Honey-based watercolors, handmade by Keiko on the Big island of Hawai’i
Available at alohawatercolors.com.
Shop update January or February 2025. For more infos please sign up for my newsletter.
If you’re interested in making your own watercolors, check out my resources page here!
- Aloha watercolors are made by hand on the Big island of Hawai’i, using only the finest pigments and high quality Organic Hawaiian honey for extra smoothness.
- I’m a one-wahine-business and I love what I do! However, it takes time & patience to produce watercolors.
- Every batch is mixed and mulled meticulously.
- It takes several weeks to finish with drying and layering every single pan.
- Some paints need 4 or 5 layers with drying times of up to one week in between each layer.
- Due to the 90% humidity here in the Hawaiian jungle I can’t simply air dry the paints but have to use a food dehydrator and air tight Tupperware boxes to dry the paints. This complicates the process but ensures that the paints make it to you in their best shape possible.
- If you’d like to know more about your favorite paint maker wahine ;-)) check out my Skillshare interview, where I share a bit about my life and about why and how I started my watercolor paint making biz.
Allergens warning: My handmade binder contains essential clove oil. The christmas paints cinnamon, candy cane and caramel contain additional oils (cinnamon, peppermint) and perfume oil (caramel).
If you are allergic to clove oil I highly recommend checking out Lindsey’s paints (artistic isle watercolors). Her binder does not contain any essential oils. My binder also contains Hawaiian honey. If you’re looking for vegan paints, check out Stacey’s paints (stakiwicolours). They are fabulous! Stacey also has a ton of tips on how to make watercolor paints yourself, resources and tutorials on her website. I interviewed Stacey in 2021 and she shared helpful tips on how to start your small watercolor making biz. Click here to watch the interview on Youtube.
Kk back to Aloha watercolors. Here’s an overview of over 160 colors I’ve created since 2016. PLEASE NOTE that some are discontinued.
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- Single pigment versus pigment mix: Many of my paints are single pigments, which means that I use only one pigment to mix the paint. Examples: Kalani (ultramarine blue), Pineapple (lemon yellow), Orchid (quinacridone pink).
- However, I have a few 2 or more pigment mixes which I call “aloha mix“. Moku, for example, consists out of 5 different pigments and micas, Kilauea out of 8.
- Almost all of my paints are extremely lightfast. On the scale of 1-8 (of which 8 is the most permanent), most are 7 or 8. It means that your paintings will not fade when they’re exposed to the light. Please note that the NEONS have poor lightfastness (approx. 4). If you’d like to make a painting more durable in UV lighting, use a specific UV coating spray.
- I use non-toxic pigments and ingredients. Even the pigments that were formerly known to be extremely toxic (such as manganese blue) are produced with non-toxic materials nowadays.
- All matte pigments are sourced or synthetically produced in the US, Germany, Italy and France. I have a couple of paints where I foraged the pigments myself here on the Big island of Hawai’i. I’m planning to publish a set with Big islands paints in 2022.
- A lot of my shimmer pigments are produced in Germany under excellent working conditions and strict criteria for environmental protection (Dei art, Kremer). I have family in Germany and travel there once or twice a year. Every time I come home to Hawai’i with a suitcase full of pigments 😉
- The binder is hand mixed by me and contains gum arabic, Organic Hawaiian honey from the Big Island, glycerine, essential organic clove oil, distilled water.
- My packaging is as environmentally conscious as possible. The shrink wraps for the paints are made of corn starch and 100% biodegradable. The turquoise bubble mailers are 100% biodegradable (Tishwish).
Here are the sets I’ve created so far:
MELE MANU (Hawaiian birds), regular and mini travel edition. Colors: Palila, Elepaio, Akepa, Iiwi, Mele manu, Sanctuary, Alala, Omao, Akohekohe (colorshift). Published August 2024
NAHELE set (forest), granulating set 2. Colors are: Kukui nut, Awikiwiki, Nahele, Moon forest, Ukiuki, Lehua makanoe. Published in 2023.
