When I first started my business and blog, many creative entrepreneurs supported me along the way.  They showed me the ropes, invited me into their community, and introduced me to their audience and customer base.  I love that I can now return the favor to other creative entrepreneurs, from small start-ups to established, thriving companies, you may have never heard of.  This Italian company, which makes handmade watercolor paints, fits into the latter category.  They already have a devoted following, but you probably haven’t seen them in the aisle of your local craft store.  For that reason, I’d like to introduce you to A. Gallo.  (They are Italian-made, so it’s fitting I’m introducing them while in Tuscany!)

A. Gallo handmade watercolors are developed and made by artists for artists, and they are passionate about their craft.  Their watercolors are made “according to a traditional recipe of raw pigments, gum arabic, local honey, and rosemary essential oil.”  The ingredients are mulled together by hand on a glass slab to make deliciously creamy oil paints.  As someone who has experimented with creating my own watercolors, I know this is a very technical and labor-intensive process, not only to mix each batch and hand-pour the paints into pans, but also to achieve the perfect consistency.

While they look to history and tradition when creating their watercolors, their paints are made without cobalt, lead, cadmium, and mercury.

I ordered two sets from A. Gallo to test out.  Both of the sets come in a high-quality metal folding palette, a travel brush, and a hand-painted color card.  The first one is their Natural II Palette, made from earth, mineral, and plant-based pigments.  This palette is soft, warm, and has some gorgeous shades of earthy oranges and reds.  Being a blue/gree lover, the Copper Green is a favorite.  It’s that perfect shade of copper verdigris.

The second is their Signature I palette, which offers a nice balance of highly pigmented colors, allowing for a variety of subjects to be painted.  This is the palette I will use most often due to its saturated colors.  When the swatches are viewed side by side, you can appreciate the softness of the natural palette (bottom) and the brightness of the signature palette (top).  I like using muted pigments straight and saturated pigments for mixing.

I’m even likely to pick my favorite pans from each set and combine them to suit my painting style.

A. Gallo offers their watercolors in individual tubes and pans, but also in small and large sets.  Beyond watercolors, they also sell brushes, empty pans for customization, drawing stones, ceramic palettes, and more.  You can find everything in their online shop HERE or in brick-and-mortar fine art stores around the world HERE.  You can also follow A Gallo on Instagram HERE.