Colors of Nature's Choice for Paper

Focus on Quality: Paper

Colors of Nature is committed to the finest quality in all of its raw materials and finished products.  The additional criteria for all of its supplies to be vegan and cruelty-free further refined our search for art products that are earth-friendly and ethically produced. We searched for paper lines that meet our stringent criteria for quality and ethics.  We found EcoPaper and Hahnemuhle as two unique manufacturers and providers of exactly the kind of paper we were looking for.

Hahnemuhle:

This German company has been making paper since 1584. Colors of Nature is the exclusive distributor of Hahnemuhle art paper in Canada.  We chose to offer bamboo paper from Hahnemuhle because of bamboo’s attributes as a sustainable and quickly renewable, low impact source of cellulose fibres. We also love the paper quality itself; it’s lightly textured, high quality and smooth to paint on. The best part about this paper is that is 100% vegan, made in earth-friendly ways and is cruelty-free.

For specific information about this high end paper line, please visit:

http://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/traditional-fineart/hahnemuehle-artist-papers/bamboo.html

For general information about the quality of art paper Hahnemuhle produces, please visit:

http://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/traditional-fineart/paper-quality-parameters.html

EcoPaper:

This American-Costa Rican company has a strong ethical mission to preserve and sustain our natural environment.  In that way, Colors of Nature and EcoPaper share a common vision for our planet.  What makes EcoPaper unique is their process.  They mix post-consumer paper and agricultural waste from banana, coffee and tobacco packing to make a beautiful paper that performs really well with watercolor paint, pencil, charcoal, crayons and pastels. As artists we love everything about this paper! Colors of Nature is EcoPaper’s exclusive distributor in Canada.

To read more about how EcoPaper makes its paper, please visit:

http://www.ecopaper.com/about-ecopaper

Last Open Juried Show of 2014 for RIWS

Rhode Island Watercolor Society ~ November 7, 2014 ~

Last Open Juried Show of 2014 Drop off begins next week! (November 11-16) "Art Inspired by Song" All 2-D Media Click here to download prospectus November 23rd - December 20th Juror: Bob Noreika Traffic by Bob Noreika Opening Reception: Sunday, November 23rd 1pm - 4pm Artist Demo with Bob Noreika at 12pm *RIWS Members' Pot Luck Brunch begins at 11am* Pick up: January 2nd - 9th, 2015

New Legislation for Art Supplies in Washington, Vermont and Maine

Colors of Nature is happy to hear that the States of Washington, Vermont and Maine have made serious commitments to the environment.

For example, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington State made several proposals in their Policy Brief of July 2014 to clean up their waterways.  Here is proposal #2 which all artists should be interested in:

“Get toxic chemicals out of consumer products. Pass legislation to require industries to look for safer, alternative approaches when we identify a toxic chemical in commerce that threatens our health or environment.

Authorize the Department of Ecology to ban the use of certain toxic chemicals when we know that such use is creating unacceptable exposure risk and safer alternatives are available. 

Accelerate “green chemistry” to advance the availability of safer chemicals in manufacturing processes. [Italics added by Colors of Nature]

Direct the Department of Enterprise Services to work with the Department of Ecology to provide recommendations that ensure state purchasing practices require safer products when available.”

To read more of this new initiative please click here.

Colors of Nature has already taken measures, through ‘green chemistry’ to ensure that everything we use is safe!

The State of Vermont is interested in the toxicity of children’s products as one of their environmental concerns. Their legislation states:

CHAPTER 38A. CHEMICALS OF HIGH CONCERN TO CHILDREN
§ 1771. POLICY
It is the policy of the State of Vermont:
(1)   to protect public health and the environment by reducing exposure of its citizens and vulnerable populations, such as children, to toxic chemicals, particularly when safer alternatives exist; [Italics added by Colors of Nature]

To read more of this policy please click here.

The State of Maine is also interested in toxic chemicals that children are exposed to.  You will notice that most of the chemicals of concern that are listed are petroleum products or petroleum derived, and include cadmium, cobalt and lead which are found in art supplies including children’s paint.

Colors of Nature doesn’t use any of these chemicals in our products!

