend as well, made with my handmade binder.
This is my first pair of watercolours, I usually have a minimum of three paints in a palette - but these two just looked so beautiful together and I couldn't resist making them a "curated" pair.
Available in half pans and full pans.

~ details ~
CLEMENTINE
Rewetability: rewets easily
Dispersal in water: good
Granulation: no
Transparency: good
Tinting strength: very good
Lightfastness: fair (owing to red pigments!)
Pigment(s): PR3, PY3
BEETLE GREEN:
Rewetability: a little more timely to rewet, a drop in the pan for a few minutes helps especially to get that brightness. Dries a bit "shiny" in the pan.
Dispersal in water: a little
Granulation: no
Transparency: yes
Tinting strength: medium
Lightfastness: good (owing to the yellow pigment used)
Pigment(s): PG17, PY3

~ materials ~
This watercolour paint is made from a single natural pigment. All ingredients are non-toxic.
My binder consists of gum arabic, distilled water, clove oil, glycerin and honey.
As such this paint is not vegan and has a very slight scent.
The price for this duo is a little steeper than some of my other paints and that is because of some of the pigments used being rather expensive, so they come at a premium.

~ how it's made ~
These paints are handcrafted by me in my studio from powdered pigments and a binder that is also made from base ingredients by me, making this paint entirely handmade.
The pigment and binder are mixed together through a process called mulling, where using a glass mulling tool and a glass panel, I mix the pigment thoroughly into the binder - binding it!
These paints are then hand poured into half or full pans, or dotted on dotcards, for your painterly enjoyment.
Since these paints are all handmade, colours and behaviour may vary slightly from batch to batch. Colour may also appear different from what you see on screen - all monitors are calibrated uniquely and a photo on a backlit screen will look different from real life.
There may, on occasion, be small bubbles, cracks, unevenness in the surface of a pan, etc. This is normal for handmade paints as some pigment react differently with the binder or during the drying process.
That said, please do contact me via Etsy message if there are any large cavities in your pans!
Sometimes bubbles don't make it to the surface and can disrupt the integrity of a paint without being initially visible.
If this issue arises, I'm always more than happy to fix it for you! :)

~ sizes ~
Dot card samples are available in one handy listing here
Half pan: a standard half pan (20mm by 17mm and 10mm deep) full of hand poured paint; the surface may be concave as a result of the drying process, but I always make sure my pans are well filled.
Full pan: a standard full pan (30mm by 18mm and 10mm deep) full of hand poured paint; as above, the surface may be concave from the drying process but pans will be well filled.

~ info cards ~
As standard, each order will come with a little info sheet on how I make my paint.
You will also get a mini (A7 size) info card per colour which explains a bit about it, how it behaves and some background - we love colour with a story, amirite?
The card/paper I print this info on is made from recycled coffee cups, which I think is really cool.
If you are visually impaired and would like to request a large print version of the info (A5 size instead of A7), please let me know when you order.
If you don't want any extra stuff at all, let me know when you order and I can instead send you the same information, digitally in PDF format, to your preferred email.

~ shipping details ~
The pan paints are wrapped in paper and sent in a small box outer which is designed to fit through a letterbox. All packaging is recyclable and/or biodegradeable.
If you order a dot card, it will come in a biodegradable cello bag, in a do-not-bend envelope or a small box desigend to fit through a letterbox.
For large international orders I may also put your wrapped paints inside a biodegradable cello bag to protect from weather (particularly water!) damage.
Your order will be sent standard mail unless you upgrade at checkout. This means no tracking unless you specifically pay for a tracked service.
Tracked services are highly recommended for orders over £50, this is to make sure your paints are insured for their full value should anything go wrong.
Unfortunately, the price for a tracked service internationally is expense from the UK and this is why I leave the choice up to the customer. :)