Single-pigment Holbein watercolors

49 of the 108 colors in Holbein Artists' Watercolor are made from a single pigment. Here they are by color, with the Colour Index code of each.

Why painters look for single-pigment paints

When you mix two single-pigment paints, only two pigments end up on the paper. Two convenience mixtures can put five or six together, and many painters find that makes mixes duller and harder to repeat.

The pigment code also lets you match paints across brands: PB29 is ultramarine blue whoever makes it, although each maker grinds and binds it differently, so the handling is not identical.

A mixture is not a worse paint. It saves mixing time, and some colors are hard to reach any other way.

Open this list in the filter to sort it, narrow it further or compare colors.

Red 10

Yellow 8

Green 4

Blue 10

Violet 4

Brown 6

Black 3

White 2

Metallic 2

More lists

Granulating · Most lightfast ★★★★ · Lower lightfastness · Non-staining · Transparent · Cadmium and cobalt

Ratings and pigments are from Holbein's catalog. Prices are Japan list prices excluding tax; USD figures are rough conversions. On-screen colors are approximate.