There's people on youtube that call themselves professional artists and have the skills of an absolute beginner and then you call yourself a beginner but you have the drawing skills and brush control of a professional artist
There is something to be said for hand dexterity and muscle memory - and I do come from a profession where I work with my hands a lot. But I don't think that it's purely technical skills that make you an artist. It's more about what you feel and want to say, what's in your heart, what you see and who you feel you are. And in that domain, I am really not comfortable calling myself an artist, but am instead a beginner. Also, I had only been painting with watercolor for 7 months when I started this sketchbook, so I felt very new to it lol. I appreciate the compliment though! 🫶
You're not a beginner, you're a pro! You have absolute control over the brush strokes and paint flow, which is not easy using watercolours. I'm so happy that I found your channel 😊
Thank you! Cheers for the glowing compliments, although it gives me total imposter syndrome! I had only been painting for 7 months at this stage and was still very much in my baby-steps phase, trying something small and new each time - it's such an exciting time actually. And I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 💙🫶
Thank you so much Coco! You're an inspiration to me with your grace and humor and rebellious spirit, I really appreciate your kind words and support 🪼💙🫶
What a Majestic swatching book, all Daniel Smith colours, all those colours accurately on paper😮. By the way, i love the way you paint, your level is amazing. Your organization and order on sketch books leave me speechless 🎉
😂 I would contact them to at least replace them because it looks like you had an unseemly amount of binder issues that caused the guminess and brush stroke problems. I know for a fact several of those colors don't have any of those issues you had problems with. They need to do better at quality control because if the dot cards are dodgy then they aren't going to sell those colors with issues. We all know sometime binder issues happen in different pigments and we have to mix the tube or pan, but sending out dot cards trying to get people to purchase is really insane. 😂 I know this was on another comment but I lost it, so I'll reply here. I would love a video about the palette you eventually decided on and look forward to your next video. I love your paintings!
Jellyfish! Thank you so so much for this video. It was such a comprehensive insight into the Daniel Smith colours, I found it very helpful. Your sketchbook tours are so informative and the progression you are making is incredible. Many congratuations!
Jellyfish! What a great idea to get a second dot card to use for painting and really testing out the colours in the painting style you like. Definitely something I will do as well 😍
Your work is amazing. I’ve been looking for more watercolor artists whose art is something I can strive towards (not just creatives who can make aesthetic videos). I love the long form to play in the background as I paint along. I’m so glad to have found you.
Hi again! I came back and watcher your whole video a second time as it is the best video out there on Daniel Smith watercolours. So extensive indepth and validly critical - which is what I am needing to help me choose when I shouldn’t buy all the colours 🤭 thank you again!
Your drawing skills are brilliant, so beautiful. It's remarkable the realism you're able to reach. I agree that with the others that your artistic ability is not beginner level. It's outstanding. That said, in my opinion, where the inexperience revealed itself is in the heavy application early on in the year of the pigment in some of the illustrations like the strawberries and cherries. Those images translate more of acrylic paint than watercolor, the translucence and transparency of watercolor isn't showcased here because I believe you were not using enough water, ergo the trouble you're having with the streakier pigments. BUT YOUR GINKGO LEAVES... WOW!!! Perfectly transparent. You can see your ability to highlight the water color properties toward the end of the sketchbook skyrocket! I love your artwork and aspire to understand values, draw, and highlight as you are able to do.
Thank you so much! Your comment really warms my heart, I truly appreciate it. For some reason I had huge creators block when making this video and it took me a month to work up the guts to edit and publish it… and it’s so nice to hear this. Thank you! 🫶💙
Oh my goodness! It’s so wonderful to find an artist who studies, works with her paints and figures out the opacity, the diffusion, etc. Super impressed. Enjoyed watching your organization, and thoroughness . You have a new subscriber? 😊👍 Learned so much in less than 10 minutes.
So inspiring and impressive 😊 would love to hear more about your regular day of art practice... How you schedule your days to suit your art practice and plan out these things? That'd be so wonderful and helpful 😊
I love the dedication and approach you have towards watercolour. I’d love to spend an afternoon with you just discussing watercolour! Fiona from Rome X
Wow I am so thrilled to see a comment from you - I have been following your channel for a while and love your sketchbook art! Thank you, and oh my goodness YES I would love to sit and talk watercolour with you, especially since I admire your style so much! Thank you so much Fiona and let me know when you're in Switzerland :)
@ that’s so nice of you! thank you for your compliments. I love your work too! Can we connect on Instagram or elsewhere where we can message and art nerd chat?