To read more of what is on this list and what you can expect to find in conventional art supplies that may be of harm to your children and your environment please click here.

Colors of Nature is ahead of the curve, offering you safe, non-toxic, cruelty-free, vegan and earth-friendly art supplies without being prompted by legislation.  We just think that it’s the right thing to do for everyone.  Please visit us at www.colorsofnature.com to buy your art supplies!

Northern Vegans Presents a FREE Screening of Speciesism: The Movie

Quirky and funny Mark Devries, a college student and the director of the film, sets out to investigate the realities of animal agriculture. Find out what he discovers in this very entertaining as well as engaging and philosophical documentary. ALL viewers will receive a free gift certificate to City Green Market (www.facebook.com/CityGreenMarket). Speciesism: The Movie will be showing at the historic Vista Theater in Downtown Negaunee on Wednesday, November 5th at 7pm. The Vista will be selling vegan and organic popcorn for this special engagement. Free admission.

The Vista Theater is located at 218 Iron St. in Downtown Negaunee.

Let’s help make this a great success!

“For those unfamiliar with speciesism, there may be no more enjoyable introduction to this fascinating subject than Speciesism: The Movie. For those familiar with the topic, and searching for a way to introduce friends and family to the deeper questions, this film may be the perfect solution.” Bruce Friedrich

Maryland Federation of Art - Paint Annapolis

Colors of Nature and the Maryland Federation of Art are working together to promote art within the community and to bring watercolor artists from around the world together to display their work.

The last weekend of June 2014 the MFA held the Paint Annapolis Plein Air Art Competition.

Paint Annapolis was a four-day juried plein air painting competition held June 23-29, 2014, that brought to Annapolis plein air painters from across the United States. For 12 years it has been a premier event, bringing artists and patrons of the arts together to share in the spirit of the energy and vibrancy of outdoor painting. The event is designed to explore in paint the special colonial architecture, marine atmosphere and overall energy of Maryland’s capital city - home to families, business, colleges, and maritime activities.

Paint Annapolis 2014 was a great success! MFA was able to offer $10,000 in prize money to the artists, but MFA was able to raise almost $3,000 to help us bring to the community current artwork created by living artists. 

Colors of Nature had donated a Baker's Dozen to the event. Michael Kotarba was the Honorable Mention Recipient who received the Baker's Dozen of vegan cruelty-free watercolor paint. 

Colors of Nature is committed to art and artists within the community. If you belong to an art community, association or society or you are a teacher of art please contact us as we would like to work with you.

Congratulations Michael and MFA!

Jean Patiky's Over the Hill on Block Island Collection

"Over the Hill on Block Island" by Jean Patiky is a collection long anticipated by Colors of Nature. 

Jean Patiky’s work has appeared in many juried, group and solo shows. Her artwork has been displayed in galleries and museums including The Metropolitan Museum in Coral Gables, Florida, The Miami Watercolor Society, and more. Her paintings have been sold in fine stationery stores, book stores and museums across the U.S. ​

Colors of Nature and Jean Patiky met at the Rhode Island Watercolor Society in May 2014, where Colors of Nature presented its new line of vegan and cruelty-free watercolor paints to the Watercolor Society’s members. From her Baker’s Dozen Jean has made a wonderful collection of paintings to add to her already beautiful and extensive accomplishments.

The book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, by Patricia Schultz has this to say about Block Island, RI, USA.

“Unpretentious Block Island [Rhode Island, USA] is a barefoot and bicycle kind of place, with rolling green hills, hundreds of freshwater ponds, and dramatic 250-foot bluffs that remind many of Ireland. So bewitching is it that The Nature Conservancy was inspired to call the island ‘one of the last great places in the western hemisphere.’”

Speckled Sunflower by G. Papadakis

"Speckled Sunflower" is yet another gorgeous piece of work by long time user of Colors of Nature's watercolor paints, G. Papadakis. Demonstrating that a small palette can generate a variety of colors. Choosing a vegan earth-friendly alternative to conventional watercolor paints doesn't mean compromising on quality.

"Speckled Sunflower", G. Papadakis 2014

G. Papadakis says this about her latest painting:

"Speckled Sunflower" is a fairy who's done plenty of flying around and feels good about the place she's chosen to rest!

