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M.Graham Watercolours

June 18, 2017, 8:50 pm
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M.Graham watercolours have been produced in Oregon for over 22 years. The M.Graham colour chart shows 70 colours and the website is very helpful.

It's been challenging testing the MG paints since they are made with a high honey content, making them tricky to for people to mail out samples. However people have been ingenious - as they have been with the Sennelier range - so I've tested 45 of them and they are beautiful paints, just best suited for studio use and/or less humid environments I think. Here they are so far, laid out in the order of the colour chart.

As always, I have tried to match the colours accurately. The first section are all single pigment cool to mid yellows.
M.Graham Watercolours - Bismuth Vandate Yellow, Hansa Yellow (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Light (not shown), Azo Yellow, Hansa Yellow Deep.

Azo Orange is more orange than it looks here - it is almost a mid orange but just on the yellow side.

M.Graham Watercolours - Cadmium Yellow (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Deep (not shown), Gamboge (not shown), Indian Yellow (not shown), Azo Orange.


Scarlet Pyrrol is a very bright orange-red. Naphthol Red is very rich.
M.Graham Watercolours - Cadmium Orange (not shown), Scarlet Pyrrol, Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Red Light, Naphthol Red.

M.Graham Watercolours - Pyrrol Red, Cadmium Red (not shown), Cadmium Red Deep (not shown), Quinacridone Rose, Alizarine Crimson (not shown).

M.Graham Watercolours - Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Maroon Perylene (not shown), Quinacridone Violet, Ultramarine Pink, Mineral Violet (not shown).

M.Graham Watercolours - Cobalt Violet, Ultramarine Violet Deep, Dioxazine Purple, Ultramarine Violet (not shown), Ultramarine Blue.

M.Graham Watercolours - Cobalt Blue (not shown), Anthraquinone Blue, Cerulean Blue, Ceruelan Blue Deep (not shown), Phthalo Blue Red Shade.
M.Graham Watercolours - Prussian Blue, Phthalo Blue, Manganese Blue Hue (not shown), Cobalt Teal, Turquoise.
There is a good range of greens - useful single pigment mixing greens...
M.Graham Watercolours - Phthalo Green, Viridian (not shown), Phthalo Green Yellow Shade, Cobalt Green, Permanent Green Light.

...and very nice Sap and Olive convenience greens
M.Graham Watercolours - Permanent Green Pale, Hooker's Green (not shown), Sap Green Permanent, Olive Green, Azo Green.
 There are also plenty of lovely earth colours to choose from. I like the purity of the MG pigments - PBr7 for raw siena, PY43 for yellow ochre...

M.Graham Watercolours - Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide (not shown), Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna (not shown), Nicke Azo Yellow, Naples Yellow.
...PBr7 for Burnt Sienna.
M.Graham Watercolours - Nicke Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Orange Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Rust, Transparent Red Oxide, Burnt Sienna.

And the burnt and raw umbers are a lovely warm and cool deep brown pair.
M.Graham Watercolours - Terra Rosa, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Sepia (not shown), Ivory Black (not shown).
 I really like the Neutral Tint being a mix of two bright coloured pigments rather than a black pigment - it keeps life in watercolour paintings and is difficult to find commercially (which is why I make my own)
M.Graham Watercolours - Lamp Black (not shown), Neutral Tint, Payne's Grey, Chines White (not shown), Titanium White Opaque (not shown).
Those who use M.Graham watercolours speak very highly of them. Hopefully I'll be able to eventually try the whole lovely range, even though they don't suit my plein air style of painting.

See also -
Blockx full range here
Daniel Smith new colours 2017 here
Daniel Smith full range here
MaimeriBlu full range here
Mijello Mission Gold full range here
Old Holland full range here
Schmincke new colours 2017 here 
Schmincke full range here
Winsor & Newton full range here

Da Vinci range here
Lukas range here
M.Graham range here
Rembrandt range here
Sennelier range here

I am still working on Hydrus, Daler Rowney, Holbein, QoR, Art Spectrum and ShenHan PWC, though will post up partial ranges of these brands as well.





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Slight setback...

