Watercolor Nerds Unite!

Hi everyone! Up until now, I am using clove oil as a preservative in my paints. But, I really really hate the smell of it. So I'm thinking of switching to another. I want to keep them vegan, so honey is not an option. I heard about tea tree oil, and other essential oils. Does anyone have experience with those? Does it work as good as clove oil? Thank you!!

Hello, I bought a pigment set that is meant to be a fun way of making water colours.. it consists of several bags of pigment, some powdered Jacquard gum Arabic and your usual honey and glycerin.. clove oil. Instructions are as followed, scoop 1 gram of pigment.. then scoop the same 1 gram of gum Arabic and add a few drops of clove oil and a drop of honey/glycerin.. I've only used glycerin. Use distilled water, mix and fold into a pan. I have been using white ghost type pigments so far and the resulting paint is very wet and takes days and days to dry. Could it be the gum Arabic I'm using.. too little or too much? Any help would be greatly appreciated.. thank you x

Hi all, I’ve been making my own personal watercolors for a while now, but just came across this forum- I wish I had found this ages ago! I was wondering, who knows either how to mix or where to purchase a good true red mica pigment? I’ve been through almost all of the “reds” on Amazon, and none of them are a real red. They all are either hot pink or are too orange/peach. Most of them do not look like the product photos, which show a true red. Thanks in advance!