Founded 25 years ago by two fine arts graduates, M. Graham & Co is based in Oregon, USA and focuses on producing hand-crafted, small batch watercolors with a northwest blackberry honey and gum arabic binder. According to their web site, honey was selected for its ability to create “stronger, truer color” and “even, fluid washes.” They also emphasize their environmental commitment, which includes solvent free paint, reducing their carbon footprint, and reducing, reusing, and recycling. M. Graham’s color chart lists 70 colors, 50 of which are made with single pigments. Watercolors are sold in individual 15 ml tubes and curated sets and can be purchased from many local art stores in the US, at Amazon, Blick, and Jackson’s worldwide.
Our Hot Takes and Favorite Colors
Lynne
As with a lot of brands, I bought M. Graham because of a recommendation by an artist I was following at the time. Steve Mitchell, Mind of Watercolor, raved about the high pigment load and creaminess due to the honey-based binder. Even at those early stages of my watercolor experience, my quest for a limited palette had begun, and Mitchell had one to share. So I dove in. They are truly lovely paints to work with, rewetting easily, placing a ton of color on the brush. They very easily create a smooth wash. It should be noted that, even in my dry New England winter climate they remain sticky to the touch, and I found they become messy and a bit leaky when traveling to a humid climate. I only use them at home.
My Favorite Colors:
- Azo Green (PY129) is a beautiful version of this color, more green than gold, with the metallic glow I love. It mixes wonderful foliage with Prussian blue.
- Prussian Blue (PB27) is a deep green-leaning blue that makes very natural greens and moody night skies. M. Graham’s seems to have less of a drying shift than others.
- Transparent Red Iron Oxide (PR101) in the M. Graham line leans a touch more brown and has a nice high pigment load. It easily rewets and makes a full spectrum of browns, deep blues and greys with ultramarine.
Colors I Avoid:
- Ultramarine Violet Deep (PV15) is a very weak (and more opaque) version of this typically already weak pigment. I went through so much paint just trying to get it to show up on the page!
- Raw Sienna (PBr7) is a duller and heavier version of this color. I prefer a glow in my earth yellows and this one has none.
Leslie
M. Graham was the cheapest brand available to me when I started filling holes in my first set. I love their intensity and their flow helps to create even washes. I don’t love that some paints have an unpredictable flocculating texture, which is impossible to see on the tiny laminated masstone swatches they give stores. Heavy pigments behave like normal, but you can’t always count on typically smooth pigments to be so.
I live in the upper Midwest, US and have not had a problem with drying. Many paints keep a tacky and malleable surface (especially cobalts) but they aren’t prone to moving. I brought half pans to South Korea during the hot humid rainy season and nothing liquified, though to be fair they didn’t get much use. Viridian and Burnt Sienna even dried with a hard surface.
Favorites:
- Anthraquinone Blue (PB60): I like that this is a deep but strong blue, without purple or gray leanings. This paint has a few quirks; it’s permanently tacky, slightly reflective in masstone, and it has flocculation that’s especially noticeable on cellulose. I’m willing to sacrifice perfect texture for a color I love, but you can see the grainy, pulled texture for yourself in the midtones of the swatch above. Their PB60-based Indigo (PB60/PBk6) is even more textured due to the granulating PBk6.
- Cobalt Teal (PB28): This cobalt teal is especially strong and vibrant, which also makes it more opaque than versions from other brands. It can get bright and flat in masstone, but watered down there’s a granulation that makes soft ethereal mixes. This is my most liquid M.Graham paint and I wouldn’t recommend traveling with it.
- Cobalt Blue (PB28): A great version of cobalt blue- strong, easy to rewet, and velvety instead of gummy. I’ve used most of M. Graham’s cobalts (including their sadly discontinued Cobalt Violet) and like all of them. They’re way less problematic than cobalts from other brands, provided you’re not traveling, with a beautiful soft texture to boot.
Avoids:
- Nickel Quinacridone Gold(PO48/PY150) has a streaky texture in masstone, which made me avoid both Quin Rust (PO48) and Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150). My Quin Rose is beautiful and smooth but I’ve heard that their quinacridones often have an unpleasant flocculating texture. Maroon Perylene has this as well.
- Be aware that some of their exceptionally dark colors – PB60, Diox Violet PV23 – have a satiny, reflective finish that might be characteristic to watercolors with honey. This means they won’t get to a matte near black when used thickly, which makes paintings look washed out in photographs. The PB60 and PB15:0 have a muted red sheen, like blue ballpoint pen.
Hanna
Unlike the others, I have no backstory to my usage of these paints, only curiosity: I saw some cheap sample sets on sale in Asia. Much like the paints themselves, it was a very vibrant curiosity, since this brand seems to be shrouded in myth. So, here is my anecdotal take on the most common myths about M Graham paints:
- Do they attract insects? In my experience, yes: they are the only paint I have tried that drew the attention of flies.
- Are they impossible to travel with, due to never drying? Hmm. I would say they are nerve-wracking to travel with, because they never seem to dry fully for me. However, if anything, they seem less prone to actually pouring out all over the palette than other honey-based paints. Maybe they are just too sticky.
- Do they smell? To me, yes, even my completed paintings smell (similarly to egg white). They also tend to separate a bit in the tube, and require remixing.
- Are they vibrant? Yes, in my hand they are undeniably the most vibrant paints I own, brighter than Qor (and than Michael Harding, which claim to be the brightest). It’s obvious even when I look at my swatches.
As for more general notes: they are the most staining brand I own, and I find that they are very well-behaved while charging, perhaps too much so (they do not disperse in each other or mix very easily). As with most honey paints, it helps to work them up a bit by mixing them with a little water on the palette.
Favourite Colours:
So, I have just said that these are bright paints, but in my faves I am going mostly for texture. Because I am a texture person, not a brightness person.
Cobalt Violet (PV14): The strongest Cobalt Violet I have ever tried, stronger than my other fave, Holbein–but a bit trickier to use, because it is really very sticky. Look at the granulation, though! I have used it mostly to paint flowers and other landscape elements.
Azo Yellow (PY151): This is my favourite basic yellow pigment, and MG make a great, bright version. Mixes very bright greens.
Terra Rosa (PR101): A very lovely member of the Venetian-Red-Like family with a warm glow and subtle texture. Probably my favourite paint of this whole genre?
I also find their Viridian to be the only one that I do not dislike using, because it seems stronger and easier to pick up. I cannot locate it at the moment, though, so no swatch; also, I do not generally like Viridian, preferring PG26 or PG19.
Unfavourites:
Hmm. I do not have any. But I have heard some people complain about the Quins having a weird texture, so that might be something to watch for.
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