August 26, 2017, 8:35 pm
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I've been a bit quiet here for a while as I was travelling for 5 1/2 weeks in the UK, Europe and of course to the fabulous Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago, thenI had another week away skiing in New Zealand. Where, as those who follow me on Facebook or Instagram would know, I broke my wrist. As it is my right, dominant, hand, it's been scary to see the X-rays and to go through surgery to have it plated and pinned, but I am on the mend and will still be heading to the West Coast of the US in late September as planned.

I'm looking forward to re-visiting San Francisco, driving down the ocean road sketching my way to Santa Barbara, driving to Gig Harbor, returning to the Daniel Smith factory in Seattle, exploring McMinnville in Oregon and meeting up with the urban sketchers from many cities including LA, SF, Seattle and Portland. Details are on my website here.

I am a bit slow one-handed on the computer and my planned full video on-line class launch has been delayed since I can't yet make the videos, but I have a number of posts in mind so you'll hear from me again soon...



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Granulation - what and why?

September 3, 2017, 11:49 pm
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Goethite, DS. PY43

Of the many characteristics the watercolour artist can explore, by far the most unique and special, is granulation. It's one of the reasons I use Daniel Smith watercolours - they are the masters of granulation.

Granulation is the effect you get when the pigment particles clump together rather than settling evenly on the painted surface. As a very general rule, the finer the particles, the less they granulate. So phthalos and quinacridones, being very fine and even sized man-made particles, appear very smooth in a wash. 

Many of the natural earth pigments, ultramarines, cadmiums and of course the Daniel Smith Primateks have larger, more irregular particle sizes and granulate beautifully.

Sydney sandstone sketch.  Watercolour.

You can increase the effect further 
by using rougher paper and more water.




As I am a realist, I really like to capture the texture as well as the colour of my subject, and granulating pigments helps to create texture in the otherwise 2D watercolour medium.


Buff Titanium, DS
PW6:1

Two of my palette staples are DS Buff Titanium (shown left) and Goethite (shown above). The buff titanium is a granulating ecru colour, prefect for marble, snow gums, and for making pastel hues with other colours. Mixed with Goethite it creates a wonderful beach colour. You can see a lot more about mixing this wonderful colour here and it is mentioned in many of my blog posts here.


Transparent Red Oxide,
DS. PR101 
Together this pair is also fabulous for the fantastic range of colours in Sydney sandstone or the lovely honeycomb colour of Bath.





Adding DS transparent red oxide and/or burnt sienna and allowing the pigments to move on the paper allows the pigments to create extraordinary effects. You can see the granulation of the pigments in the bottom part of the sandstone rock sketch above and the cliff sketch below.




Cliff sketch, Blue Mountains. Pen and ink and watercolour.


Governor Macquarie Rose. Watercolour.


This study of a Governor Macquarie Rose was painted in very soft washes of Piemontite and Quinacridone Rose, with just Piemontite used in the background. The colour changes when used in very weak washes or in mass-tone.

Piemontite, DS


Green Apatite Genuine, DS









Green Apatite genuine is another fabulous granulating Primatek watercolour. It can create interest in passage of foliage as it also moves from brighter greens in soft dilutions to rich deep olive greens in masstone.











The Gasworks, Seattle. Pen and ink with watercolour.




Here I have used a combination of transparent red oxide and piemontite to paint the rusty texture of the Gas Works in Seattle - I love this place and look forward to returning when I go back to Seattle in October. You can also see the texture of Green Apatite genuine in the foreground foliage.

(For more on my upcoming US trip see here)

I love painting rusty things. And dead things, and decay...they could seem a little morbid but I seem them as extraordinarily beautiful :-)











'Past their Prime'. Watercolour and Ink, 2017





The background in this pen and ink study of the dried Strelitzia was painted in a mixture of Goethite, Buff Titanium and Raw Umber. I love the way it produces a texture not obtainable any other way.




























Perhaps the most spectacularly granulating pigment is PBk11 seen here in Lunar Black. I generally mix my own black hues, but I love exploring this one for amazing abstract or imaginary landscape studies as you can see in my gallery here.

   
 I have also shown a swatch of an experimental Daniel Smith colour - the rare and expensive YInMn blue pigment. In any other medium I have seen it, it is a lovely colour but otherwise not anything so very special, but seen here as a watercolour it is really something.

