There has been lots of good work completed by others in finding and reporting vegan supplies. However, sometimes I find I need check information and it’s difficult to find, or I’ve had to contact a company to check.
This is my list of vegan and/or vegetarian supplies. I’ve added the date the information was retrieved/date of article and the source of information. Many companies are now fantastic at making this information readily available. Some are less so.
Inks
I like my fountain pens, and so I have an interest in which inks are animal free:
Diamine – Cult Pens describe these fountain pen inks as “The huge range of over 100 colours are all water-based, acid-free and non-toxic, and are vegan-friendly.” June 2023
SketchINK by Rohrer and Klingner – I enquired by email directly with R&K. They responded quickly with “the sketchINK contains no animal ingredients”. I have to say it’s not the nicest smelling ink, but it is a waterproof ink that works in fountain pens and is therefore exceptionally useful. (I shall have to do a light-fast test on these over the summer). Email received April 2023.
Watercolour Paint
In the professional artist ranges, Daniel Smith and QOR watercolours use synthetic binders and so are vegan. Sennelier and Jackson’s use honey as a binder and Schmincke uses ox-gall in their main range. Jackson Art Bromleys
Note that individual colours may still need checking as the pigment used may not be suitable (e.g. Ivory or Bone Black – PBk9). For example, in the Daniel Smith range the following colours are not vegan: Sepia, Ivory Black, Joseph Z’s Neutral Grey & Payne’s Gray. These all contain PBk9. June 2023
September 2024 – I emailed Windsor and Newton to obtain information on their new revival range of water colours. I also queried the status of their full professional range as I’d seen on Bromley’s website an indication that not all professional colours contain Ox Gall. As part of their reply they indicated that the team are researching synthetic alternatives to animal derivatives that are currently used. This is the list of the professional watercolours that currently contain animal derivatives:
Alizarin Crimson
Antwerp Blue
Burnt Umber
Cadmium Lemon
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red
Cadmium Red Deep
Cadmium Scarlet
Cadmium Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Cadmium Yellow Pale
Cobalt Blue
Cobalt Turquoise
Cobalt Turquoise Light
Davy’s Gray
Indian Red
Lamp Black
Oxide of Chromium
Permanent Rose
Prussian Blue
Quinacridone Violet
Rose Madder Genuine
Sepia
Terre Verte
Ultramarine (Green Shade)
Winsor Green (Blue Shade)
Winsor Orange
Winsor Violet (Dioxazine)
Winsor Yellow
Winsor Yellow Deep
Yellow Ochre
In addition to this list, as above, it’s still necessary to check pigments used (for example PBk9 bone/ivory black).
W&N Cotman watercolours do not use ox-gall and a recent check of their colours showed that they now only use PBk9 in the Silver and the Ivory Black (though not all the metallic colours show the pigments used, so it would be a good idea to double check these colours). W&N Bromleys
Derwent watercolour/paint pans are all vegan! The full list of vegan products can be found via their FAQ. PDF of the full range of vegan products June 2023. Full marks to Derwent for being so clear about this!
Paper
To Be Continued…