As before, I was thrilled with the richness of the "black" I was able to mix. I started out with a detailed ink drawing, some of which I had to go over after painting. For thicker areas like around the wings I used my "black" paint mixture; you have to look closely to see any difference.

Colors of Nature now has a natural black iron oxide paint and pigment for artists to use. This black iron oxide is a naturally forming mineral mined out of South America. This is not a synthetic black nor is it made from soot or the burning of bones or animal parts.

Work with confidence knowing that your art supplies are 100% vegan and cruelty-free when you purchase your paints, pigments, encaustic pucks, brushes, soaps and papers from Colors of Nature.

Hurray for Vegan Watercolor Paint!

Colors of Nature has met another fascinating vegan artist looking for alternatives to the commercially standard watercolor paints and art supplies.

Asked to review Colors of Nature's paints, Vegan Lovlie, using just a sample card developed and produced a lovely work of art. The end result was a stunning use of paint that showed the brightness and versatility of Colors of Nature's vegan and cruelty-free watercolor paints.

Here is a small snippet of her review. Please visit her site to see variety of topics, jewellery and artistry she has to offer vegans and artists alike. Vegan Lovlie also has a discount code to use on Colors of Nature

"I used cold pressed acid-free watercolour paper to try out the paints. Despite the limited palette and the challenge that this presented, the results were absolutely stunning. In contrast with other watercolour paints I have previously used, this brand does not lighten upon drying which is one common aspect of watercolor. This one pretty much keeps the same tone reducing the need for over layering where colors may tend to turn muddy and opaque. I loved the fresher feel and how the paint reacted with the paper. I used all the colours except the Burnt Sienna and Titanium White. I don't usually use white with watercolour except for corrections, so I did not have any use for the white in this painting."

The image below was the paint Vegan Lovlie created and if you wish to have it as a print or mobile cover please visit Society6. 

"Koi", Vegan Lovlie 2014

Vegan Lovlie has also recorded the process by which she made "Koi" showing the ease and quality of Colors of Nature's watercolor paints. Check out her video on YouTube.

New Educators Discount

Educators can receive an Educator's Discount of 20% 

Learning to create and appreciate art is more important than ever to the development of the next generation of leaders and innovators.


Art benefits our children by helping them with their:

• motor skills

• language development

• decision making skills

• visual learning

• inventiveness

• cultural awareness

All of which will improve the students' academic performance.

As we move towards a more sustainable and eco-friendly existence within our community our choices become more focused. Colors of Nature offers vegan and eco-friendly watercolor paints and art supplies. 

Find earth pigments that are petroleum free, non-synthetic and safe for the child and adult artist. We offer watercolor paints that are professional quality and free from ingredients that have been tested on animals or have been derived from animals. 

Colors of Nature has partnered with EcoPaper and Hahnemuhle to provide eco-friendly and animal free paper for artists of all ages.

In addition to watercolor paint, pigments, art paper, Colors of Nature offers vegan paint brushes, paint brush soap, vegan encaustic wax pucks, and mullers. Colors of Nature will also be offering oil paints and pastels in the near future.

If you are an educator contact Colors of Nature to receive your discount.

Colors of Nature Affiliate Program

Colors of Nature is an active member of the art community in numerous locations around Canada and the United States.

It has created an affiliate program that supports art communities and educators. The purpose is to support the programs that these various watercolor societies and educators have initiated and participated in. Colors of Nature wants to encourage the growth and interest in these programs because art is an excellent way to show the beauty and underlying challenges society has to face.

The affiliate program allows each member of participating watercolor societies or students of art teachers to receive a discount on their online orders. A portion of each discount is then donated back to that member's organization each month.

If you are interested in how your society or class can benefit from this program please contact us.

Here are a few groups that are currently participating in the affiliate program:

• Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour - CSPWC
• Rhode Island Watercolor Society
• Potomac Valley Watercolor Society
• Maryland Federation of Art
• Society of Watercolor Artists
• Pikes Peak Watercolor Society

ANg Art: Colors of Nature Review

Beauty, imagination, and Colors of Nature professional earth-friendly watercolor paint combine to make an Angel by Angela Westermann.