I too love the myriad of Jellyfish that appear in nature. 😁 Wonderful video. I have never seen such a complete and in-depth review of the full range of DS paints. I personally feel they have a tendency to keep adding to an already teetering mountain of colours, many of which are similar to many others. There has to be a limit to what colours you offer before you end up offering sub par colour quality with a hefty price tag. Your sketch work is superb, as are your painting skills, despite being new to watercolour. I feel you must surely have been sketching for many many years before watercolour peaked your interest. You are extremely talented with the pencil and ink!! Thank you for making this wonderfully useful video. I look forward to your revealing more of your journey. 🎨🖌️👩🏻🎨👏🏻👏🏻❤
Ooooh thank you, this comment made my day! And yes I agree, the DS range is overwhelming and it's impossible to make informed choices from them without taking a lot of time to explore the paints. Which is why I made this video lol. And I had never been an avid sketcher before, although I have now become obsessed since last year and sketch almost daily. But there is a lot to be said for patience, perseverance and a willingness to try. I'm so glad to have you along for the journey! 🪼💙🫶
@@TheCherrypipangel Wow, just wow…! Now I truly am in awe, and yes I too believe in perseverance and a willingness to try. I am thoroughly enjoying the road, thanks for the chance to tag along 😁🎨👩🏻🎨🖌️
Beginner? I think not. Beautiful work! I love Daniel Smith paint, however, they are tricky to make a palette, which is why I've made a few different ones😅 Lovely video. Amazing skills💕
Ah that's so kind! But I have only been painting for 7 months when I started this sketchbook and really felt like a newbie! Agreed that it's hard making a choice from the DS range, it's so wide and the painting experience of the paints varies so much - would it be worthwhile sharing the final palette I'm using? 💙🫶
Jellyfish. It was wonderful to see how you used all of the DS colors. The jellyfish are stunning. So are too many others to name. But my favourite was the moon cycles. I love the patterns you played with on each of them and the textures you achieved. Made me think I should do this type of thing with my 120 small Amsterdam acrylic colours. When there are so many colours in a range it is hard to get to known them all. your method allowed you to really see what you liked and didn’t like and discover favs. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your lovely comment, and I think you should try it too with your acrylics - it's a fun personal challenge and good way to get to know the colours "personally" 😉🪼💙
Jellyfish...your swatching book is impressive. For some reason, I find swatching to be the most boring task in art. I have tried repeatedly to swatch my colored pencil collection, and my watercolor pencils, but I keep stopping due to extreme boredom. Then, when I need to check a color, and my swatch chart is incomplete, I start again...only to stop once more. This is my own form of madness!! I can only dream of having beautiful swatch charts like yours. And, I am a person who always completes what I start...except swatching..your work is very good proving that practice makes the artist, not talent!
Thank for the kind comment, and I have to agree that swatching is a labor of discipline. While I did not mind making sketches in each colour and got quite excited about that - the actual boring swatching part took me 3 months of procrastination to force myself to do it. I had to clear a whole weekend for it and by the end I was so grumpy I was barely managed fit for society 😅🪼🫶
Jellyfish ❤ love your videos, insights and art! Please dont talk down on any of it! I know we are our worst critics to ourselves, but you are really really talented 😊❤🙏 really!
Thank you so much for this kind comment, you really made my day today. For some reason, sharing this particular video really intimidated me and it took me a month to work up the guts to edit and post it… giving opinions online always feels vulnerable. Thank you so much for the kind words 🥰🫶💙🪼
Jellyfish, Thank you again for a great start to my day! I have been waiting to see your next tour, very interesting approach to sorting out your palette. I don’t have the patience to be so organized and thoughtful in my approach to sorting through the assorted colours and brands. I try, swatching all new paints, then setting up individual palettes for each brand. Lately I have used Holbein pretty exclusively, but after swatching the 12 Shinhan colours, I will set up the palette for those and test them in a new sketchbook. I have moved off many of Daniel Smith colours for similar reasons as you have described, difficult to achieve desired effects. So, I bought other brands. My husband now just rolls his eyes when he is asked to pick up a new package at the post office. I have decided not to purchase more paint, the amount I have accumulated is more than enough! I just need to figure out the colours for my palette and get on with it.
Thank you for your delightful comment, I completely empathize with the art supply addiction, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! Also, now you've made me want to try Shinhan, but that's a whole different story of where to find them in Switzerland. 😅🪼💙🫶
this has been the most comprehensive and helpful swatching / review video i have seen. thank you so much. could you do the same for schmincke and sennelier lol?
I'm so glad you found it helpful! I originally started off using the Schminke Horadam range and still use some of their colours - specifically the Indigo, Potter's Pink and Perylene green which I prefer to the DS and WN ones. While I did not dedicate a whole sketchbook to testing all the Schminke colours 1 by 1, my first and second sketchbook tour videos have Schminke paints in the sketchbooks. And I will probably share my comparative swatching book at some point when I have have filled it more 😉
Excellent swatching/colour experimentation video, thank you. Hoping to try your approach and colour combos. I could say Jellyfish, but picked up a familiar accent right away so I’ll say “Protea” and “Jacaranda” 😉
Aaah LOVE this! You’re making me so homesick now! Thank you for writing and let me know how you get along on your experiments when you get to them! 🪼💙🫶
Jellyfish, this was such a lovely video, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your process and your exploration of the colours. I have quite a few Daniel Smith paints myself and the dot card. However I would now like to explore the colours better like you did so I have ordered another one!
Jellyfish! Thank you for sharing your exploration into Daniel Smith. I love your paintings, your creativity is inspirational.Though I don't think you can classify yourself as a beginner anymore. However, I do think having a beginner's mind is valuable throughout one's artistic life. I will keep your opinions as food for thought. I am new to watercolor and having fun learning this medium. Quite the contrast from pencil, pen and ink which is my main jam! I have not bought any Daniel Smith just yet. I just bought the W&N Cotman set to start with, which I strongly dislike and regret buying. I am settled on the D.S 24 color set. After exhaustively going through Jane Blundell's webpage, and TH-cam channel. I bought all of her books and I can say I don't find color as mysterious and overwhelming anymore. I had a big "Ah! Ha! moment working with her triad color mixing book. Now, I can create a palette for a painting that has harmony instead of mud LOL. I just found you today and subscribed...will look forward to seeing your other sketchbooks and where you go in the future. Cheers!🖌
I also love Jane Blundell! She has done so much brilliant work into colour exploration, particularly of the DS range. I also studied her work thoroughly when choosing my paints, but eventually it was my own studies that forged my opinions the most. For example the quin rose which I purchased based off her work, but still always find slickly and slimy, and cannot wait to replace it with the quin red which I much preferred in practice… I’m so glad you enjoyed the video though! PS. I agree the WN Cotman sets are very “meh”. But I do enjoy some of their professional grade colours, particularly the scarlet lake and Winsor yellow, which I use now instead of the DS ones. 🪼🫶💙
That's super inspiring ^^ thank you ! I wrote down a couple of pigments I'll look into in order to expand my watercolor palette ! And I absolutely love both the hanhemule sketchbooks / watercolor books (I almost only use their sketchbooks for painting ^^) !