I love exploring all the characteristics of watercolour, whether for sketches on location, urban sketching, botanicals, studio paintings or just to play. But my favourite by far is granulation. 


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Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Watercolours

September 12, 2017, 8:17 pm
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One of my lovely students, Sakshi, lent me a full set of Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus watercolours to test, which was great as they claim to be a range of pigmented lightfast liquid watercolours. Not something I am particularly interested in using necessarily, but interesting to try. I'm curious how they differ from working with pigmented inks.

They came in 4 sets of 12 bottles. Three sets are standard watercolours and the third is Iridescent watercolours. I'll concentrate on the 'normal' watercolours first and I will add those later...

When Sakshi first painted them out, the colours were mostly reasonably smooth, but some have changed quite dramatically over time and had separated in the bottles. I've photographed her original wheels to show the difference (see below). 

Some bottles had pigment and lightfast information on them, but some didn't at all.

I have photographed them in a logical order, though not in the sets they were purchased in. As always I have tried to capture the correct colour and will note below how it differs on my screen.

The Hansa yellow light is a bright cool yellow, the Hansa yellow medium a clean primary yellow. Gamboge is a very warm two pigment mix -  brighter and slightly more orange than it appears on my screen. Hansa Yellow Deep and Chrome Yellow are almost the same orange-yellow hue. Rather like PY110 often looks.

Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolours - Titanium White,  Hansa Yellow Light, Hansa Yellow Medium, Gamboge, Hansa Yellow Deep, Chrome Yellow.

Brilliant cad red has no cadmiums at all, but is a Naphthol red pigment. The same pigment is used for Vermilion hue which is just a touch less orange. In between is the mixed hue Permanent red. PR170 has two forms - one more lightfast than the other. I don't know which is used here. Same with Carmine - a pretty colour but I suspect it's the less lightfast version. Alizarin crimson and Deep red rose are almost identical in colour.

Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolours - Brilliant Cad Red, Permanent Red, Vermilion Hue, Carmine, Alizarin Crimson, Deep Red Rose.

Crimson lake is also very similar to the crimsons above. PR269 is rated III so not lightfast enough for watercolours. The Quinacridone magenta is a lovely colour but the Quinacridone Violet wouldn't paint out nicely. Nor would the Ultramarine red violet. Cobalt violet looks very like a PV23 but no information was given. Ultramarine does not contain PB29 but a mix that is more like a phthalo blue red shade in hue.
Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolours - Crimson Lake, Quinacridone Magenta, Quinacridone Violet, Ultramarine Red Violet, Cobalt Violet, Ultramarine.

Cobalt blue looks like another phthalo pigment - it is certainly not PB28. Phthalo blue painted out nicely. As did Turquoise blue. Blue aqua could do with more blue in it be different enough from Phthalo Green. Sap green separated badly and was very odd.
Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolours - Cobalt Blue, Phthalo Blue, Turquoise Blue, Blue Aqua, Phthalo Green, Sap Green.

Viridian is not made with PG18 and is not even a viridian hue -  more like a phthalo green yellow shade. I quite like the Yellow ochre - that might be fun to draw with in a dip pen. The Raw sienna and Venetian red were not at all nice to paint with. Indian red is made with the perylene maroon pigment PR179 and is a rather lovely rich maroon.  Red oxide is more like a dull brown.
Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolours - Viridian Green, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Venetian Brown, Indian Red, Red Oxide.
Burnt sienna is a very strange red-brown. No pigment is given. Burnt umber had separated like Sap green, as had Sepia. I quite like the Raw umber though. I mid brown - not really warm or cool. Payne's Grey painted out nicely and might be good in a pen to draw with. Carbon black was a little more difficult to control.
Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolours - Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, RAw Umber, Sepia, Payne's Gray, Carbon Black.
Here are the colours as painted out when the set was new. Some look a little streaky even at this stage. This is set one.
The first set - Hydrus watercolours courtesy of Sakshi.

The 2nd set - Hydrus watercolours courtesy of Sakshi.

The third set - Hydrus watercolours courtesy of Sakshi.


The 4th set is the iridescent colours. I'll admit that am not as interested in iridescent watercolours, though I realise they are of value to many, especially calligraphers. I'll paint out swatches on white and black paper and add them eventually, but it's hard to really show how they really look in photos as the sheen doesn't replicate.

