A. Gallo Hand Made Watercolours

A. Gallo watercolours come from Assisi, Italy. This is a honey-based range, created to be highly lightfast and free of mercury, lead, arsenic, cobalt and cadmium. I originally tried the full range in September 2021. As of 2022, these hand-made colours are available in individual half pans in 86 colours, or a range of interesting sets. 

The Signature set from 2021 is shown below. There are also various collections and some lovely wooden palettes as part of a limited edition range. This is a range created with passion. A new brick and mortar shop has opened in Assisi for those travelling. They are also available from Jacksonsart (affiliate link) who ship world-wide.

Signature set of 24, 2021

Dot card from September 2021

The pans were wrapped in watercolour paper with the colour sample brushed over it and the presentation is gorgeous. The website was very clear and the printouts in the colour chart were so well done that I almost felt I didn't need to add the swatches here. There were some lovely primary colours and interesting purple mixes. Interestingly, about half the range was made up of realistic greens and earth colours. I updated these swatches to include the new colours added, and removed those that have been discontinued.

Update August 2024: the range has grown to 110 colours, with a couple discontinued and a couple of extra sample colours as well. I'll gradually update this blog post, including the new colours where I have them and the swatches with the details for those I don't have. Many thanks to Anish for the extra colours 🙂

A.Gallo watercolours: Buff Titanium, Titanium Yellow Hue (new 2024 not shown), Lemon Yellow PY3 (not shown), 

Lemon Yellow Permanent, Azo Yellow gold, Royal Yellow

Oranges and orange-reds are difficult to capture accurately, but these oranges are very close.

A.Gallo watercolours: Indian yellow, Arancione, Hokkaido Orange, Pyrrole Orange (new 2024, not shown), 

Vermilion Red, Cinabro Hue (new 2024)

Permanent Carmine was one of the most lovely to paint out - a beautiful example of this really useful primary red.

A.Gallo watercolours:  Medici Red, Scarlet Red, Ruby Red, Alizarin Crimson Hue, Permanent Carmine,

Quinacridone Magenta (previously Opera. Note - this is now made with PR202. It was originally PR122).

Not many companies include genuine Rose Madder. This is an earthy coral-pink version. Dragon's Blood looks a little like Perylene Maroon but with loads of granulation. It was quite difficult to activate from the half pan.

A.Gallo watercolours: Ultramarine Pink, Pietra Rosa, Potter's Pink, Rose Madder, Dragon's Blood, Lilac (new 2024)

It's nice to see a good range of single pigment purples, along with the gorgeous granulating Han Purple added in 2024. I generally mix purples with a rose and a blue, but for special effects, gorgeous granulation or gentle pigment triads or studies these purples can be a real treat.

A.Gallo watercolours: Quinacridone Violet, Mineral Violet, Tyrian Purple, Han Purple (new 2024), 

Ultramarine Violet, Dioxazine Violet.

As this range contains no cobalts of cadmiums, there isn't an option of a single pigment cerulean, but there are two cerulean hues. 'Transparent Cerulean' made with PB15:3 is basically Phthalo Blue Green Shade, though perhaps a less staining version? 

A.Gallo watercolours: Notturno, Zirconium Blue, Azurite Blue (new 2024)
Cerulean Hue (not shown), Translucent Cerulean, Azzurro.

It is wonderful to see YInMn Blue and Lapis Lazuli in this range. YInMn Blue is the newest pigment to have been discovered - in 2009 - and Lapis is often a very washed-out colour - a far cry from its original form. It was once the price of gold until PB29 was available.

A.Gallo watercolours: Phthalo Blue Red Shade (new 2024), YInMn Blue, Lapis Lazuli, Ultramarine Blue (not shown), Ultramarine Blue Dark, Periwinkle, 

Most of these are mixes but they are pretty colours.

A.Gallo watercolours: Midnight Blue, Indanthrone Blue, Copper Blue, Teal Blue, Aquamarine, Harbor Blue

I enjoy using the lovely green earth pigments in stone and pebble studies.

A.Gallo watercolours: Dar Forest (not shown), Perylene Green, Forest Green, Green Earth Cool, 

Deep Sea Green, Ultramarine Turquoise (not shown)

A.Gallo watercolours: Viridian Hue, Malachite Hue (new 2024), Spring Green (not shown), Sap Green, 

Phthalo Green Light (not shown), Fig Green.

A.Gallo watercolours: Victoria Green, Chromium Oxide, Green Earth Warm, 
Olive Green Deep, Indigo Green (new 2024), Verdaccio

The notation 'N' before a pigment number means Natural, so NG2 is Natural Green 2 - in this case Buckthorn Berry. Pigments from plants don't tend to be lightfast but they are lovely. NG2 was used with NB1 (natural indigo) in Indigo Green above.

A.Gallo watercolours: Green Umber, Buckthorn Berry Green (new 2024), Green Gold, French Ochre Sahara,
Jarosite, Still de Grain Light (new 2024)

Update in progress. Come back soon!

A.Gallo watercolours: French Ochre Sahara, Verdaccio, Green Umber, Jarosite, 
Gold Ochre, Moroccan Yellow Ochre.

I found some colours were best used in a very liquid state - painting with a 'cream' consistency lost some of the glow.

A.Gallo watercolours: Raw Sienna, Raw Sienna Badia, Yellow Ochre - Burgundy (not shown), Quinacridone Gold,
Transparent Red Oxide (not shown), Castile Orange.

A.Gallo watercolours: Ercolano Red, Burnt Sienna, Sartorio Red,
Venetian Red, Hematite, Morellone.

A.Gallo watercolours: Perylene Maroon (not shown), Quinacridone Chestnut, Burnt Umber - Cyprus,
Burnt Umber - Brownish, Chromite Brown, Burnt Umber - Dark.

A.Gallo watercolours: Sepia, Indigo, Payne's Gray, Roman Black Earth, Ivory Black, Slate Gray. 

A.Gallo watercolours: Titanium White, Antique Gold,
Buckthorn Green (discontinued), Quinacridone Red Gold (discontinued).

I've added all these painted swatches to my website, arranged by colour and pigment.

Happy painting!