Thanks, I'm so glad you liked it, and I'm curious to hear which pigments caught your eye 😉 And Hahnmuhle are the bread and butter of sketchbooks for me too, really good for practice and value for money ❤️🫶
Ahaha thank you, that's so sweet! I only started painting 2 years ago this month, so I still feel very much a beginner, and your encouragement is so appreciated 🫶🪼💙
jellyfish! :) i love your videos so much. i've been waiting for another sketchbook tour and this absolutely did not disappoint. i love how long your videos are. i love how you explain absolutely everything. i was totally engrossed in every word you said from beginning to end and i really hope you keep making videos like this with all the in-depth explanations because i find it extremely helpful as a beginning watercolorist. i have a question, and a request. question: you mention having sodalite genuine on your palette, and i think you mention having indigo on your palette, or at least really loving it. how do you use these two colours? they are both very dark, arguably black-leaning blues. i have sodalite genuine but not indigo but i really want to get indigo. i'm just wondering how you personally distinguish between the two in your practice, like if you have separate uses for each, or if you just love them both and use them interchangeably, or something else. request: would you consider doing a video just on your palette? i'm interested to know what you started with, and how your palette changed over time, and what you currently have on your palette. palette choices are a huge interest of mine - i'm super fascinated by the colour choices people make - but apart from that, you are drawn to very similar colours as me, and many of your "loves" in the Daniel Smith line are also my own, and i'm super curious to see what's on your palette and how it's changed since you started painting.
Best Comment Ever! First of all, thank you, I am so thrilled that you were waiting for this video and weren't disappointed, yay! Next, I am going to have to restrain myself because you have literally asked me one of my favourite topics to discuss: the dark and moody blues! I have 3 very dark blues on my palette: indanthrone blue (a warm delft-pottery blue), indigo and sodalite. Indanthrone is the smoothest and inkiest of them. In a thick layer it offers the most opacity and smoothest finish, although it is a bit shiny. This is perfect for things like midnight sky backgrounds or black-looking backgrounds. In a lighter intensity is it a beautiful warm blue which I use for things like birds feathers and chinese vases, since it's more saturated and blue than the other 2. Indigo is a mildly desatured blue, with a bit of granulation, meaning the washes will not be so smooth, and you either need a TON of paint or several layers to get a good opacity (contrary to indanthrone). I love using this as a single pigment for monochromatic paintings and value studies, and also for painting things like mist, mountains and evening clouds, as it is just the right balance between blue and grey and is still smooth enough to work for these subjects. I also use it a lot as a mixing blue for darker shadow areas in a lot of my painting, for example on mushrooms and branches and similar - it does a great mix with buff titanium, and also with the burnt sienna and burnt umber for lovely smokey greys and almost-blacks. And lastly Sodalite is a quiet obsession that I cannot get over. It is the most desaturated of the 3, almost anthracite grey with a hint of blue. Ultimate moody colour. But what makes it really spectacular is the granulation. A strong, intense granulation that adds dramatic variation, going from extremely deep and dark to whisper-light with great texture variations. I adore this colour for value studies, for rock mountains and stony cottages and stormy skies, and for adding interest to simple subjects. I will not often use it as a mixing colour, simply because the granulation is that strong, and usually use it on areas as a stand alone dramatic colour. It is also the colour I most often use as a black and this is what I paint pupils in eyes with for example, or all the bird's eyes I have been doing recently. So I have very specific uses for each of these 3 colours, and would not want to separate myself from any of them. And I failed utterly to keep this brief! 😂 I think you're right and my palette and colour choices need a separate video! I might make that next 😉🪼💙
🫙 🐠 wow, so impressed by this video as well as your creativity and process!! This is such an interesting and thorough examination of the paints and their properties. I learned so much by watching and would love to replicate your method when trying new paints. I found when I was selecting paint for my most recent palette that I gravitated towards Daniel Smith for reds/purples, greens and darker more muted colors (like moon glow, hematite genuine, indigo). Thank you for your labor of love (of watercolors)!
Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And you have great taste: Moonglow is probably my favourite paint of all time, closely seconded by Sodalite genuine and Indigo 😉 although I prefer and use the indigo from schminke which I a find tad more saturated 🫶💙
Oh my goodness, I couldn't help but stifle a laugh - I find my work so far removed from "flawless", and I think that's the hard part, the way we only see the flaws in our work, whereas others might never even see them. Also in regards to your second comment below, there is something to be said for letting go of expectations and results. Painting makes me so much happier since I've stopped expecting my pictures to look like they do in my imagination or in my reference. It's something that's not natural for me and I'm also a die hard perfectionist by nature, so it's a constant lesson to remind myself of. But the more I "remember to forget the result" and just keep my mind on the process and moving my hand, the more it feels like a pleasure and not a stress. And then there is the constant struggle to let go of perfectionism and realism and I am working all the time to try and be looser, more expressive, less controlled, less perfect. And wow is it hard to be loose! So basically, my own work makes me sad sometimes too, and it's totally normal I think, it's all a process, and some days, when 'm lucky, I feel like I am closer to something, some understanding, some freedom. And other days it's still a frustrating trap where all I see is my mistakes. Don't let it make you sad though, just keep on the journey 💙
The viridan is a single pigment, PG18, meant to be a transparent granulating emerald green good for mixing and adding a greener tint to other paints. I was disappointed though.