The 4th set - Hydrus Iridescent watercolours courtesy of Sakshi.

 Liquid watercolours can be used in the studio of course, and it is easy to create repeatable recipes since they come with an eye dropper. They can also be used to fill water-brushes so they can be used on location. I know of one sketcher who had a water-brush filled with yellow to keep that colour clean. Another uses a range of greys. Otherwise, like inks, they are more risky on location as they can obviously spill.

I allowed my samples to dry and attempted re-wetting them without satisfactory results so they are best used fresh from the bottle.

See also -

Blockx full range here
Daniel Smith new colours 2017 here
Daniel Smith full range here
MaimeriBlu full range here
Mijello Mission Gold full range here
Old Holland full range here
Schmincke new colours 2017 here 
Schmincke full range here
Winsor & Newton full range here

Da Vinci range here
Lukas range here
M.Graham range here
Rembrandt range here
Sennelier range here




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Daniel Smith Watercolour Stick Palette

October 22, 2017, 8:03 pm
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Cigarette case hack - now a watercolour palette :-)

I am back home after a fabulous road trip down and up the West Coast of the US, and while I was away I received many questions about some photos I showed on Instagram (@janeblundellart) of a cigarette case that I turned into a watercolour stick palette. I'll give the details here.









As I've said in other posts, the advantage of sticks is that they are all the same price regardless of series number and that they are a convenient way to transport watercolours. I think of them as pre-dried watercolour - convenient to just cut a piece off and add to a palette as needed. I don't choose to draw with them, though of course you could.

The colours are similar to what I would normally use though some of my favourites are not available as sticks. 

buff titanium
hansa yellow medium (or use hansa yellow light for a lemon yellow)
hansa yellow deep (optional)
quinacridone gold

organic vermilion (since there isn't a pyrrol scarlet stick)
permanent alizarin (since there isn't a pyrrol crimson stick)
quinacridone red (since there isn't quinacridone rose stick)
piemontite genuine (since there isn't an Indian red stick)

ultramarine
cerulean chromium
phthalo blue GS

phthalo green BS
Undersea green
sap green
serpentine genuine

yellow ochre (since there isn't a goethite stick)
burnt sienna
burnt umber (since there isn't a raw umber stick - this is one I'd really like to see added - I love raw umber!)
sodalite genuine (instead of Jane's Grey)


Daniel Smith watercolour sticks used to create a 19 colour palette - no pans needed.

To take it up to 20 colours you could add Indanthrone Blue - a gorgeous rich deep blue, or rich Green Gold - a very green-yellow, or Graphite Grey - a graphite watercolour that is fascinating to use, or raw sienna - I often like to have yellow ochre and raw sienna as extras as well as my favourite goethite since the pigments PY43 and PBr7 mix differently.

A larger palette might fit 24 colours so I'd add the above colours and perhaps Quinacridone Burnt Orange as the 24th. There are 51 sticks to choose from. (You can see them here)

I have simply wet the bottom of each 1cm of watercolour stick and pressed them into the re-purposed palette, which was an early 1900s cigarette case. Provided they are used with care, and not too much water, this palette is a compact and simple one to use.

Happy painting :-)


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St Petersburg watercolours

December 26, 2017, 9:40 pm
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White Nights/St Petersburg watercolours are made in Russia by Nevskaya Palitra, who also make a cheaper student range called 'Sonnet' and another range called 'Ladoga'. I have assumed that the names are interchangeable. The full pans of both White Nights and St Petersburg are embossed with 'St Petersburg' so I think they are different names for the same range, with White Nights being the name in Russia and Europe and St Petersburg better known in the USA.

The St Petersburg are rebranded by Jack Richeson & Co Inc, but as far as I am aware, the colours and pigments of the different labels are the same. I received 24 of the White Nights colours in 2015 and wrote about them here.

Richeson & Co sent me the full range of St Petersburg colours and I painted out all those and will show them here. Another 9 were added to the White Nights range the Northern Spring this year, which I don't have but have left a swatch space including the pigment information.