AOMOE set (“sleepy cloud”), granulating set 1. Colors are Hekili, Kahakai, Pacific, Aomoe, Vivianite, Twilight. Published in 2023.
‘ILIAHI set (“Hawaiian sandalwood”), set of 6 naturally scented shimmer paints. Colors are Ylang Ylang, Lemongrass, Jasmine, Pink Grapefruit, Iliahi, Maui lav(ender), all with the according scent. Published in 2023.
LIKO LEHUA set, inspired by Native Hawaiian plants. Colors are Kookoolau, Liko Lehua, Kupukupu, Palapalai,
Kanawao. Published in 2023.
COFFEE FARM set, including small bag of our family farm’s Kona coffee. Colors: Harvest, coffee leaf, ua loku, magic bean, coffee cherry. Published in 2022.
NIGHTDIVE SET: Night dive (Prussian blue PB27, dark cobalt green PG19 and Phtalo green PG7), Manta Ray (warm grey), Big Kahuna (caput mortuum violet mix PB29, PR101), Blue Canoe (cobalt blue, PB28), Opera Pink, Silver lining (chrome silver). Published in 2022.
RED ROAD set: Red cinder (Cadmium red deep), Mayan blue deep, Sweet blue (pastel blue), Rocky road (clay base with supershimmer), Aubergine (granulating, separating purple). Published in 2022.
POKE BOWL set. Colors: Pale blue, Salmon, Ahi, Poi, Malachite, Brown rice. Published 2022
NAUPAKA set. Colors: Naupaka, Ulu, Alani, Awapuhi, Periwinkle, Pakalana, Green earth, Lavarit, Mahina
Published 2022
ALOHAWEEN set: 2 glow in the dark (blue glow and purple glow), 2 colorshift (Potion), 1 shimmer (Poni). Published in 2021.
GODDESS vol. 3 set: 5 colorshifts (Mana, Papa, Kapo, Nu’akea, Kumulipo).
BIRD OF PARADISE set, 4 shimmers: Bird of paradise (orange shimmer with pink glitter), ‘Ilima (yellow shimmer with pink glitter), Blue ginger (blue shimmer with teal and purple glitter), ‘Ohelo (colorshift from orange over red to pink and purple).
PUALANI set (4 shimmers, 1 matte): Pualani (pink shimmer with subtle colorshift), Jacaranda (manganese purple plus silver shimmer), Nightshade (shimmer colorshift), Pukiawe (carmine red plus glitter), Maluhia (PG 26).
GODDESS vol. 2: set of 5 colorshifts: Hi’iaka, Lea, Lilinoe, Haumea, Poli’ahu.
WHALE SONG set: Octopus (colorshift shimmer), Kohola (synthetic indigo VAT Blue 1), Makai (turquoise shimmer), Honu (teal shimmer), Whale song (phtalo blue plus subtle shimmer).
GODDESS volume 1: Set of 5 colorshifts. Laka (pink red to green), Namaka (pink to blue and purple), Hina (orange to red), Pele (orange to pink), Waka (green to teal and gold).
HAWAIIAN FRUIT BOWL set: Pineapple (lemon yellow, matte), Papaya (disazo indian yellow, matte), Orange tree (pyrrolo orange, matte, PO-73), Guava (rose madder, matte, PR-83), Dragonfruit (magenta with gold shimmer). Lightfast: 8
VANILLA MOON set: Vanilla (Buff titanium matte, PW 6:1.77891), King Protea (very light madder rose, historic pigment, matte), Kaona (Dioxazine violet, matte PV23), Moonbeam (colorshift red pink white purple, shimmer).
STORMFLOWERS set: Orchid (chinacridone pink, PV42), Storm (Payne’s gray, Pbk 11, Pb27:1, PB 27, PB 8), Lilikoi (purple, PV42, PB 29, PV 16). Lightfast: 8. All matte. Published in 2018.
