Watercolor Tips Ep. #4: Decoding Pigment Labels 🎨 A Free Reference Guide for You (Patreon)

Hi everyone! 🎨

Can we talk about watercolor supplies for a second? You bring home a new Blue tube, try it once, and it behaves nothing like you imagined once it hits the paper. Or you switch to a new brand and have no real way of knowing if that gorgeous Red is anything like the one you already love... Your drawer is quietly filling up with "just in case" tubes that seemed essential in the store and have barely been touched since - some of them probably nearly identical to colors you already own, and one or two fading faster than you'd like to admit.

🖌️ If any of that sounds familiar, you're in very good company. Every one of those moments comes down to the same root cause: pigment labels that look like a secret code. Learn to read them, and all of that guesswork disappears! ✨

📝 That's exactly why I created this: a completely free, quick-reference guide called Decoding Your Pigment Labels, adapted straight from Chapter 1 of my book, 101 Watercolor Secrets. 📖 This one's especially for you if you're just starting your watercolor journey 🌱 - though plenty of seasoned painters have told me it's a handy refresher too! Because here's the truth: once you understand what's actually inside your paint tube, everything changes. You'll be able to match pigments across brands so switching never means guessing again, predict how a color will behave on paper before you even open the tube, and save real money by avoiding duplicate colors and disappointing pigments that fade. 💰

Inside the guide, you'll learn the five things every pigment label reveals:

🔤 The Pigment Code: what those letters and numbers are actually telling you

🖌️ Staining: whether a color will lift cleanly or lock itself into the paper

☀️ Lightfastness: how to spot a color that won't fade on you in a few years

💧 Transparency: how to predict whether a color will glaze beautifully or sit opaque on top

🌾 Granulation: how to know if a pigment will give you that gorgeous, textured bloom

Before I let you go download it, I have to say something from the heart: THANK YOU! 💜 So many of you have read, supported, and reviewed 101 Watercolor Secrets since it came out, and more than one of you has called it your "watercolor bible" - a phrase that moves me every time I read it. Putting together this reference guide, a little companion piece from the book you already love, has been one of my favorite projects this year. I couldn't be happier to finally share it with you.

📥 The free guide is attached below - download it, save it, print it, and keep it by your palette!

🎨 You'll also find it living in our Beginner Collection, right alongside all the foundational exercises we started this year and every beginner-friendly tutorial I've shared so far: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1619988

📚 And if you'd love the full deep dive - all 101 secrets, every chapter, every pigment property, plus my personal color recommendations for landscapes, florals, and portraits - you can grab your copy of 101 Watercolor Secrets here: https://amzn.to/3Um0Ucb

Thank You and Happy painting! 🎨💛