These are the most affordable 'professional' watercolours available, priced in some markets all the same and in others in two series. In Australia they are just AU$4.95 each. However I do need to qualify that I would suggest caution if using these for works that will be framed and exhibited as there are many fugitive pigments in the lists that may fade on exposure to sunlight. While they use genuine pigments, some are not as strong as higher cost watercolours and they seem to contain some binders or fillers.

For those starting out, working in a sketchbook or just playing with a new medium, buying for children or class sets, they are a very simple and affordable way to start, without having the problem of what to do with the tubes, or how to make up palettes or pans. And since they are all full pans, there is good brush access and plenty of colour to paint with.

Note - twelve of the colours are also available as tubes. The full information can be found here.

Here are the colours, colour matched as close as I can, but as always matching the yellow/oranges and oranges and some reds is a difficult job.


Most of the yellows look fine, and PY1 looks lovely - it's interesting to see PY1 and I don't think I know of any other versions of it in watercolour. I'd tend to suggest trying that or Cadmium Yellow Medium in this range as it is not as opaque as it can be - not so opaque that they cover drawn lines completely -  or Lemon for a definite cool yellow hue.

Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours- Zinc White, Lemon, Cadmium Lemon, Hansa Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium.

It's always difficult to show yellow oranges and orange reds accurately. Indian Yellow and Indian Gold were released by White Nights in the Northern Spring 2017 so I am guessing they will also appear in St Petersburg. Made with PY150, Indian Yellow should be a very transparent mid yellow - a good primary yellow choice. Adding PR101 will make is warmer like a quinacridone gold hue. Golden and Golden Deep are really verging on orange rather than yellow.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Indian Yellow (not shown), Indian Gold (not shown), Golden, Golden Deep,
Cadmium Orange.

Orange Lake is very bright and Titan's Red is a lovely rich orange and the other warm reds are very clean and bright.  Cadmium Red Light is made with PR108 - a reliable warm red pigment. Scarlet is a mid fire engine red.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Orange Lake, Titan's Red, Cadmium Red Light, Vermilion (Hue), Scarlet.

I'd be interested to see the new PV19 colours as I suspect they will be excellent primary red and violet hues, with better lightfastness than the current crimson and rose colours.

Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Ruby, Madder Lake Red Light, Carmine (Hue), Quinacridone Red,
Quinacridone Violet Rose.

PR122 is most often called Quinacridone Magenta and is an excellent choice as a primary red in a limited palette.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Quinacridone Rose, Rose, Quinacridone Lilac, Claret, Violet-Rose.

PV55 is the pigment used in Daniel Smith Quinacridone Purple and Ultramarine Violet is usually a gently granulating pigment. Hopefully I'll be able to add these samples at some stage. I've never seen PV3 (Violet) or PB1 (Blue Lake) in other ranges. Both are beautiful, but not very lightfast.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Quinacridone Violet (not shown), Ultramarine Violet (not shown), Violet, Blue Lake, Indanthrone Blue.
It's a lovely version of ultramarine, an essential warm blue watercolour as far as I am concerned, being useful for mixing, for skies and on its own. The new blue would probably look like a phthalo blue red shade.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Ultrmarine, Cobalt Blue, Blue (not shown), Blue (Russian), Indigo.

The Cerulean is not a strong as I'd like to see, and interestingly is slightly different from the White Nights Cerulean Blue, though the same pigment. I prefer PB36 Cerulean to the generally warmer  PB35, but it is still a useful non-staining cool blue for painting skies. Bright Blue is normally known as phthalo blue - this is the green shade - a useful cool blue.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Prussian Azure (Blue), Cerulean Blue, Bright Blue (Brilliant), Asure Blue, Turquoise Blue.

Emerald Green is usually known as phthalo green - a very useful mixing green, though I'd very very rarely use it alone. Russian Green is a lovely colour, though not especially light-fast so best in the protection of a sketchbook. The new Sap Green is made from chrome green and a transparent mid yellow so I'd expect it to be granulating and rather olive.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Emerald Green, Green Original, Green Light, Green (Russian), Sap Green (not shown).

There are some interesting mixed greens in this range. Either Green Earth or Olive Green might be a good convenience foliage greens. Green Light is better knows as phthalo green yellow shade and oxide of chromium is a rather fascinating granulating pigment.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Oxide of Chromium, Yellowish Green, Green Earth, Olive Green, Yellow Ochre.