SUPERNOVA set, all metallics: Hula princess (light gold), Unicorn (duochrome white and purple), Venus (pink red, aloha mix), Callisto (brown gold, aloha mix), Neptune (turquoise), Green flash (apple green), Mars (red orange, aloha mix), Rain cloud (blue gray, aloha mix). All shimmer, Unicorn: intereference shimmer. Published in 2019.
RAINBOW set, all metallics: Banana (yellow, aloha mix), Opah (orange, aloha mix)), Kilauea (red aloha mix), ´Akala (pink, aloha mix), Blue Hawaii (blue, aloha mix), Aloha (turquoise), Waipio (green, aloha mix), Mauna Loa (purple and blue, aloha mix).s All shimmer. Mauna Loa: duochrome. Published in 2019.
NEON ISLANDS set: Lanai (neon orange), Molokai (neon green), Hawaii (neon red), Kauai (neon purple), Oahu (neon yellow), Maui (neon pink). All matte. Published in 2018.
MAGIC PEARL Set: Magic Pearl (intereference metallic white and blue), Moana (Prussian blue, PB 27:1, matte), Mauna Kea (red orange shimmer), Hula Queen (gold shimmer), High Surf (light blue shimmer), Shark (Gray ochre: Carbonates of calcium, manganese, iron, Fe2O3+SiO2+Al2O3+CaO+MgO, matte). All Lightfast: 8 (best).Published in 2018.
CARAMEL CANDY set: scented paints! Caramel (light yellow ochre PY 43.77492 with gold mica shimmer, caramel scented, lightfast 100), Candy Cane (intereference shimmer, peppermint scented), Cinnamon (duochrome. brown with green shimmer, cinnamon scented).
Allergens warning: My handmade binder contains essential clove oil. The christmas paints cinnamon, candy cane and caramel contain additional oils (cinnamon, peppermint) and perfume oil (caramel).
Will be back due to popular demand. Please note that the original Beach is now replaced with a very similar pigment, and now called Beach 2.
MERMAID TALES set: Mermaid (interference shimmer, white with gold, aloha mix), Lagoon (mangenese blue hue PB 15, matte), Seahorse (turquoise shimmer), Sunset (duochrome peach with shimmer gold, aloha mix), Beach (yellow ocher, Natural loam, limonite CI Y43, matte ), Sea Grass (non-toxic version of Schweinfurt/Paris green, matte). Lightfast: 8, except for Mermaid and Sunset, lightfast: 6. Published in 2018.
D I S C O N T I N U E D sets:
DISCONTINUED
Mokulani:
- Moku (phtalo green and gold shimmer)
- Lokelani (ultramarine rose PV-15, and silver glitter)
DISCONTINUED
Monstera love set: Jungle (phtalo green, PG7), Golden cactus (green with metallic gold, aloha mix), Koa wood (Ercolano red), Mango (medium cadmium yellow, PY 35), Heliconia (medium crimson red, PR 112/12370-15630), Ohia (French vermillion orange, PR4 PY1), Acai bowl (French Lacquer red, PR12/12385), Monstera (Natural base G17). Lightfast: 8, except for Golden cactus, lightfast: 6. All matte except for Golden cactus (duochrome). Published in 2018
DISCONTINUED
Hawaiian fruit superbowl: Pineapple (yellow matte), Papaya (disazo indian yellow, matte), Orange tree (pyrrolo orange, matte), Guava (rose madder, matte), Dragonfruit (magenta with gold shimmer), Avocado (pastel green, matte), Lilikoi (purple matte), Acai bowl (French Lacquer red, matte PR12/12385, pigment no longer available), Starfruit (yellow shimmer), Tangerine (orange shimmer). Lightfast: 8, except for Tangerine & Starfruit, lightfast: 6-7
Discontinued. The pigment for Acai bowl unfortunately is no longer available.