From using our sample card ANg made this delightful painting and posted her review of our paints on her blog.

I have tried a new art supply Colors of Nature - Professional Quality Earth Friendly Artists' Paints. They have 13 colors and as the name of them imply they are very earthy looking. They are really nice paints, work just like your traditional paints. Very vibrant, great for washes and traditional WC'ing.

I really really like them. The Manager has been very pleasant to deal with providing information as needed.

They have Vegan Art Supplies, I am really wanting to try the brush cleaner.

Above is an angel I created using only a few colors, I think about 5 of them in the line.

Its a great world when small companies serve communities with really great supplies!

Art on my friends,

ANg

Hahnemühle Fine Art Bamboo Watercolor Paper

Colors of Nature is now the Canadian provider of Hahnemühle's FineArt Paper.

Nature enthusiasts and environmentally conscious artists are devoted users of the Hahnemühle bamboo-fibre papers. This paper is both vegan and cruelty-free. Made from bamboo this sustainable resource is a multi-year reed that produces more oxygen than a broadleaf tree. 

Hahnemühle's Certificate of Conformity stipulates that all Hahnemühle FineArt paper and canvas do not contain raw materials from:

• Aminal Sources
• Gene-modified sources

Furthermore they do not contain the following substances:

• Lead
• Hexavalent Chromium
• Mercury
• Cadmium
• PBB (Polybrominated Biphenyls)
• PBDE (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers)

Dated: June 18, 2014

If we do not have the Hahnemühle's FineArt Paper that you are looking for contact us and we will get it for you. 

Colors of Nature Canada's Distributor of Tree-free Paper

Colors of Nature would like to thank Ecopaper for choosing us to be their Canadian distributor of natural eco friendly tree-free paper.

Colors of Nature now provides a list of art paper products and card stock for those interested in a natural safe and eco-friendly alternative to conventional paper.

The list of products include:

• Tree - Free Natural Organic Paper, An Artist's dream pad!  Lemon Paper™  with natural Mango fibers give every sheet some character.

•  Tree - Free Natural Organic Paper, An Artist's dream pad! The Banana fibers give every sheet some character. Feel nature as you create. 
  
  100% Vegan and Cruelty-free.

• The new Hemp Sketchbook is the state-of-the-art in blank books. The smaller 7x7 size features our exclusive Hemp Heritage rag content paper. Bound with an extra-heavy embossed cover and black wire, these are the books every artist will want to have close at hand.
  
  This sketchbook also come in 8.5" x 11".

• Organic banana papers, made from combining tree free agricultural bio-products coupled with 100% post consumer content to create a beautiful paper that is laser and inkjet printer compatible.
  
  Both the agricultural by-product of the plantations and the post consumer paper create serious solid waste problems worldwide--help combat both with these tree-free papers. Post consumer (PCW) - paper that has been used by consumers and collected through various recycling programs. It is also Process Chlorine Free (PCF) - paper has no bleached, chlorine or chlorine derivatives.
  
  Environmentally preferable — contains 10% Banana Fiber 100% post consumer recycled content. Trouble-free printing in your copier or in your inkjet or laser printer. Acid-free banana paper won't yellow or disintegrate over time.
  
  100% Vegan and Cruelty-free.

Machalarts Watercolor Studio Review

Colors of Nature met Rhode Island Watercolor Society member Hollis Machala on May 23, 2014 when they presented their products to the society and discussed the advantages of using a professional quality earth-friendly watercolor paint.

Hollis Machala won Third Place in the Rhode Island Watercolor Society's juried art competition called, "Reflections".

She is a wonderful artist and we would like to thank her for her review and encourage everyone to visit her site to read the full review.

After working with paint tubes most of my life I found it refreshing to see a jar and know I could possibly use all the paint in the container eventually.

One thing I noticed as I started to paint is that the paints may dry faster than other brands and I recommend getting a palette with a cover to keep the pigment wet, soft, and happy!

Chromium Green is needed because without it a green mix of ochre/sienna and ultramarine is very dull. But the mix is a great natural green and can be darkened with Dark Burnt Umber or the Burnt Sienna nicely

I was sublimely happy with the vibrant cool gray mix I was able to get from the Ultramarine Blue and the Dark Burnt Umber. (See Palette Sample on Hot Press Paper above)

I eagerly await a vibrant red and yellow pigment* addition which could potentially broaden the subject range for professional artists.

