Vegan Watercolor Supplies Made Simple! (Brushes, Paper, and Paints)

Have you ever wondered if your watercolor supplies are secretly… vegan? 🙂

After all…  it’s just paint, brushes, and paper, right?

The surprising truth is, lots of traditional art supplies contain hidden animal-derived ingredients.

And animal products have been part of the art world for centuries.

This can make it tricky to know what’s lurking in your supplies!

These materials were used because they offered unique properties – like ox gall to improve paint flow, or animal hair brushes for high water-absorption. And until relatively recently they were hard to replicate with synthetic alternatives.

But as more and more artists move towards animal-friendly products, the demand for vegan art supplies is growing. And many brands are starting to rethink their materials.

I understand many artists’ desire to find “vegan” alternatives to watercolor supplies – I’ve had plenty of questions on the topic over the years.

And selecting the right supplies can be a bit of a maze!

But the big question is – can you switch to animal-friendly tools without sacrificing quality?

Whether you’re making the switch for ethical reasons, environmental concerns, or simply out of curiosity – this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about vegan watercolor supplies.

Vegan Watercolor Brushes: Bristles Without the Beasties!

“Can synthetic brushes truly match the performance of natural ones?”

This question pops up quite a bit, 

and the answer is a resounding…

“Maybe” 😕

Modern synthetic brushes have come a long way, offering pretty good handling capabilities compared to their animal-hair equivalents. 

But…

To truly see how synthetic brushes measure up, I compared their water-holding capacity using a simple demonstration.

I tested two similarly sized brush heads  –  one made of Kolinsky sable, the other synthetic “sable” fibers:

The demo below represents continuous brush strokes of a fully loaded brush. In my tests, the water-holding capabilities of natural hair still surpassed the ability of synthetic fibers.

However, in other respects – such as stiffness, elasticity, and the ability to keep a fine point  – synthetic brushes cope very well indeed 🙂

The gap between synthetic and natural brushes is definitely narrowing, making synthetic options a great choice for vegan artists.

And in all honesty – if you’ve never used natural hair brushes, you won’t have a point of comparison to notice the difference. You’ll adapt perfectly well to using synthetics.  

Many well-known artists do!

The Evolution of Synthetic Brushes

Synthetic watercolor brushes have come a long way since they first appeared in the 1970s. Early versions were made from stiff nylon fibers –  better suited to oil painting than delicate watercolor work! 

The big breakthrough came when manufacturers found a way to taper polyester fibers to a fine point, and make them softer and more absorbent.

Companies like Princeton and Rosemary & Co. now offer synthetic ranges like the Aqua Elite and Red Dot Collection. I have both, and consider them great for quality and affordability.

So today’s synthetic brushes do a good job to mimic natural hair – and they’re getting better all the time.

My Top Vegan-Friendly Brush Recommendations

• Princeton Aqua Elite range: an excellent and affordable synthetic option.
• Rosemary & Co Red Dot Collection: This range offers synthetic fibers that replicate sable hair, providing all the qualities of natural hair but in a 100% synthetic form.
• Escoda Versatil brushes are another good example, said to mimic kolinsky sable. 
• Escoda Perla signature series selected by Joseph Zbukvic (Amazon link). These are typically stiffer and provide more control for detailed work, but they don’t hold as much water.
• Princeton Neptune Series are synthetic squirrel and amazing – these are very soft and best used for big washes of color.

Vegan Watercolor Paper: 100% Critter-Free

Next… “Is watercolor paper really made with animal products?” 

Surprisingly… Yes. 

Many traditional watercolor papers are sized with gelatin, which is an animal-derived product. 

“Sizing” is the substance that modifies the absorbent qualities of the paper. And it’s very important to get paper with a well-balanced sizing – this makes the handling properties of the paper much more user-friendly. 

Choosing the right paper is arguably the most important decision when it comes to your watercolor supplies. High-quality paper can dramatically affect how your paint behaves and how enjoyable the whole painting process feels.

Several manufacturers now offer vegan-friendly options.

Vegan-Friendly Watercolor Paper Options

• Hahnemuhle Collection: All their papers are sized without gelatin, making them entirely vegan-friendly. Their Collection papers seem to be particularly popular among artists.
• Meeden watercolor paper: Surprisingly, another vegan option – and a solution for learning on cotton paper without paying the premium price. I’ve been using this a lot recently and I find the dispersion of pigments with wet-on-wet is pretty good! (Amazon link)
• Fabriano Artistico: 100% cotton, mould-made paper and vegan-friendly sizing! I quite like the texture compared to my usual watercolor papers. I like the “extra white” version of this paper. The texture is similar to Arches…

Here’s a few more examples that I researched. These are not papers that I’ve tried myself  (let me know in the comments if you use them!)

• Canson
• Strathmore
• Legion

In my experience, all watercolor papers behave slightly differently, and this is down to the materials (cotton or wood-pulp) and the sizing. Vegan papers use synthetic, or sometimes plant-based alternatives to gelatin. So keep in mind, the absence of gelatin may result in variations in absorbency and surface properties. But it’s mostly a question of getting used to the handling characteristics of your choices 🙂

Vegan Watercolor Paints: More Pigment, No Piggies!

I’m happy to say, the paints of my favorite watercolor brand Daniel Smith are all vegan 🙂

Well… Almost all of them!

There are a few Daniel Smith paints that aren’t vegan friendly:

• Ivory Black. Also sometimes known as “bone black”, it contains the pigment PBk9, which is derived from charred animal bones.  
• Sepia, Joseph Z’s Neutral Grey & Payne’s Gray (because they all contain PBK9) 

It’s not just pigments you need to watch out for though… Some brands such as Sennelier and M. Graham both use honey in their formulas to make their paints smoother and help them stay moist for longer. So strictly speaking – not vegan 😕

Please note that the watercolor brands mentioned are all high quality paints, and this is not a criticism of their quality. However, from a strict vegan perspective, they do contain animal-derived ingredients like honey and ox gall.

So while pigments themselves are typically mineral or synthetic, some paints contain animal-derived ingredients – it’s always worth checking the labels!

Navigating Vegan Watercolor Paints

• Daniel Smith extra fine watercolor: Most of their colors are vegan, with exceptions that contain Ivory Black (PBk9).
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Series: This student-grade line is mostly vegan-friendly, except Ivory black and Silver which both contain PBk9. For some reason Viridian Hue and Raw Umber are also stated as non-vegan.
• Rembrandt Artists’ Watercolor : According to feedback from the manufacturer, Royal Talens, these are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free (with the exception of Ivory black, color #701)
• Holbein: This Japanese brand of professional-grade watercolors are vegan, but again, Ivory black uses PBk9.

Other vegan brands I researched include QoR, Da Vinci, and Schmincke…

Conclusion: Crafting Your Vegan Watercolor Toolkit

So, does choosing animal-friendly watercolor supplies mean compromising on quality?

The answer is — not necessarily!

Synthetic brushes have come a long way, offering pretty  impressive performance – especially if you’ve never used natural hair brushes before. Vegan-friendly papers can rival traditional options, while many top watercolor paint brands are already free from animal-derived ingredients.

Have you tried any of the vegan watercolor supplies mentioned? I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in the comments!

Happy painting!