Years ago an art teacher friend visited Roussilon, France, which is known for its ochres. The entire village is painted only in ochre shades. She returned home with some ochre pigments from Roussilon, and together we figured out how to turn them into watercolor paints.
Your watercolor paints are generally made of 3 things: a pigment; a binder (traditionally gum arabic, but QoR has its own); and something to make paint flow, such as ox gall. Other possible additives are honey and glycerin.
There are no set recipes, but in general the ratio of binder to pigment is 2 to 1; some say 1 to 1. You may have to experiment.
Pictured above are the simple supplies needed: Left to right are: ox gall, gum arabic, glass muller, pigment, half-pans (or other containers to put paint in), palette knife, and glass dish. I used premixed gum arabic, but there is a video linked below that explains how to mix your own from the powder. (much cheaper)
To make a small amount of paint, pour a T. of gum arabic, a drop of oxgall, and a drop of honey, if you want it, onto a glass plate. Mix well with your palette knife. Add a T. of powder pigment and mix together. If it seems too thin, add more pigment, a bit at a time.
When it seems to be the right consistency, use the glass muller to grind and blend the mixture until you don't see any more granules.
Scoop off the plate with a palette knife and into small containers. Allow to dry for a few days.
The glass plate should be of sturdy quality, such as the glass in a microwave. I don't have a muller (because of cost and because I don't do this often), but I use a glass that is perfectly flat on the bottom.
Below are short videos describing the process.
From Owens art--about 11 minutes. Simplest explanation with simple tools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdP2xSWHvRw
Arleebean explains how to make your own binder (using ground powdered gum arabic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_779MFFtF0
Oto Kano describes paint making process with more professional supplies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIdVblDIRWM
Below are the 4 shades of ochres I was able to make from my pigments.
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