All in all I think this is a great product for beginners and a great challenge for professionals due to the limited palette. Below is a painting of mine done completely with the Colors of Nature paints on 140lb. Cold Press paper. I hope you enjoy the spring bloom while it lasts!

*Colors of Nature has added a natural Black Iron Oxide and is in the process of sourcing natural and non-synthetic pigments for a bright yellow, red, teal, pink and violet. Please visit our site often to see the latest additions to our product line or email us at sales@colorsofnature.com to be added to our mailing list.

GuruKitty Studios Review

Gurukitty Studios back on November 26, 2013 wrote a review of Colors of Nature's watercolor paints.

This review was unsolicited and came as a surprise to us when it was brought to our attention last month. We would like to thank Gurukitty Studios for the time they took to test our paints and their understanding of what Colors of Nature is trying to do for artists and the environment.

Here are a few snippets of their review with some of the product comparison paintings that they did. To read the full review please click here.

Now, the idea of natural paints isn’t all that revolutionary, because watercolours are fairly natural, they are Gum arabic (from trees) for a binder and pigments which are often natural but you can get synthetics as well. The unnatural part of some paint brands is that they put other chemicals into the binder to help the gum arabic and to maintain a fairly consistent viscosity from colour to colour, among other things.

Colors of Nature has gone beyond just being natural and is making sure that every part of their paints production is not damaging to the environment and has any toxins removed or avoided..

Lets get down to the nitty gritty, I will say that I found these paints to be quite lovely to work with, very strongly pigmented, and behaved pretty much how watercolours should behave. They come in cute little pots (as seen in the first image), with the colour name right on the top of the lids...

The colour I use for skintones in my comics is Burnt Sienna, usually mixed with a little of something else (a tiny tinydot of sepia or something) to take down that glow look that pigment usually has (in most brands) and I mix violets and greens for shadows, depending on light source colour, I keep it simple. For the sake of testing I decided to just use Burnt Sienna in it’s unaltered state to compare side by side as a skin tone base.

Here is a chart with a few of the base colours compared with Winsor and Newton side by side, as you can see many of the colours are quite different, especially the last one, Raw Sienna.

So overall, I think this product, even though it’s new and needs refinement, is an amazing product. The consistency is nice, mix-ability is amazing.  It’s a small company with a good set of values and is worth supporting.

The only things I would change are the packaging method (tubes or squeeze bottles instead of wide mouth pots) and the redundant colours in the line*.

*Colors of Nature will be coming out with watercolor paints in tubes by September 2014.

Colors of Nature has added a natural Black Iron Oxide and is in the process of sourcing natural and non-synthetic pigments for a bright yellow, red, teal, pink and violet. Please visit our site often to see the latest additions to our product line or email us at sales@colorsofnature.com to be added to our mailing list.

Rhode Island Watercolor Society

Rhode Island Watercolor Society







On May 17, 2014 Colors of Nature travelled east to visit the Rhode Island Watercolor Society in Slater Memorial Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  They are situated in a historic building overlooking a beautiful pond in a multi-purpose park.












While we were there, we took advantage of a rare opportunity to ride on the Looff Carousel that was built in 1894.  Rides were $0.25 each, so we just had to take a spin.









We presented a half hour seminar on natural watercolor paints to their members.  The asked us questions, like:

• What does non-toxic mean in paint?
• Can paint be non-toxic but not earth-friendly?
• What are the plant ingredients you use?
• Are your pigments opaque or transparent?
• Why are pigments like cadmium problematic?
• Is your paint lightfast?

Members were then invited to try out our watercolors. We also established an affiliate program with their society. Their members get a discount whenever they purchase from our online store and a percentage is donated back to their watercolor society.




Colors of Nature provided a Baker's Dozen as one of their door prizes to support the work they are doing. The winner of the door prize was artist and Rhode Island Watercolor Society Member L. Estrella. Congratulations! We can't wait to see what you do with your prize.