@@TheCherrypipangel I have the Schminke Viridian but not DS. It doesn’t have the intensity of a pthalo green and is really only useful for mixing. It’s a bit unnatural as a stand alone green.
@@karenirving7088 I also had the Schminke viridian on my very first pan set I bought! And it was definitely not beginner friendly, I had no clue what to do with it 😂
In my 31 years of living here in Belgium, and being on the ww net, I discovered that THE EUROPEANS have the BEST ART in the world!!! It is an "indoctrination"! It's in the DNA codefication! I dunno which aliens codified it, but it must be a "blondie", 'coz we asians can't o it! tfs --- love, Cleo777
Hahaha this made me smile, but I have to disagree - some of my favourite watercolour artists whom I admire and worship are Asian. There is talent and beauty in each place 😉🫶
Lol you're not the only one thinking this, but I had only been painting for 7 months when I started this sketchbook, and by the end I had learnt so much - maybe I should make a video on how to progress fast as a beginner...
@@TheCherrypipangel Yeah.. because if you can progress THAT far in 7 months.. you either have discovered the PERFECT method.. or (like I imagine) were just talented and basically an "artist" to begin with...
I think I found the “perfect method” for myself: I was really enjoying it, made a structured plan for learning (I may have OCD tendencies) and kept up practicing and being patient and learning. There is a lot to be said for perseverance and willingness to try. Hand dexterity is also a thing, for example women generally always have better hand dexterity compared to men - and I’ve been working most of my life in a profession where I use my hands a lot for fine work. And those are the points that I believe helped me progress the most. But in my opinion there is no such thing as someone is an “artist” and others who are “not artists”. These are just labels and art is everything that some feels and sees in the world and creates and expresses around them. It’s not about learning to make a pretty brushstroke on a page, I think everyone has art inside them to bring to the world.
@@TheCherrypipangel well.. I think most of the world would agree that things created by artists "look good".. ie: a fruit looks like a fruit.. a scene mirrors a scene in real life... so, if you can do these things - you are an artist. Sure - you can even be famous and people will faun all over your work even it is is junk (looking at you Vincent van Gogh and your nasty looking "Madame Roulin and Her Baby")
Hi, and thank you for letting me know - I'd love to hear what you thought or disagree on - it's a learning experience for me and I'm always happy to expand my horizons 🫶
@@TheCherrypipangel I was interested that you found some of the DS paints “difficult “ to work with. I don’t have all of those colours but the ones I have are well behaved. I wondered if testing paints from dot cards was being “fair” to them.
@@karenirving7088 Thank you for getting back to me, I was curious to hear your thoughts! So, this is a very valid concern, and for the sake of science, at the time I went ahead anyway and purchased some of the paints that I had found slick and sticky on the dot card as a tube version, just because I loved the colours so much. So I decided to order them anyway and give them a fair chance. This concerned 5 paints in particular: lemon yellow, quin coral, quin rose, cobalt blue violet and mayan blue. I am still using the tubes because I want to finish them. But I can confirm, they are exactly as streaky and slimy as on the dot card, and I still hate painting with them and will never buy them again. And the ones that were great on the dot cards were also great in the tubes. So, surprisingly, the dot card seemed to be a really accurate representation of what to expect when you buy the tube 🤓
Jellyfish! Thank you for a fabulous tour of your sketchbook and deep dive into DS paints. I learned so much. I recently purchased a DS dot card of all the colors and hope to swatch them like you did. May I enquire what sketchbook and size you used for your swatches? I'm guessing A4 Hahnemuhle. You are so inspiring! @thecherrypipangel
Thank you for such a lovely message, I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! My sketchbooks in this video are indeed the Hahnemuhle ones, you have a good eye! I use an A4 for my swatch records, and a 21cm square format for the sketching one. I think they're such good value for money, although the paper is not quite as easy to work on as Arches or Saunders Waterford - but it keeps me on my toes lol! 🪼💙🫶
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There's people on youtube that call themselves professional artists and have the skills of an absolute beginner and then you call yourself a beginner but you have the drawing skills and brush control of a professional artist
There is something to be said for hand dexterity and muscle memory - and I do come from a profession where I work with my hands a lot. But I don't think that it's purely technical skills that make you an artist. It's more about what you feel and want to say, what's in your heart, what you see and who you feel you are. And in that domain, I am really not comfortable calling myself an artist, but am instead a beginner. Also, I had only been painting with watercolor for 7 months when I started this sketchbook, so I felt very new to it lol. I appreciate the compliment though! 🫶
You're not a beginner, you're a pro! You have absolute control over the brush strokes and paint flow, which is not easy using watercolours. I'm so happy that I found your channel 😊
Thank you! Cheers for the glowing compliments, although it gives me total imposter syndrome! I had only been painting for 7 months at this stage and was still very much in my baby-steps phase, trying something small and new each time - it's such an exciting time actually. And I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 💙🫶
@TheCherrypipangel oh I enjoyed it a lot, and I'll for sure watch your other videos ❤️
Jellyfish! I love this video. The warm and kind voice, beautiful realism, and whimsical paintings make this creator a must-watch for me
Thank you so much Coco! You're an inspiration to me with your grace and humor and rebellious spirit, I really appreciate your kind words and support 🪼💙🫶
What a Majestic swatching book, all Daniel Smith colours, all those colours accurately on paper😮. By the way, i love the way you paint, your level is amazing. Your organization and order on sketch books leave me speechless 🎉
Oh thank you! That is so generous of you! And a swatching book is a tedious task to make, but it pays off so much in the long run thankfully 😉💙
You painting is beautiful! The Daniel Smith company should purchase your swatch book and publish it.
