Many art materials are made with animal products: you have squirrel hair being used for paintbrushes, and some art papers are coated with gelatin. Many watercolour paints use ox blood and other animal ingredients in some of the colours, and you can even find some children’s crayons made with pork. If you like to get creative, here are some sustainable and vegan-friendly alternatives.
The Joy of Watercolour is a gorgeous book by London artist Emma Block. Find 40 easy lessons to learn to paint watercolours using nontoxic paints. Learn to paint on holiday, paint your pets, layer colours, mix colours, and paint flowers and plants.
Eco Watercolours & Vegan Brushes
Kaia Natural Watercolor Paints (American spelling, not a mistake!) are what every earth-conscious artist has been looking for: a palette of beautiful watercolours that are kind to the earth and animals. Made with love in The Netherlands, these superior quality paints contain 85% to 90% pigment (compared to 10% to 40% pigments for conventional paints). So you need less to use more colour, so they don’t work out any more expensive. Most watercolours contain chemicals and some even contain carmine (from beetles), honey, animal glycerine and ox gall (from cow’s liver).
Packed in sturdy cardboard boxes, the main box has 10 cups. All colours are transparent, bar Ochre Yellow and Rust Red (semi-transparent). The paints are made from earth pigments (crushed rock) or white clay (with vegetable dyes). This means they also don’t contain plastic microbeads that end up in our waterways. Kara suggests using these paints with 300gram plus of watercolour paper. Find sustainable brands at Strathmore or Fabriano Artistico (recycled paper) or Hemp watercolour paper.
Dana’s Wonder Forest Watercolour Brush Set. Designed to last years (so worth the ship from Canada), these brushes have quality synthetic tips pointed to razor precision for the finest detail. Sold in a set of 6 with premium slim comfortable wooden handles, Dana also sells a Wash Brush. The plastic cover can be recycled in supermarket bins.
Learn to Paint Watercolour Books
Birds, Bees & Blossom is a guide to botanical and animal watercolour painting. Botanical artist Harriet shows how to paint modern watercolour arts to treasure and share. With easy instructions for various levels, the book offers 30 projects to paint beautiful butterflies, bumblebees, birds and botanicals from around the world. In the final chapter, you’ll find a guide to composing stunning patterns and scenes with your own botanical watercolour creations. Use your new skills to make art for your wall, unique cards, invites or just paint for pleasure. Projects include:
- Bengal Tiger
- Chilean Flamingo
- Prickly Pear
- Zebra
- Bumblebee
- Garden Tiger Moth
- Peacock
- White-Tailed Deer
- Polar Bear
- Arctic Poppy
Watercolor in Nature offers 20 beginner projects to paint woodland wildlife and botanicals. Rosalie has hiked through countless forests with her sketchbook and watercolours, documenting the plants, animals and landscapes that she encounters. She has also taught tens of thousands of students to paint and appreciate nature’s beauty through her popular online classes and in-person workshops.
In this book, Rosalie provides step-by-step instructions on how to paint 20 insects, fungi, birds, botanicals and mammals in her vibrant wet-on-dry-watercolour style. Pick up the skills you need to become a better observer in the outdoors, take your own reference photos and paint a wide variety of subjects to continue to draw inspiration from nature, long after you finish the projects in the book.
The sturdy quality paper enables you to wipe away paint smears that may get on the pages, while you paint. And the lay-flat binding allows you to keep the book open to the instructions, while you work. Learn how to paint:
- A wild blueberry branch
- A fiddlehead fern
- A wood duck, blue snail and red fox
- A magnolia flower
- A luna moth
- A chanterelle mushroom
- A mountain vista
- A waterfall scene
- A meadow landscape
Painting Nature with Clare shows how to paint fersn and flowersto seascapes and songbirds, create charming paintings with Clare Therese Gray. Packed with stunning illustrations and detailed instructions to paint your own masterpieces, paint woodland mushrooms, beautiful botanicals or calming pastel landscapes. Each project is broken into simple steps for artists of all skills.
15 Minute Watercolor Masterpieces shows how to create beautiful paintings. Anna Koliadych shows galazies in a teacup to a blooming field of flowers.
Watercolor for Relaxation offers 25 beginner projects from artist Angelica Torres to help you clear your mind and let go of stress. From peaceful landscapes to tranquil abstract patterns.
Learn to Paint with Dana
Learn to paint watercolours with Dana Fox, an exceptionally talented artist who offers gorgeous books that will encourage anyone to get out their paint box. These books are very different. The left hand side includes the finished paintings and instructions, then the right hand side has watercolour-quality paper for you to paint along. Then cut and frame the pages.
Watercolour With Me in the Forest features a classic dogwood rose, a sly fox and feathers from bird friends.
Watercolour With Me in the Ocean includes 50 projects like a bright bobbing seahorse and a charming lighthouse scene, along with adorable octopuses and otters.
Watercolour With Me in the Jungle includes 25 more projects, this time tropical. Exotic beasts, colourful flowers and tropical fruits.
Children’s Vegan Sustainable Art Materials
The New Playroom is a beautiful 34-page colour guide by a kindergarten teacher who trained in the Italian method of Reggio Emilia. Learn how to design a creative space, even in a bedroom corner. Design a creative space for your child, so that when it’s chilly or raining or your child just wants some indoor time, he or she can retreat to paint and play, rather than veg out in front of computer games.
Remove small parts/batteries (stores must take all brands back). Supervise younger children and keep art materials away from pets and very young children. Coccoina is a nontoxic glue (avoid tin version, it contains boar bristles). All glue is toxic to pets.
- Natural Pavement Chalk is a Germany brand of chunky chalk to use on blackboards. Almost dust-free, it’s nontoxic and vegan and washable, in 7 colours. Age 3 plus.
- Natural Earth Paint offers powder paints made from earth, minerals and plants, ideal to paint with fingers. Mix with water to make a creamy tempera like paint, add more paint to make watercolours.
Watercolor for the Soul is a fresh approach by art teacher Sharone Stevens on how painting simple lines, patterns and shapes in calming colours can be a meditation. Discover the beautiful textures hidden in nature – from tree trunks to fruit and butterflies. Then make simple gift tags, bookmarks, cards and small wall pieces, along with larger art pieces, all with a focus on relaxation. Learn how to mix a calming color palette, and try simple painting exercises to get into a relaxed flow.
