Kaia Natural Watercolor Paints (American spelling, not a mistake!) are what every earth-conscious artist has been looking for: a palette of beautiful watercolours that are kind to the earth and animals. Made with love in The Netherlands, these superior quality paints contain 85% to 90% pigment (compared to 10% to 40% pigments for conventional paints). So you need less to use more colour, so they don’t work out any more expensive. Most watercolours contain chemicals and some even contain carmine (from beetles), honey, animal glycerine and ox gall (from cow’s liver).
Packed in sturdy cardboard boxes, the main box has 10 cups. All colours are transparent, bar Ochre Yellow and Rust Red (semi-transparent). The paints are made from earth pigments (crushed rock) or white clay (with vegetable dyes). This means they also don’t contain plastic microbeads that end up in our waterways.
Kara suggests using these paints with 300gram plus of watercolour paper. Find sustainable brands at Strathmore or Fabriano Artistico (recycled paper) or Hemp watercolour paper.
Dana’s Wonder Forest Watercolour Brush Set. Designed to last years (so worth the ship from Canada), these brushes have quality synthetic tips pointed to razor precision for the finest detail. Sold in a set of 6 with premium slim comfortable wooden handles, Dana also sells a Wash Brush. The plastic cover can be recycled in supermarket bins.