Oh I would not say no that! If anyone had a lead with DS, I'm very open to this idea 😅 thank you for the kind words! 💙
😂 I would contact them to at least replace them because it looks like you had an unseemly amount of binder issues that caused the guminess and brush stroke problems. I know for a fact several of those colors don't have any of those issues you had problems with. They need to do better at quality control because if the dot cards are dodgy then they aren't going to sell those colors with issues. We all know sometime binder issues happen in different pigments and we have to mix the tube or pan, but sending out dot cards trying to get people to purchase is really insane. 😂
I know this was on another comment but I lost it, so I'll reply here. I would love a video about the palette you eventually decided on and look forward to your next video. I love your paintings!
This is just outstanding 🥰🤯 your channel is up there in my top 5, the way you watercolour speaks to me ❤
Jellyfish! Such inspiring art, Beautiful, Thank You!
Thank you so very much! 💙🪼🫶
Jellyfish! Thank you so so much for this video. It was such a comprehensive insight into the Daniel Smith colours, I found it very helpful. Your sketchbook tours are so informative and the progression you are making is incredible. Many congratuations!
Thank you, I appreciate the feedback and I'm so glad you found it helpful! 🪼💙
Jellyfish! Loved seeing all the swatches and paint trials in subjects.
Thank you! SO happy you liked it 😊🪼💙
Jellyfish!! Your art is amazing.
Jellyfish! What a great idea to get a second dot card to use for painting and really testing out the colours in the painting style you like. Definitely something I will do as well 😍
Thanks so much 😊 It's a really rewarding project to try! 🪼💙🫶
I was eagerly waiting for this video and I am in love with how you have experimented with all the colors with studies. Your studies are beautiful!! 😻
Thank you so much, your comment makes me so happy!💙🫶
Jellyfish! I really enjoy how dense your pages are, I had to pause and study quite a few of them. Thank you!
You are so welcome! 🪼💙
beautiful jellyfishies ☺
Thank you! 😊🪼💙
Your work is amazing. I’ve been looking for more watercolor artists whose art is something I can strive towards (not just creatives who can make aesthetic videos). I love the long form to play in the background as I paint along. I’m so glad to have found you.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I also enjoy watching videos like this, which is why I make them 😉💙
Hi again! I came back and watcher your whole video a second time as it is the best video out there on Daniel Smith watercolours. So extensive indepth and validly critical - which is what I am needing to help me choose when I shouldn’t buy all the colours 🤭 thank you again!
Jellyfish!this idea and sketchbook is simply amazing!I enjoyed the video so much!❤❤
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you liked it! 😃🪼💙🫶
Your drawing skills are brilliant, so beautiful. It's remarkable the realism you're able to reach. I agree that with the others that your artistic ability is not beginner level. It's outstanding. That said, in my opinion, where the inexperience revealed itself is in the heavy application early on in the year of the pigment in some of the illustrations like the strawberries and cherries. Those images translate more of acrylic paint than watercolor, the translucence and transparency of watercolor isn't showcased here because I believe you were not using enough water, ergo the trouble you're having with the streakier pigments. BUT YOUR GINKGO LEAVES... WOW!!! Perfectly transparent. You can see your ability to highlight the water color properties toward the end of the sketchbook skyrocket!
I love your artwork and aspire to understand values, draw, and highlight as you are able to do.
Jellyfish 🪼…your artwork is beautiful 😍
Thank you! 💙🪼🫶
Wonderful to have you back. Your sense of beauty, your precision and honesty all delight e and make me trust your suggestions to try. Thank you.
Thank you so much! Your comment really warms my heart, I truly appreciate it. For some reason I had huge creators block when making this video and it took me a month to work up the guts to edit and publish it… and it’s so nice to hear this. Thank you! 🫶💙
Oh my goodness! It’s so wonderful to find an artist who studies, works with her paints and figures out the opacity, the diffusion, etc. Super impressed. Enjoyed watching your organization, and thoroughness . You have a new subscriber? 😊👍 Learned so much in less than 10 minutes.
Thank you so much! I'm glad my OCD tendencies are helpful 😅 and I'm really glad you enjoyed the video! 💙🫶
So inspiring and impressive 😊 would love to hear more about your regular day of art practice... How you schedule your days to suit your art practice and plan out these things? That'd be so wonderful and helpful 😊
I love the dedication and approach you have towards watercolour. I’d love to spend an afternoon with you just discussing watercolour! Fiona from Rome X
Wow I am so thrilled to see a comment from you - I have been following your channel for a while and love your sketchbook art! Thank you, and oh my goodness YES I would love to sit and talk watercolour with you, especially since I admire your style so much! Thank you so much Fiona and let me know when you're in Switzerland :)
@ that’s so nice of you! thank you for your compliments. I love your work too! Can we connect on Instagram or elsewhere where we can message and art nerd chat?
@@drawingsinadrawer yes! I'm on IG @art_at_dom - just looked you on IG now and gave you a follow. Your grid is gorgeous!
