Still bingeing 🙃. I started out with DS colors as well, but I'm finding DaVinci has much less shrinkage when filling my palette, and are less expensive to start with. Many of their colors are single pigments. They are a smaller company here in the US, so fewer colors are available. Since I don't use any of the iridescent colors, or need multiple shades of the same color, it's worked for me. I'm not sponsored, I just stumbled on to them after reading Jane Blundell's blog.
oooh that is so interesting to hear about the DaVinci colors! I might have to try them out, as I'm always look for cost effective materials for students, especially folks who are just starting out. I also prefer the single pigment colors (if you couldn't tell from the video haha), and it is appealing to hear about a brand with fewer number of colors. Daniel smith has so so many, and it was ridiculously overwhelming when I was looking into buying my first colors years ago.
Just one more thing..the PG 17…my Rosa’s Gallery Chromium Green is TRANSLUCENT! it’s probably the lightest pigmented paint among my 25 single pigments. It resembles more your rare earth..just a touch more green and granulating. But every other paint is VERY heavily pigmented. 🤷🏼♀️
so interesting!! so many amazing colors out there! I add them so very slowly to my palette, but now I keep wanting more even though I then ignore them in my palette because I don't know them as well!
Question: getting ready to list my order for next month and I need a very dark green, one that can also be used in washes, preferably granulating, but not absolute. I ordered a supposed “highly granulating perylene green” from a handmade artist. I wasn’t happy that he refused to tell me the pigment, but he insisted it’s a single pigment & mixes easily. The swatch online was stunning..what I received? I haven’t ordered from him again. He also substituted a maroon for a more red-purple without telling me. The perylene green? It was a teal and granulation is an understatement..it had huge particles in it. Retouch or glaze and hit one of those large pigments? I joked with my friend that I’d scrape/rub some of the giant pigment…”rocks” off and save them for her to use like Chinese paint chips in a ditch. Anyways, back to the 2 I’m looking at..obviously, perylene green OR Jadeite. The swatch on DS website doesn’t look very dark, but the video on their site and yours does. If I needed it darker, I could always add a dot of PBk11. Wondering about mixing though?
PS THANK YOU for the info on Hansa Yellow..I didn’t know that! I’ve been using a PY159..it’s got very weak tinting strength, HOWEVER, it’s great in mixing, (which is probably why Schminke has it in more than 50% of their super-granulating paints) and it’s the only yellow that granulates. My daughter wanted me to try amethyst & PY159. As I suspected, mixing it on the palette, it looked just brown/gray. THEN, IT DRIED..🤯 It SEPARATES beautifully, purple, brown/gray AND YELLOW..AND .IT SHIMMERS-just slightly, but..!!! It was one of those surprises that forced me to stay up mixing about 12 other colors with amethyst 😂. There were several that were really nice, but none that surprised me as much as the yellow. I’m not a fan of mica colors or glitter..but the natural gem shimmer, I can see uses for in some paintings..although I haven’t quite figured out the use of such dramatically separating paint..especially because the separation pattern is so unpredictable. I thought I’d swatched it very evenly with the brown mix..the yellow was on mostly one side. 🤷🏼♀️
Hi Elaine! First of all, it was so fun to read about your experiences with a few pigments! So fun! Second, RE your question about greens (all my thoughts below are about the Daniel Smith colors- there can be / definitely is some variation from brand to brand even with the same pigment numbers). I'll start with Jadeite- it is a really unusual color that I haven't used a ton after I bought the small tube of it. It does granulate, although less than Perylene Green. In thinner washes especially it separates a little into green and a kind of pinky/ pink brown tone. Super cool! But, possibly not the most consistent. I have not mixed much with it because I honestly kind of forgot I had it in my palette, and It was such an unknown entity so I need to do more! Out of the tube I can get a darker mass tone, but it is still a green leaning toward the yellow side. Perylene green looks almost black at mass tone. Unlike Jadeite, I have used perylene green much more! It is a favorite for mixing, as well - one such favorite combo is Perylene green, quinacridone rose, and phthalo blue. This makes the most stunning range of dark colors, and add in a wee bit of yellow for amazing greys. Perylene is also quite consistent - no separating like the Jadeite. It granulates beautifully as well- kind of like ultramarine blue, maybe even a bit more if I give it extra water to settle in, but not as much as lunar black. I also just tried mixing it in with lunar black, and it did great. When it got too black, I added a bit of new gamboge and could shift the dark mix pretty easily (obviously adding the yellow then changes how the mix settles out). Hope that helps! Of the two colors, so far (and without a full color mixing party with Jadeite), perylene green is a favorite that I keep reaching for especially on overcast days and for creating really interesting greys, too! I really like it. Jadeite in a high concentration that I just swathched feels a bit more like a Christmas tree green. So it probably will do really cool stuff, too, once I get to know it better. But right now I'm loving the more black-leaning green of Perylene green. Also, I got some Perylene violet and it is such an interesting color. I need to do some swatching videos comparing it to quinacridone violet!!