I like the earth colours Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna best in this range as they are single pigment earth colours - always my preference if possible. The Red Ochre is interesting too, though not essential. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has managed to get a better colour from the Shakhnazarskaya Red?
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Naples Yellow, Raw Sienna, Red Ochre, Shakhnazarskaya Red, Burnt Sienna.

I like to see raw umber as a cool deep brown, but prefer it as a single pigment colour. Venetian Red is usually made with PR101.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - English Red, Venetian Red (not shown), Burnt Umber, Mars Brown, Umber (Raw)

And the darks. I prefer to pre-mix my own, but since these come in full pans in this range I'd tend to include Neutral Tint even though is has black pigment. The Sepia is a rich cool dark brown.
Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Sepia, Voronezhskaya Black, Payne's Gray, Neutral Tint.

Antique Gold and Silver Deep are also available, but I haven't tried them. If you have, or any of the others not shown here, please add comments below.

Yarka: St Petersburg watercolours - Antique Gold (not shown),  Silver Deep (not shown).

While I don't prefer to use St Petersburg myself, preferring to use tubes of more highly pigmented watercolours, I think they are a remarkable range for the price, with some great colour and pigment choices for those who want nice large pans of colour for an excellent price.

Here is my suggested sketchbook set of 12. It is intended for plein air, travel or urban sketching in a sketchbook, where liftable blues are useful for the sky, and where lightfast ratings are less important. It includes Payne's Grey, which I don't usually recommend (since it is not possible to pre-make my usual Jane's Grey) as a convenience grey is really useful when sketching. It also has Sepia, which has black pigment, another I usually avoid - but this is a cool dark brown which is also useful for sketching. It has cadmiums, which I also usually avoid, but they are less opaque in this set and fill the spots nicely for a primary yellow and warm red.

White Nights Plein Air Set painted out clockwise from top left - Cadmium Yellow Medium, Golden, Cadmium Red Light, Carmine, Ultramarine, Cerulean, Emerald, Green (Russian), Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Sepia, Neutral Tint.
I suggested this set back in 2015 (before the new colours were added), and it has been put together as a Plein Air Set, available from Larrypost.com.au for less than AU$50, which is excellent for a watercolour set. The palette is white plastic with good mixing spaces. They are all full pans so plenty of paint to splash around!
Yarka White Nights St Petersburg watercolours - Plein Air Set.
(photo from Larrypost.com.au)




There are also 24 and 36 colour sets, in much larger studio palettes, or the full pans can be purchased individually.

Happy painting :-)


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Quinacridone Gold Hues

December 28, 2017, 10:25 pm
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Quinacridone Gold could be considered a non-essential colour, but it very quickly became one of my personal go-to favourites when I first tried the Daniel Smith PO49 version back in about 1995. I think it was the first company to produce the colour, and I loved not only the way it mixed, but also the gorgeous glow it could add to a painting. I've also tried a PO49 version from Winsor & Newton, but otherwise only hues from other manufactures.

It is brighter than most earth yellows, but more neutralised that most warm yellows so is a neutralised warm yellow. It's perfect for making the gorgeous dull greens of the Australian landscape.

This year saw the end of the world's PO49 supply that Daniel Smith bought up about 17 years ago, when the car industry lost interest in the beautiful pigment and production ceased. The last batch was produced in September. Though I did see some available in dry pigment form in New York...?

Since PO49 has run out, I thought I'd post up a sample of different versions for comparison.

The first has the yellower Nickel Quinacridone Gold from M.Graham, followed by the new (2017) Schmincke Quinacridone Gold Hue and the QoR Quinacridone Gold. PY150 is a perfect base for this colour hue and it appears in all versions.
M.Graham Nickel Quinacridone Gold, Schmincke Quinacridone Gold Hue, QoR Quinacridone Gold.