@@TheCherrypipangel coming to follow you back
Thank you for this video!! Love it!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! 🫶💙
I too love the myriad of Jellyfish that appear in nature. 😁 Wonderful video. I have never seen such a complete and in-depth review of the full range of DS paints. I personally feel they have a tendency to keep adding to an already teetering mountain of colours, many of which are similar to many others. There has to be a limit to what colours you offer before you end up offering sub par colour quality with a hefty price tag. Your sketch work is superb, as are your painting skills, despite being new to watercolour. I feel you must surely have been sketching for many many years before watercolour peaked your interest. You are extremely talented with the pencil and ink!! Thank you for making this wonderfully useful video. I look forward to your revealing more of your journey. 🎨🖌️👩🏻🎨👏🏻👏🏻❤
Ooooh thank you, this comment made my day! And yes I agree, the DS range is overwhelming and it's impossible to make informed choices from them without taking a lot of time to explore the paints. Which is why I made this video lol. And I had never been an avid sketcher before, although I have now become obsessed since last year and sketch almost daily. But there is a lot to be said for patience, perseverance and a willingness to try. I'm so glad to have you along for the journey! 🪼💙🫶
@@TheCherrypipangel Wow, just wow…! Now I truly am in awe, and yes I too believe in perseverance and a willingness to try. I am thoroughly enjoying the road, thanks for the chance to tag along 😁🎨👩🏻🎨🖌️
Beginner? I think not. Beautiful work! I love Daniel Smith paint, however, they are tricky to make a palette, which is why I've made a few different ones😅 Lovely video. Amazing skills💕
Ah that's so kind! But I have only been painting for 7 months when I started this sketchbook and really felt like a newbie! Agreed that it's hard making a choice from the DS range, it's so wide and the painting experience of the paints varies so much - would it be worthwhile sharing the final palette I'm using? 💙🫶
Jellyfish. It was wonderful to see how you used all of the DS colors. The jellyfish are stunning. So are too many others to name. But my favourite was the moon cycles. I love the patterns you played with on each of them and the textures you achieved. Made me think I should do this type of thing with my 120 small Amsterdam acrylic colours. When there are so many colours in a range it is hard to get to known them all. your method allowed you to really see what you liked and didn’t like and discover favs. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your lovely comment, and I think you should try it too with your acrylics - it's a fun personal challenge and good way to get to know the colours "personally" 😉🪼💙
Jellyfish...your swatching book is impressive. For some reason, I find swatching to be the most boring task in art. I have tried repeatedly to swatch my colored pencil collection, and my watercolor pencils, but I keep stopping due to extreme boredom. Then, when I need to check a color, and my swatch chart is incomplete, I start again...only to stop once more. This is my own form of madness!! I can only dream of having beautiful swatch charts like yours. And, I am a person who always completes what I start...except swatching..your work is very good proving that practice makes the artist, not talent!
Thank for the kind comment, and I have to agree that swatching is a labor of discipline. While I did not mind making sketches in each colour and got quite excited about that - the actual boring swatching part took me 3 months of procrastination to force myself to do it. I had to clear a whole weekend for it and by the end I was so grumpy I was barely managed fit for society 😅🪼🫶
Jellyfish ❤ love your videos, insights and art! Please dont talk down on any of it! I know we are our worst critics to ourselves, but you are really really talented 😊❤🙏 really!
Thank you so much for this kind comment, you really made my day today. For some reason, sharing this particular video really intimidated me and it took me a month to work up the guts to edit and post it… giving opinions online always feels vulnerable. Thank you so much for the kind words 🥰🫶💙🪼
Jellyfish, Thank you again for a great start to my day! I have been waiting to see your next tour, very interesting approach to sorting out your palette. I don’t have the patience to be so organized and thoughtful in my approach to sorting through the assorted colours and brands. I try, swatching all new paints, then setting up individual palettes for each brand. Lately I have used Holbein pretty exclusively, but after swatching the 12 Shinhan colours, I will set up the palette for those and test them in a new sketchbook. I have moved off many of Daniel Smith colours for similar reasons as you have described, difficult to achieve desired effects. So, I bought other brands. My husband now just rolls his eyes when he is asked to pick up a new package at the post office. I have decided not to purchase more paint, the amount I have accumulated is more than enough! I just need to figure out the colours for my palette and get on with it.
Thank you for your delightful comment, I completely empathize with the art supply addiction, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! Also, now you've made me want to try Shinhan, but that's a whole different story of where to find them in Switzerland. 😅🪼💙🫶
this has been the most comprehensive and helpful swatching / review video i have seen. thank you so much. could you do the same for schmincke and sennelier lol?
I'm so glad you found it helpful! I originally started off using the Schminke Horadam range and still use some of their colours - specifically the Indigo, Potter's Pink and Perylene green which I prefer to the DS and WN ones. While I did not dedicate a whole sketchbook to testing all the Schminke colours 1 by 1, my first and second sketchbook tour videos have Schminke paints in the sketchbooks. And I will probably share my comparative swatching book at some point when I have have filled it more 😉
@@TheCherrypipangel thank you so much ❣
Excellent swatching/colour experimentation video, thank you. Hoping to try your approach and colour combos. I could say Jellyfish, but picked up a familiar accent right away so I’ll say “Protea” and “Jacaranda” 😉
Aaah LOVE this! You’re making me so homesick now! Thank you for writing and let me know how you get along on your experiments when you get to them! 🪼💙🫶
Jellyfish, this was such a lovely video, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your process and your exploration of the colours. I have quite a few Daniel Smith paints myself and the dot card. However I would now like to explore the colours better like you did so I have ordered another one!
Thank you so much! And I’d love to hear how you get on with your own adventure into colour testing! 🪼💙🥰
Jellyfish! Thank you for sharing your exploration into Daniel Smith. I love your paintings, your creativity is inspirational.Though I don't think you can classify yourself as a beginner anymore. However, I do think having a beginner's mind is valuable throughout one's artistic life. I will keep your opinions as food for thought. I am new to watercolor and having fun learning this medium. Quite the contrast from pencil, pen and ink which is my main jam! I have not bought any Daniel Smith just yet. I just bought the W&N Cotman set to start with, which I strongly dislike and regret buying. I am settled on the D.S 24 color set. After exhaustively going through Jane Blundell's webpage, and TH-cam channel. I bought all of her books and I can say I don't find color as mysterious and overwhelming anymore. I had a big "Ah! Ha! moment working with her triad color mixing book. Now, I can create a palette for a painting that has harmony instead of mud LOL. I just found you today and subscribed...will look forward to seeing your other sketchbooks and where you go in the future. Cheers!🖌
I also love Jane Blundell! She has done so much brilliant work into colour exploration, particularly of the DS range. I also studied her work thoroughly when choosing my paints, but eventually it was my own studies that forged my opinions the most. For example the quin rose which I purchased based off her work, but still always find slickly and slimy, and cannot wait to replace it with the quin red which I much preferred in practice…
I’m so glad you enjoyed the video though!