DISCONTINUED
Aloha liquids, Kona series (6 bottles à 10ml): (left to right)Kona sunrise, Kona orange, Kona Kandy, Kona Kai, Kona Magic, Kona Tiki. They are dye based but also contain lots of glitter. Shake the bottle well before use and open very carefully. Available as singles (Kona Tiki, Magic, Kai). Discontinued as a full set due to reported problems with Kona Orange and Kona Kandy. Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
Trick or Treat set: Candy (pink shimmer, aloha mix), Witch hat (purple gray shimmer, aloha mix), Pumpkin (orange shimmer, aloha mix), Ghost (green glow-in-the-dark). Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
Dark magic set: Dark magic (duochrome purple and black shimmer, aloha mix), Blue dragon (blue shimmer), Wednesday Addams (pink shimmer with coarse black glitter, aloha mix), Black cat (black shimmer), Blue ghost (blue glow-in-the-dark). Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
Autumn leaves set: Starfruit (yellow shimmer), Tangerine (orange shimmer).Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
Hula Christmas set: Hula princess special edition (gold shimmer), Poinsettia (alizarin crimson red: PR 112.12370, matte), Snowflake (silver shimmer), Hawaiian Holly (green shimmer, aloha mix). Lightfast: 8 (best). Also available as regular edition (with Hula princess in a regular half pan)Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
Aloha Pastels set: Hibiscus (ultramarine rose, PR259), Avocado (green, PBr7 & PY53), Monk seal (slate gray, Carbonates of calcium, manganese, iron: Fe2O3+SiO2+Al2O3+CaO+MgO), Ice Queen (light turquoise, G7(74260) & PW6), Poi (pastel purple, PV15 & PW6), Plumeria (light lemon yellow, PY53). All lightfast: 8. All matte. Published 2018. Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
But first coffee: Dark roast (caput mortuum matte, PR101) and Kona Jazz (bronze gold shimmer), Lightfast: 8.Discontinued
DISCONTINUED
Aloha Love set: Pink Pearl (chinacridone rose PV 19 with pearl glimmer), Hula Goddess (rose gold shimmer), Deep sea (indanthrone blue, PB 60, matte). Discontinued
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Snowblue:
– Snowflake (silver shimmer), Blue dragon (blue shimmer). Discontinued.
DISCONTINUED
Lava island set: Jacaranda (manganese purple with a hint of shimmer), Lava (black, aloha mix), Aolani (Chinese vermillion), Orchid (chinacridone pink). Lightfast: 8. Published 2018.
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DISCONTINUED
Aloha liquids, Puna series (5 bottles à 10ml): (bottom to top): Puna berry, Puna thunder, Puna nights, Puna forest, Puna cocoa. They are dye based but also contain lots of glitter. Shake the bottle well before use and open very carefully. Discontinued.
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Aloha liquids, Maui series (3 bottles à 10ml, left tor right): Maui Coral, Maui purple, Maui limu. Limu means seaweed in Hawaiian. They are dye based but also contain lots of glitter. Shake the bottle well before use and open very carefully. Discontinued.
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Beach vibes set: Pink Ginger (pink, aloha mix), Summer Sky (azure blue, PB15:4/PG7), Jade vine (phtalo turquoise PB 15:3, PG 7), Beach (yellow ochre, Natural loam, limonite CI Y43). Lightfast: 8. All matte. Published 2019. Discontinued: The pigment for Beach is not available anymore.
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DISCONTINUED
Princess Moana set: Hula princess (shimmer gold), Moana (Prussian blue, PB 27:1, matte), Aolani (rouge vermillion -de chine, PR3, matte). Lightfast: 8. discontinued.
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Aloha Basics set, discontinued.
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Matcha Magic:
-Moku (phtalo green and gold shimmer)
–Magic Jungle (interference white to green shimmer)
–Sea grape (victoria green, matte, PG51)
–Eucalyptus (Nicosia green earth, matte, PG23)
–Matcha (moss green, matte)
Lightfast: 8, except for Magic Jungle (unknown)
Discontinued