Just wanted to add that if I had watched your videos prior to purchasing I’d have saved so much money and frustration….lol I live in small town without access to lessons close to where I live so I have relied on many books and then videos in the past few years for help learning. We just moved and doing lots of remodeling but I will look into classes with you after we get it done and moved in. It’s been hard to find people who do decent work and in timely manner. Electricians began in August and STILL haven’t completed the job?!?! Just telling you so you don’t expect me to join class soon although I would love to…
Hi Nancy! Thank you so much for the kind note, I'm glad you enjoyed the videos! I ended up filming the process because I had the same experience you did - some colors are popular or I read about, and then bought and ended up wondering what the heck I was going to do with a color I actually didn't like! And, whenever it aligns, I very much look forward to hopefully seeing you in the Adventure Art Academy community :) Notes like yours are a big reason I started filming my classes and made everything self-paced. I want watercolor lessons to be accessible to folks no matter where they live (and at an affordable price compared to most options out there). Connecting with students from around the world has just been such a wonderful thing. It brings me a lot of joy to be able to support the creative journeys of folks! Please feel free to ask any questions you have about materials or other painting things in the comments on TH-cam, or just email me as well (email is on my teaching website). Lastly, you might enjoy the video I just made a few days ago where I make swatches of the colors currently in my adventure painting kit. I also talk about the other materials I carry with me! All the best, Claire
Still bingeing 🙃. I started out with DS colors as well, but I'm finding DaVinci has much less shrinkage when filling my palette, and are less expensive to start with. Many of their colors are single pigments. They are a smaller company here in the US, so fewer colors are available. Since I don't use any of the iridescent colors, or need multiple shades of the same color, it's worked for me. I'm not sponsored, I just stumbled on to them after reading Jane Blundell's blog.
oooh that is so interesting to hear about the DaVinci colors! I might have to try them out, as I'm always look for cost effective materials for students, especially folks who are just starting out. I also prefer the single pigment colors (if you couldn't tell from the video haha), and it is appealing to hear about a brand with fewer number of colors. Daniel smith has so so many, and it was ridiculously overwhelming when I was looking into buying my first colors years ago.
Just one more thing..the PG 17…my Rosa’s Gallery Chromium Green is TRANSLUCENT! it’s probably the lightest pigmented paint among my 25 single pigments. It resembles more your rare earth..just a touch more green and granulating. But every other paint is VERY heavily pigmented. 🤷🏼♀️
so interesting!! so many amazing colors out there! I add them so very slowly to my palette, but now I keep wanting more even though I then ignore them in my palette because I don't know them as well!
Very helpful thank you 🙏
I'm glad to hear you found it helpful!
Question: getting ready to list my order for next month and I need a very dark green, one that can also be used in washes, preferably granulating, but not absolute. I ordered a supposed “highly granulating perylene green” from a handmade artist. I wasn’t happy that he refused to tell me the pigment, but he insisted it’s a single pigment & mixes easily. The swatch online was stunning..what I received? I haven’t ordered from him again. He also substituted a maroon for a more red-purple without telling me. The perylene green? It was a teal and granulation is an understatement..it had huge particles in it. Retouch or glaze and hit one of those large pigments? I joked with my friend that I’d scrape/rub some of the giant pigment…”rocks” off and save them for her to use like Chinese paint chips in a ditch.
Anyways, back to the 2 I’m looking at..obviously, perylene green OR Jadeite. The swatch on DS website doesn’t look very dark, but the video on their site and yours does. If I needed it darker, I could always add a dot of PBk11. Wondering about mixing though?