PS. I agree the WN Cotman sets are very “meh”. But I do enjoy some of their professional grade colours, particularly the scarlet lake and Winsor yellow, which I use now instead of the DS ones.
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I have the 24 color set and absolutely love it! Great color choices! Well worth it!
@@allisonevans2544 That's a lovely set to go for!
That's super inspiring ^^ thank you ! I wrote down a couple of pigments I'll look into in order to expand my watercolor palette ! And I absolutely love both the hanhemule sketchbooks / watercolor books (I almost only use their sketchbooks for painting ^^) !
Thanks, I'm so glad you liked it, and I'm curious to hear which pigments caught your eye 😉 And Hahnmuhle are the bread and butter of sketchbooks for me too, really good for practice and value for money ❤️🫶
What in the jellyfish are you a beginner at? :) Sketches are fab!
Ahaha thank you, that's so sweet! I only started painting 2 years ago this month, so I still feel very much a beginner, and your encouragement is so appreciated 🫶🪼💙
jellyfish! :)
i love your videos so much. i've been waiting for another sketchbook tour and this absolutely did not disappoint.
i love how long your videos are. i love how you explain absolutely everything. i was totally engrossed in every word you said from beginning to end and i really hope you keep making videos like this with all the in-depth explanations because i find it extremely helpful as a beginning watercolorist.
i have a question, and a request.
question:
you mention having sodalite genuine on your palette, and i think you mention having indigo on your palette, or at least really loving it. how do you use these two colours? they are both very dark, arguably black-leaning blues. i have sodalite genuine but not indigo but i really want to get indigo. i'm just wondering how you personally distinguish between the two in your practice, like if you have separate uses for each, or if you just love them both and use them interchangeably, or something else.
request:
would you consider doing a video just on your palette? i'm interested to know what you started with, and how your palette changed over time, and what you currently have on your palette. palette choices are a huge interest of mine - i'm super fascinated by the colour choices people make - but apart from that, you are drawn to very similar colours as me, and many of your "loves" in the Daniel Smith line are also my own, and i'm super curious to see what's on your palette and how it's changed since you started painting.
Best Comment Ever! First of all, thank you, I am so thrilled that you were waiting for this video and weren't disappointed, yay!
Next, I am going to have to restrain myself because you have literally asked me one of my favourite topics to discuss: the dark and moody blues! I have 3 very dark blues on my palette: indanthrone blue (a warm delft-pottery blue), indigo and sodalite.
Indanthrone is the smoothest and inkiest of them. In a thick layer it offers the most opacity and smoothest finish, although it is a bit shiny. This is perfect for things like midnight sky backgrounds or black-looking backgrounds. In a lighter intensity is it a beautiful warm blue which I use for things like birds feathers and chinese vases, since it's more saturated and blue than the other 2.
Indigo is a mildly desatured blue, with a bit of granulation, meaning the washes will not be so smooth, and you either need a TON of paint or several layers to get a good opacity (contrary to indanthrone). I love using this as a single pigment for monochromatic paintings and value studies, and also for painting things like mist, mountains and evening clouds, as it is just the right balance between blue and grey and is still smooth enough to work for these subjects. I also use it a lot as a mixing blue for darker shadow areas in a lot of my painting, for example on mushrooms and branches and similar - it does a great mix with buff titanium, and also with the burnt sienna and burnt umber for lovely smokey greys and almost-blacks.
And lastly Sodalite is a quiet obsession that I cannot get over. It is the most desaturated of the 3, almost anthracite grey with a hint of blue. Ultimate moody colour. But what makes it really spectacular is the granulation. A strong, intense granulation that adds dramatic variation, going from extremely deep and dark to whisper-light with great texture variations. I adore this colour for value studies, for rock mountains and stony cottages and stormy skies, and for adding interest to simple subjects. I will not often use it as a mixing colour, simply because the granulation is that strong, and usually use it on areas as a stand alone dramatic colour. It is also the colour I most often use as a black and this is what I paint pupils in eyes with for example, or all the bird's eyes I have been doing recently.
So I have very specific uses for each of these 3 colours, and would not want to separate myself from any of them.
And I failed utterly to keep this brief! 😂
I think you're right and my palette and colour choices need a separate video! I might make that next 😉🪼💙
🫙 🐠 wow, so impressed by this video as well as your creativity and process!! This is such an interesting and thorough examination of the paints and their properties. I learned so much by watching and would love to replicate your method when trying new paints. I found when I was selecting paint for my most recent palette that I gravitated towards Daniel Smith for reds/purples, greens and darker more muted colors (like moon glow, hematite genuine, indigo). Thank you for your labor of love (of watercolors)!
Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And you have great taste: Moonglow is probably my favourite paint of all time, closely seconded by Sodalite genuine and Indigo 😉 although I prefer and use the indigo from schminke which I a find tad more saturated 🫶💙
ur artbook is "flawless", omg! as an artist am not able to do this! :(
I have PSYCHOSES , and it's very difficult for me to concentrate on these very "perfect" kind of specimen! I'm so sad right now!