Canadian Society for Professional Watercolorists

Canadian Society for Professional Watercolorists


On June 23rd, 2014 Colors of Nature attended one evening of a week-long retreat for members of this prestigious national watercolor society.  Here we found the top professional watercolor artists in Canada.  Each member had an impressive background in watercolors and we were honored to present a half-hour seminar on our unique watercolor paints.


Here, we received valuable feedback about our paints and our products.

We learned that:

• The ecological benefits of our paint were appealing, especially to artists who had to scale back on their exposure to harmful agents that can compromise their health.
• Our paint handled well, and had a nice, creamy consistency to it.
• The color range was perfect for plein air and landscapes.
• While some liked the pots (so they can use up all the paint) many plein air painters preferred tubes so they can use them outdoors.
• Our Hahnemulle bamboo paper sold out very quickly. We were told to bring more of it next time!
• One artist who owned an art supply shop was happy to find that we supply small and large quanties of loose pigments, and she found our prices to be very affordable. 

We found these esteemed artists very friendly, open-minded and receptive to new concepts in earth-friendly art supplies.  One artist was playing with our paints on bamboo paper and produced this beautiful, spontaneous piece:

We also set up an affiliate program with CSPW, where their members receive a 20% discount and a percentage of each sale by their members is returned to them as a donation. We really enjoyed meeting all the members and had a wonderful evening in Orillia, Ontario!

On March 21, 2014 Colors of Nature received this piece of artwork from a very talented and creative artist by the name of Tamara Philips. She requested a sample card and from it was able to make this painting.

She also had a few comments about the watercolor paints Colors of Nature offers.

Earth Colour Shell

I really enjoyed the lightness of the paints, the organic way in which they would disperse into water, and the ease in which they moved across the page. I also appreciated that I could still get a very dark colour for outlining my subject.
On a side note: The part that I struggled with the most is simply using ultramarine as the blue. There is nothing wrong with the paints, I'm just accustom to using phthalocyanine blues along with earth tones, since once mixed with earth tones, the shades are amazing! I find that ultramarine blue creates grey shades and really washes out the work when mixed with the earth tones. Perhaps it would be a matter of redefining the way I paint. I noticed the paintings in your gallery with really high contrast between the bold ultramarine, and other colours, worked the best (ie when the ultramarine was pure and bold, and not mixed with other colours).
Phthalocyanine isn't necessarily a chemical I want to keep in my practice, as I'm not sure it's the healthiest thing to have around, so I am looking for alternatives. I have also just tried some Maya blue earth pigments which gave some of that blue-green that I love so much, but I have yet to find my favourite "from the earth" blue.
So, do let me know if you have any suggestions for a "greenier" blue that doesn't go grey when mixed with the other earth colours.
Cheers! and thanks for making great paints!
- Tamara -

We encourage you to view Tamara's sites and all the other talented artists that have submitted artwork to Colors of Nature to show your support for vegan and cruelty free art supplies and see that a natural synthetic free artist paint doesn't mean compromising your standards for professional grade paints.

Recently, Colors of Nature had their paint reviewed by a popular art blogger by the name of Robyn Sinclair. Colors of Nature approached Robyn in order to receive this review but had no input other than delivering the paint to her location in Italy.

"PIENZA"

Robyn Sinclair 2014 Colors of Nature paint

on watercolor paper

Her review is as follows. To read more of what Robyn has to offer please visit her site at: Have Dog, Will Travel.

"I've just had the pleasure of reviewing an intriguing new range of watercolours.  Intriguing because they are vegan - no animal products.

The palette is quite unusual in that it's very organic ... Colors of Nature as they are labeled by the Canadian manufacturer.  There are lots of Siennas and umbers.  The brightest pigment is the Ultramarine and there is a good Chromium Green.  This is a palette that is a natural for landscapes and probably portraits as the pigments dilute down to very soft washes.  Good granulation and a beautiful range of greys is achievable.  I'm missing a clear bright red.  The Real Red is very much an Indian Red.  This palette is certainly tailor made for Tuscan landscapes and architecture.

The paints come in little pots and are very reasonably priced.  Good luck to Colors of Nature."

"PATONGA TRAWLER"

Robyn Sinclair 2014 Colors of Nature paint

on watercolor paper