Watercolor Powders Demystified! You need to Try these!

Are you looking for beautiful and instant color for your next project? Don’t look any further than watercolor powders. Perhaps you’ve seen these before or have a collection of them somewhere in your creative space. Today is the day to pull them out and use them as I teach you everything you need to know to get started with watercolor powders!

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Which Watercolor Powders to Choose?

There’s so many different brands of watercolour pigment powders out there. Brusho Crystal Colours, Lindy’s Gang Magicals, Pink and Main Water Gems, Nuvo Shimmer Powders, Color Burst Powders and Ken Oliver Color Sparx Powders to name just a few.

But these all have one thing in common, they are all watercolor powders that react to water. Some of these are ink-based colors and others are pigment based. The difference is mostly what they use for binders and their pigment load. Also whether they have mica, and if they are a mix of one color or multiple colors. I don’t own all the ones I mentioned above, but after researching them, I found that they all have very similar properties and will work the same way on your creative projects.

My Favorite Watercolor Powder

My preferred brand of watercolor powder is Brusho Crystal Colors. They are a highly pigmented professional art medium, so I don’t need to use much to get great results. I find that most other brands have less pigmentation and are often more expensive by the gram.

I’ve purchased both Lindy’s Gang Magicals and Nuvo Shimmer Powders because they are popular in the craft industry. Both work well but are less pigmented and are not as easy to use as the Brushos. They are more expensive by gram, but they do come in smaller containers. If you want a variety of colors and are ok spending a bit more, these are a good option.

When it comes to pigment load, colors and price per gram, they are the best deal. If you are looking for some shimmer, you can also purchase Colorcraft Brusho SprinkleIT that comes in metallic colors that can be mixed with any Brusho watercolor powder.

 I’ve been using my Brusho Crystal Colors for about 10 years and still haven’t run out of any of the colors. They are beautifully pigmented and consistent, so if you are looking to collect a set, I would highly suggest Brusho Crystal Colors. That being said, if you own any of the other watercolor powders, please use them! Today I’ll be sharing with you the three types of watercolor powders in my collection: Nuvo Shimmer Powders, Lindy’s Magicals and Brusho Crystal Colors.

Adding Watercolor Powders to Your Paper

The easiest way to use watercolour powders is to sprinkle them onto the surface of your paper and spray with a water mister. Then watch the magic happen as the colors react to the water and spread and mingle!

I generally use watercolor paper as this paper absorbs the water with less buckling and allows for the best blending of colors. These will also work on regular cardstock. It just gives you a different effect.

The Magic of Watercolor Powders

Depending on how much water you use will affect the color variation that you get with your powders. Each of these powders have a combination of colors in the powder. When you sprinkle them on a surface and spritz with water, you can see the distinct colors. Adding more water the watercolor powders will blend to create one color.

When to Add Water to Watercolor Powders

When I use my watercolor powders, I tend to sprinkle on a bit of color, then add water and see what blend I get. Then I’ll sprinkle a bit more color, then add more water. I love how the watercolor crystals will react to the water that is already on the page, giving you a unique blend.

Troubleshooting Tips

You may find as you mist the watercolor crystals they may start to move or blow off your page. I tend to spray at first at least 6-8 inches away from the paper, this way the light mist will help the watercolor powder blend into the paper instead of moving around.

The other option is to spritz the paper with water lightly then add your watercolor powders. But I find the key is to manage the water so that you don’t get much pooling.

Watercolor Paper vs. Cardstock

Here are 2 pieces of paper that I used with the watercolor powders. You can see the difference in blending between the watercolor paper vs. the cardstock. As the watercolor paper is meant to be used with wet mediums, you’ll get much nicer blends using the watercolor powders.

But if you’re looking for a spotted appearance without much blending, the cardstock does this well.

Adding Watercolor Powder to Black Paper

What’s unique about watercolor powders is that they can also work on black paper as well as white paper. I’m using hot press black watercolor paper from Legion for this example. The key is picking the right colors.

You want to stick to lighter colors and colors that can be layered over white pigment powders, for this example, I’m using Brushos. Using the white and grey pigment powders with a bit of the blue and purple, I’ve created a unique and beautiful galaxy background. Whether you’re working in an art journal, on a card or just creating a unique watercolor, this is a great way to create a stunning sky. If you’d like to create more shimmer to your piece, try adding in some silver Brusho SprinkleIt powders.

I also tried this same technique with the Northern Lights Lindy’s Gang Magicals, it gives a similar look with a lot of shimmer. I just had to use more of them to get the same effect as I did with the brushos. 

Project Samples

Here’s a few projects that I’ve made with the watercolor powders. This set of ATC cards started with a base of watercolor pigments before adding in stamping and other elements to the cards.

This art journal page was made with watercolor powders with stencils and acrylic mediums added on top.

Want to Go Deeper?

If you’re interested in learning some new and unique ways to use these watercolor pigment powders, make sure to visit again next week. I’ll be sharing how to use these watercolor powders with stencils and acrylic mediums. Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter to be the first to see my new articles!

Project Supply List