Welcome back to the Art Supplies Spotlight series! In this blog post I will be sharing about handmade watercolour paints from Arkaar Creations. I started off with a set of grab bags from Arkaar Creations back in 2022 and have loved these paints ever since. Arkaar Creations has become one of my favourite brands of watercolour paints and you will come to know why that is the case.
Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of getting to know Trupti, the incredible woman behind this small business. She's been incredibly kind, supportive, and generous. Arkaar Creations is a family business run by Trupti and her husband. While Trupti focuses on paint making and production, her husband handles packaging, sketchbooks, and paper making. Their offerings extend beyond paints to include handmade paper, sketchbooks, and original artworks.
I first discovered Arkaar Creations on Instagram back in early 2022 when Trupti was sharing swatches of paints available in her grab boxes. I was intrigued by the colours Trupti swatched and decided I would try them out after hearing about her paints from Youtubers and other artists like Denise Soden, Emma Jane Lefebvre and Natasha Newton. Some good YouTube videos featuring these paints are:
Since then, I have made multiple purchases from Trupti’s shop and will be coming back for more.
Since my initial purchase, I've made multiple orders from Trupti's shop and plan to continue doing so.
Trupti offers paints in half pans and, more recently, full pans. The individual paints are beautifully packaged—a piece of wax paper sits atop the paint to prevent sticking, followed by gold foil wrapping and a sticker featuring their logo and a colour swatch. The paint's name is written on the pan's side for easy identification. These half pans truly feel like special gifts!
For those interested in specific pigments or lightfast paints, lightfastness and pigment information is provided on the website. Most of Trupti's paints are lightfast (rating 7–8), making them perfect for commission work.
With every order you will also receive other freebies which have included lollies, an accordion sketchbook with handmade watercolour paper and extra pans of paints.
In this blog, I'll be showing swatches from one of my tins containing Arkaar Creations paints. I currently have two tins, each holding about 50 half pans. As you'll see in the photos, the pans themselves are larger than others I have come across in the handmade paint world and they are topped up very generously.
A wide range of products are available at any time in the Arkaar Creations store, including:
Palettes with 3 - 12 half pans ranging between $47 - $166 AUD,
Single pigment half pans ranging between $13 - $15 AUD,
Mix pigment half pans ranging between $14 - $ 16 AUD and,
Handmade paper products such as paper packs, medium and large sketchbooks ranging between $15 - $36 AUD.
Note: prices do not include GST.
These paints are of extremely high quality. Almost all are easy to rewet and have a smooth, silky consistency that flows beautifully. The only paint I find slightly challenging to rewet is Ultramarine Violet, which needs a bit more water to reactivate. Some paints have incredible granulation and separating effects, visible in the swatches below. Unlike some other handmade watercolours I've tried, Trupti's paints don't rub off after drying—a sign of proper mulling and pigment dispersion in the binder. The paints are well-bound and dispersed, making them one of my go-to choices for original artwork due to their high quality, lightfastness, and reliability.
Arkaar Creations' paint range includes both single-pigment and mixed-pigment paints. The mixed-pigment paints are particularly intriguing, as they granulate and separate in unpredictable and beautiful ways. For example, "Orchid of Amazonia" separates into pink, purple, and blue hues.
The following painting, "Flowers and Berries," was created using only Arkaar Creations paints.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this blog post.
Until next time.
Much love,
Wendy
Comments