A 15 ml tube of M. Graham cerulean blue paint, squeezed out.
I thought I’d share an interesting issue I had recently, in case the same thing happens to anyone reading. About a year ago I purchased some tubes of M. Graham watercolor paints which I have been, on the whole, really happy with. The only issue I had is one tube of cerulean blue that separated in the tube. Every time I squeezed any out, it would be mostly binder and very little pigment. This caused issues with the paint being very sticky and not wanting to dry (as well as the color not being as intense).
On the advice of Jane Freeman of Watercolor Mania, I squeezed out the entire tube into a small saucer and mixed it up really well. Thankfully, M. Graham paint rewets very well because from now on I am going to be using this saucer like a giant pan of watercolor paint. I am planning on storing this flat in a zip-lock bag to avoid dust becoming embedded in the paint. This could become very cumbersome if other tubes develop this same issue! Apparently, M. Graham paints have honey as one of the ingredients in their binder, although I am not sure if this is what caused it to separate. Has anyone else had similar problems with watercolor paints separating in the tube?
I was able to find out a solution to my problem via the facebook group Artists’ Tips and Tricks, which I highly recommend. Incidentally, Jane recommended Daniel Smith watercolors. I think I will try these out when I use up my current paints, as a number of other artists I have come across say they use Daniel Smith as well.
Hunh…I have had this happen in some of my watercolor tubes, though generally I don’t buy really expensive paints. I always wondered why it looks like there is oil in them. Now I see it could be anything (even honey!). I’ve always just squirted some out added my water and mixed, never really noticing it causing a problem. ‘Course then I’m not a fine artist either so I probably wouldn’t have picked up on a problem thinking that it was me and not the paint. What I do sometimes have problems with, especially in some of the browns and blues, is small clots of color that leave streaks on my paper. I try to water them out at times but am not always successful.
The M. Grahams are artist quality paints, although not the most expensive ones on the market. For more info on watercolor pigments, I highly recommend the Handprint site. Generally, wc paint is made of pigment and gum arabic which binds it together and is water soluble, plus other ingredients. If you are having problems with streaking, try mixing the paint on your palette more before painting. Also, you may be workiing with paints which are granulating by their nature and you may like a non granulating paint better.
Thanks for the site and the tips, Carolyn!
Thanks, this is very helpful!
your experience with the paints is interesting Carolyn. I have run across that with various other brands and colors. Particularly when first sqeezed out of the tube. I use mostly winsor Newton . Hmmm…
Regarding M.Graham I am a big fan of all of their paints (watercolor, gouache and oil) and have not seen this problem. I have however seen it with some other brands but mostly oil paints. They do use honey in their watercolor and gouache paints, and walnut oil in their oil paints.
I live pretty close to the M.Graham facility which is a very small family run business just north of Salem, Oregon. I might suggest that you call or email them and ask them about this. The owner, Art Graham is always very helpful.
Mike Bergen
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