Next are Quinacridone Gold Hue from Daniel Smith introduced in 2015 for 5ml tubes and sticks, and now used in 15ml tubes. This hue was used in the mixes from that time instead of PO49. Then the genuine PO49 from Daniel Smith and the genuine PO49 from Winsor & Newton.
Daneil Smith Quinacridone Gold, Daniel smith Quinacridone Gold (PO49), Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Gold (PO49)

And finally the Winsor & Newton three pigment hue which looks ok in this sample but is often very dull, the three pigment Sennelier hue and the deeper Da Vinci hue.
Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Gold, Sennelier Quinacridone gold, Da Vinci Quinacridone Gold.

They are all very similar, though the W&N is less bright due to the PV19 and the Da Vinci is deeper - almost like a PO48 Quin Gold deep. As always, it's hard to show on the screen.

My favourite mix is PY150 plus PR101 (DS transparent red oxide or W&N burnt sienna) that Schmincke uses, though PR206, PO48 and also work.

The world hasn't ended, and just as we survived the end of PY153 and other gorgeous pigments, we'll survive the end of this one (though I admit I started hoarding tubes of PO49 a while ago....)

I'll also show these pictures on Instagram (janeblundellart) where they may look slightly different.

Happy painting!





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Wallace Seymour Watercolours

December 30, 2017, 5:58 pm
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It's my final post for 2017as it is already 31st December in Australia. I have many ideas for future posts, including hopefully completing my project to post the full range of every professional watercolour available in the world! Maybe I'll achieve that one in 2018, and add all the swatches to my website. Here's a newish addition.

Wallace Seymour, formerly Pip Seymour but now renamed after his partner Rachel Wallace, are relatively new to the watercolour world. From the UK, they focus on the very traditional pigments - they are largely cobalts, cadmiums, earth pigments and a couple of phthalos, rather than the newer quinacridones, pyrrols and perylenes. They are formulated with a special emulsion of Honey and Kordofan Gum Arabic

They are available in tubes and in pans but so far I way prefer working with the pans and wouldn't recommend the tubes unless using them fresh each day - they are really difficult to rewet if allowed to dry in the palette.

The pan colours are full pans, and are available in Australia from Pigment Lab in Newtown. I haven't tried all of them yet, but will show some here and update over time. Wallace Seymour also make Oils but I haven't tried them at all.

The full range of 58 watercolours can be seen here.


There are many beautiful cadmium colours in this range, which I appreciate, even though I don't tend to use them very often. They are excellent pigments with gorgeous granulation but can be too opaque for working with pen lines as I often do.
Wallace Seymour Extra Fine Watercolours - Permanent Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red Light. Alizarin Crimson, Quinacridone Magenta.
The Ultramarine and cobalt colours are also gorgeous. I love the Cobalt Blue Middle (also known as Cerulean Chromium in Daniel Smith or Cobalt Ceruelean in Schmincke - a gorgeous colour) and Cobalt Turquoise.
Wallace Seymour Extra Fine Watercolours - Ultramarine Blue Deep, Cobalt Blue Middle, Phthalocyanine Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Green Deep.
Phthalo Green is always a useful mixing colour and this and the phthalo blue shown above are nice and strong. I like the single pigment earth colours best.
Wallace Seymour Extra Fine Watercolours - Viridian (Hue) Phthalo Green, Cobalt Green Light? (I tried this in the store and am not sure!), Verona Green Earth, Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre Light.

I really like these earth colours too - lovely granulation.

Wallace Seymour Extra Fine Watercolours - Burnt Sienna, Indian Red, Pozzuolii Earth, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber.

There are a lot more to try before I can show the full range, but the pigment information is not included on the website so I will add that here for all the colours. Payne's Grey Light wins the prize for the most pigments in any watercolour I have tried - 7!!

Body Colour - Solid White PW 6 PW 5 Series 1 

Permanent Yellow Light PY 3 Series 1 (shown)

Cobalt Yellow (Aureolin) PY 40 Series 4 

Nickel Titanium Yellow PY 53 Series 2 

Cadmium Yellow Lemon PY 35 Series 3 

Cadmium Yellow Light PY 35 Series 3 (shown)

Cadmium Yellow Middle PY 35 Series 3 

Cadmium Yellow Deep PO 20 Series 3 

Cadmium Orange Light PO 20 Series 3

Cadmium Orange Deep PO 20 Series 3 

Cadmium Red Light PO 20  Series 3 (shown)

