My Custom Super Granulating Watercolor Palette!

Hi friends! I am so excited about this project! I made a palette of the most granulating watercolors that I own. This was days of research, swatching and comparison to come up with my most separating colors and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Here is my granulating palette sitting in one of my large studio palettes (John Pike Palette)

I was inspired by the new super granulating sets that have been released by Schminke and Supervision but I knew that I didn’t need any more paint and if I took the time (instead of taking out my wallet and buying the shiny new things) I could come up with something just as good. What I didn’t expect was that I would learn so much about my paint in the process!

You might ask: Where do I start looking in my stash for granulating color? Look for “Mars” “Cobalt” and “Iron” in the pigment info on your tubes of watercolor. Often those are signs that heavy metals are present in the paint and they will be sedimentary. I also got asked a lot about the granulation medium by Winsor and Newton. I showed an example of using that at the end of the video and honestly, I don’t recommend it. The added granulation effect is negligible on both staining and already granulating color. The Schminke granulation spray may work better, I don’t have that but the primary ingredient is alcohol and spraying alcohol on a wet wash does give intersting texture suitable for sea spray or snow. I found saltwater gave me the best enhancement.

Notes about the colors in my palette:

• Any of the Renesans Watercolors I showed can be Purchased from a little creative on Etsy. I have a coupon code for 10% off Renesans paints at Alittlecreaveme on ETSY: FRUGAL10 I personally know the owner of this shop, April, and she is wonderful. **That said I would recommend getting the Potters Pink in a pan from Winsor & Newton and the colbalt green in a pan from Lukas because the tube colors are hard to rewet and can have a sheen from the honey used. If you are comparing what I listed to what you have at home go by pigment numbers first, then names as it is the pigment that provides the granulating effect.

• I also mentioned LUKAS 1862 watercolors in tubes and pans as they are such a good deal and there is a buy 3 save 10% deal on them now. I have not tried the tubes but the pans rewet really well.

My Color List:

• Renesans #22 Bordeax Cadmium PR108

• QoR Cadmium Red PR108

• Renesans #57 Potters Pink PR233

• QoR Colbalt Violet PV49

• Renesans #25 Maganase Violet PV16

• Renesans #26 Ultramarine Violet PV16, PB29

• Paul Rubens Lavender Violet PB29, PV3, PW6

• Schminke Colbalt Blue Deep PB28, PB74

• White Knights Cerulean Blue PB35

• QoR Cobalt Turquoise PB36

• QoR Cobalt Teal PG50

• M. Graham Viridian PG18

• Renesans #41 Colbalt Green Pale PG50

• Kusakabe Oxide of Chromium PG17

• Nickle Titatante Yellow PY54 (AKA Nickle Lemon, I have a discontinued Cotman Color)

• Cotman Raw Sienna PR101, PY42

• Renesans #63 Vandyke Brown PB15:7, PR48:4, PR101, PBk11

• Kusekabe Burnt Umber PBr7

• Renesans #64 Perylene Violet (Hue) PR101, PB60 (mildly granulating but a neat color!)

• Renesans #69 Mars Black PBk11

Here are some close up swatches:

Swatches on 100% cotton cold pressed Hahnemulhe Cezanne watercolor paper.

Ultramarine Violet, Manganese Violet and Cobalt Violet

This was just a pretty test of the greens I ended up adding to the palette on Canson Montval cold pressed.

Other Options:

• M Graham has a set of Colbat set that includes 5 colors from my list above: Blick or Amazon

• Supervision has a 10 tube of granulating colors that split and are really lovely. If you don have any granulating colors this would be a great way to dive in at a decent per tube price and the tubes are 15ml

• Schminkes supergranulating sets of 5 are pricey and the tubes are small 5ml but they do look pretty incredible! I’m not sure if they are using their regular pigments in these or more coarse versions. If you know please tell me!

• The Jean Hanes watercolor set also has some pretty granulating colors, for that matter Daniel Smith is known for their granulating paint. They even sell dot cards if you want to try out all the colors before buying a pricy tube. *If you see a color you like see if it is in a stick first and you might save some money.

Does this mean I won’t add more colors to my palette? Probably not but I will add unique pigments that I don’t already have for greater versatility. I hope this inspires you to look through your paint and see what you can come up with. Please note that affiliate links were used in this post and I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you purchase through the links. Thank you for your support and happy crafting!