Oh my goodness, I couldn't help but stifle a laugh - I find my work so far removed from "flawless", and I think that's the hard part, the way we only see the flaws in our work, whereas others might never even see them. Also in regards to your second comment below, there is something to be said for letting go of expectations and results. Painting makes me so much happier since I've stopped expecting my pictures to look like they do in my imagination or in my reference. It's something that's not natural for me and I'm also a die hard perfectionist by nature, so it's a constant lesson to remind myself of. But the more I "remember to forget the result" and just keep my mind on the process and moving my hand, the more it feels like a pleasure and not a stress. And then there is the constant struggle to let go of perfectionism and realism and I am working all the time to try and be looser, more expressive, less controlled, less perfect. And wow is it hard to be loose!
So basically, my own work makes me sad sometimes too, and it's totally normal I think, it's all a process, and some days, when 'm lucky, I feel like I am closer to something, some understanding, some freedom. And other days it's still a frustrating trap where all I see is my mistakes. Don't let it make you sad though, just keep on the journey 💙
Jellyfish, ❤
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Wow❣️🌞🌟
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What pigment is that Viridian?
The viridan is a single pigment, PG18, meant to be a transparent granulating emerald green good for mixing and adding a greener tint to other paints. I was disappointed though.
@@TheCherrypipangel thank you so much very interesting
@@TheCherrypipangel I have the Schminke Viridian but not DS. It doesn’t have the intensity of a pthalo green and is really only useful for mixing. It’s a bit unnatural as a stand alone green.
@@karenirving7088 I also had the Schminke viridian on my very first pan set I bought! And it was definitely not beginner friendly, I had no clue what to do with it 😂
Jellyfish~
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Jellyfish!
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In my 31 years of living here in Belgium, and being on the ww net, I discovered that THE EUROPEANS have the BEST ART in the world!!! It is an "indoctrination"! It's in the DNA codefication! I dunno which aliens codified it, but it must be a "blondie", 'coz we asians can't o it! tfs --- love, Cleo777
Hahaha this made me smile, but I have to disagree - some of my favourite watercolour artists whom I admire and worship are Asian. There is talent and beauty in each place 😉🫶
Jellyfish
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Beginner.. Lol...
Lol you're not the only one thinking this, but I had only been painting for 7 months when I started this sketchbook, and by the end I had learnt so much - maybe I should make a video on how to progress fast as a beginner...
@@TheCherrypipangel Yeah.. because if you can progress THAT far in 7 months.. you either have discovered the PERFECT method.. or (like I imagine) were just talented and basically an "artist" to begin with...
I think I found the “perfect method” for myself: I was really enjoying it, made a structured plan for learning (I may have OCD tendencies) and kept up practicing and being patient and learning. There is a lot to be said for perseverance and willingness to try.
Hand dexterity is also a thing, for example women generally always have better hand dexterity compared to men - and I’ve been working most of my life in a profession where I use my hands a lot for fine work.
And those are the points that I believe helped me progress the most.
But in my opinion there is no such thing as someone is an “artist” and others who are “not artists”. These are just labels and art is everything that some feels and sees in the world and creates and expresses around them. It’s not about learning to make a pretty brushstroke on a page, I think everyone has art inside them to bring to the world.
@@TheCherrypipangel well.. I think most of the world would agree that things created by artists "look good".. ie: a fruit looks like a fruit.. a scene mirrors a scene in real life... so, if you can do these things - you are an artist. Sure - you can even be famous and people will faun all over your work even it is is junk (looking at you Vincent van Gogh and your nasty looking "Madame Roulin and Her Baby")
Your opinions are interesting although I don’t agree with some of them.
Hi, and thank you for letting me know - I'd love to hear what you thought or disagree on - it's a learning experience for me and I'm always happy to expand my horizons 🫶
@@TheCherrypipangel I was interested that you found some of the DS paints “difficult “ to work with. I don’t have all of those colours but the ones I have are well behaved. I wondered if testing paints from dot cards was being “fair” to them.
@@karenirving7088 Thank you for getting back to me, I was curious to hear your thoughts! So, this is a very valid concern, and for the sake of science, at the time I went ahead anyway and purchased some of the paints that I had found slick and sticky on the dot card as a tube version, just because I loved the colours so much. So I decided to order them anyway and give them a fair chance. This concerned 5 paints in particular: lemon yellow, quin coral, quin rose, cobalt blue violet and mayan blue. I am still using the tubes because I want to finish them. But I can confirm, they are exactly as streaky and slimy as on the dot card, and I still hate painting with them and will never buy them again. And the ones that were great on the dot cards were also great in the tubes. So, surprisingly, the dot card seemed to be a really accurate representation of what to expect when you buy the tube 🤓
@@TheCherrypipangel I love quin coral 🤣no problems with it 🤷♀️
@@karenirving7088 Ahahah maybe I'm just cursed! I love the colour - but maybe compare it with the quin red - that was a night and day difference
Jellyfish! Thank you for a fabulous tour of your sketchbook and deep dive into DS paints. I learned so much. I recently purchased a DS dot card of all the colors and hope to swatch them like you did. May I enquire what sketchbook and size you used for your swatches? I'm guessing A4 Hahnemuhle. You are so inspiring! @thecherrypipangel
Thank you for such a lovely message, I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! My sketchbooks in this video are indeed the Hahnemuhle ones, you have a good eye! I use an A4 for my swatch records, and a 21cm square format for the sketching one. I think they're such good value for money, although the paper is not quite as easy to work on as Arches or Saunders Waterford - but it keeps me on my toes lol! 🪼💙🫶
@@TheCherrypipangel Thank you! You are an inspiration. 😄
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