The Basic Box - in Dutch

With this box you can make your own watercolor paint

So instead of opening a tube and pretending you understand what is inside it, you actually get to make the paint yourself and see what is going on.

You take a bit of pigment, put it on the glass plate, add a few drops of binder, and then you start grinding it with the glass muller. In the beginning it feels slightly questionable, a bit dry, a bit uneven, and you might wonder if this was a good idea. Then it changes. It becomes smoother, more fluid, and starts behaving like actual paint.

At that point you start adjusting it without overthinking. A little more binder if it feels too stiff, a bit more pigment if it feels too weak. You move it around, work it in, and somewhere in the middle of that you realize you are not just mixing something, you are understanding it.

When it feels right, you move it into the pans and let it dry. After that it behaves like watercolor, except now you know exactly why it behaves the way it does.

The Basic box – Watercolor

This one looks simple, which is exactly why it works.

Indian Yellow, Magenta, and Ultramarine Blue give you a full palette without giving you too many places to hide. 

Indian Yellow carries the light and keeps things open. Magenta moves between calm and slightly unpredictable depending on what you mix it with. Ultramarine Blue settles into the paper and brings that depth and texture that makes everything feel a bit more grounded.

At some point you realize that you don’t actually need more colors. You just needed to understand how a few of them work together.

Contents:

Glass muller
Glass grinding plate
Pigments (Indian Yellow, Magenta, Ultramarine Blue)
Glycerin
Gum arabic
Cloves
Stirring stick
Brush
Silicone scraper
Watercolor paper, 300 gsm
3 small glass jars with lids
Gloves
3 watercolor pans
Metal tin
Pipette
Dust masks
Watercolor recipe in Dutch