PS THANK YOU for the info on Hansa Yellow..I didn’t know that! I’ve been using a PY159..it’s got very weak tinting strength, HOWEVER, it’s great in mixing, (which is probably why Schminke has it in more than 50% of their super-granulating paints) and it’s the only yellow that granulates. My daughter wanted me to try amethyst & PY159. As I suspected, mixing it on the palette, it looked just brown/gray. THEN, IT DRIED..🤯 It SEPARATES beautifully, purple, brown/gray AND YELLOW..AND .IT SHIMMERS-just slightly, but..!!! It was one of those surprises that forced me to stay up mixing about 12 other colors with amethyst 😂. There were several that were really nice, but none that surprised me as much as the yellow. I’m not a fan of mica colors or glitter..but the natural gem shimmer, I can see uses for in some paintings..although I haven’t quite figured out the use of such dramatically separating paint..especially because the separation pattern is so unpredictable. I thought I’d swatched it very evenly with the brown mix..the yellow was on mostly one side. 🤷🏼♀️
Hi Elaine! First of all, it was so fun to read about your experiences with a few pigments! So fun!
Second, RE your question about greens (all my thoughts below are about the Daniel Smith colors- there can be / definitely is some variation from brand to brand even with the same pigment numbers).
I'll start with Jadeite- it is a really unusual color that I haven't used a ton after I bought the small tube of it. It does granulate, although less than Perylene Green. In thinner washes especially it separates a little into green and a kind of pinky/ pink brown tone. Super cool! But, possibly not the most consistent. I have not mixed much with it because I honestly kind of forgot I had it in my palette, and It was such an unknown entity so I need to do more! Out of the tube I can get a darker mass tone, but it is still a green leaning toward the yellow side. Perylene green looks almost black at mass tone.
Unlike Jadeite, I have used perylene green much more! It is a favorite for mixing, as well - one such favorite combo is Perylene green, quinacridone rose, and phthalo blue. This makes the most stunning range of dark colors, and add in a wee bit of yellow for amazing greys. Perylene is also quite consistent - no separating like the Jadeite. It granulates beautifully as well- kind of like ultramarine blue, maybe even a bit more if I give it extra water to settle in, but not as much as lunar black. I also just tried mixing it in with lunar black, and it did great. When it got too black, I added a bit of new gamboge and could shift the dark mix pretty easily (obviously adding the yellow then changes how the mix settles out).
Hope that helps! Of the two colors, so far (and without a full color mixing party with Jadeite), perylene green is a favorite that I keep reaching for especially on overcast days and for creating really interesting greys, too! I really like it. Jadeite in a high concentration that I just swathched feels a bit more like a Christmas tree green. So it probably will do really cool stuff, too, once I get to know it better.
But right now I'm loving the more black-leaning green of Perylene green.
Also, I got some Perylene violet and it is such an interesting color. I need to do some swatching videos comparing it to quinacridone violet!!
Just wanted to add that if I had watched your videos prior to purchasing I’d have saved so much money and frustration….lol
I live in small town without access to lessons close to where I live so I have relied on many books and then videos in the past few years for help learning.
We just moved and doing lots of remodeling but I will look into classes with you after we get it done and moved in.
It’s been hard to find people who do decent work and in timely manner. Electricians began in August and STILL haven’t completed the job?!?!
Just telling you so you don’t expect me to join class soon although I would love to…
Hi Nancy! Thank you so much for the kind note, I'm glad you enjoyed the videos! I ended up filming the process because I had the same experience you did - some colors are popular or I read about, and then bought and ended up wondering what the heck I was going to do with a color I actually didn't like!
And, whenever it aligns, I very much look forward to hopefully seeing you in the Adventure Art Academy community :) Notes like yours are a big reason I started filming my classes and made everything self-paced. I want watercolor lessons to be accessible to folks no matter where they live (and at an affordable price compared to most options out there). Connecting with students from around the world has just been such a wonderful thing. It brings me a lot of joy to be able to support the creative journeys of folks! Please feel free to ask any questions you have about materials or other painting things in the comments on TH-cam, or just email me as well (email is on my teaching website).
Lastly, you might enjoy the video I just made a few days ago where I make swatches of the colors currently in my adventure painting kit. I also talk about the other materials I carry with me!
All the best,
Claire