Cadmium Red Middle PR 108  Series 3 

Cadmium Red Deep PR 108 Series 3 

Cadmium Bordeaux PR 108 Series 3 

Alizarin Crimson PR 83 Series 2 (shown) 

Quinacridone Magenta PV 19  Series 2 (shown)

Naples Yellow Light PW 4 PY 43 PY 35 Series 1 

Naples Yellow Deep PW 4 PY 43 PY 35 Series 1 

Cinabrese - flesh tint PW 4 PY 43 PR 83 Series 1 

Yellow Ochre Light PY 43 Series 1 (shown)

Gold Ochre PY 43 Series 1

Brown Ochre PBr 7 Series 1 

Burnt Yellow Ochre PY 43 Series 2 

Raw Sienna PBr 7 Series 1 (shown)

Burnt Sienna PBr 7 Series 1 (shown)

Pozzuolii Earth PR 101 Series1 (shown)

Indian Red PR 101 Series 1 (shown)

Raw Umber PBr 7 Series 1 (shown)

Burnt Umber PBr 7 Series 1 (shown)

Van Dyke Brown PBr 7 PB 29 Series 1 

Sepia PBr 7 PBk 7 PBk 9  Series 1 

Verona Green Earth PBr 7 PG 7  Series 1 (shown)

Bohemian Green Earth PG 23 Series 2

Permanent Green Very Light PY 3 PG 7 Series 2 

Permanent Green Middle PY3 PG 7 Series 2 

Emerald Green (hue) PY3 PG 7 PW 4 Series 2 

Viridian (hue) - Phthalo Green PG 7 Series 2 (shown)

Chrome Oxide Green PG 17 Series 2 

Cobalt Green Light PG 50 PY 35 Series 3 (shown?)

Cobalt green Deep PB 36 PG 50 Series 3 (shown)

Cobalt Turquoise PB 36 series 3 (shown)

Cerulean Blue PB 35 series 4

Seymour Blue PB 15 PW 4 Series 1 
Cobalt Blue Light PB 28 PB 36  Series 3



Cobalt Blue Middle PB 36  Series 3 (shown)

Cobalt Blue Deep PB 28  Series 3 

Ultramarine Blue Deep PB 29  Series 2 (shown)

Phthalocyanine Blue PB 15  Series 2 (shown)

Paris blue - Prussian Blue PB 27 Series 2

Indigo (hue) PB 29 PB 15 PBk 7 PBk 9  Series 2 

Cobalt violet Light PV 14 Series 4

Cobalt violet Deep PV 14 Series 4 

Manganese Violet PV 16 Series 2 

Ultramarine Pink PR 259  Series 2 

Ultramarine Red PV 15 Series 2

Violet Grey PG 7 PW 4 PB 29 PV 23 Series 2

Payne´s Grey LightPW 4 PW 6 PB 27 PBk 7 PBk 9 PR 83 PV 15 Series 1 

Payne´s Grey PB 27 PBk 7 PBk 9 PR 83 PV 15 Series 1 

Ivory Black PBk 7 PBk 9  Series 1 


Happy painting and the very best wishes for 2018 :-)
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Wallace Seymour The Four Humours

January 1, 2018, 9:10 pm
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Happy New Year and welcome 2018! 




I have just updated my last post about Wallace Seymour Artists Watercolours, and shown a few of the Vintage Watercolours. The other product that was mentioned in the comments and added to the post was The Four Humours - 18C Watercolour Life Drawing Set, shown here.

I bought this set in Manchester during the 2016 USk Symposium and had a little play with it. It is not an easy set to get started with - you need to wet with hot water and scrub with a firm brush to activate for the first time and it takes some doing to get them to release the colour. Once you do, you have a red earth, a yellow earth and grey and a creamy white. 

Pip (Wallace) Seymour Four Humours

 While I found the set charming, it wasn't really practical so I broke off a bit of each colour (I am not suggesting this was a good idea but the black was rather broken!) and put it in a full pan and attempted to rewet it. Rather like the Vintage tubes, it wasn't easy to do. However I have read glowing reviews of this set so perhaps used as intended straight from the hand-made rounds would have been a better idea.


I love exploring new materials and ideas. While they may not all suit me, others may enjoy reading about them and adding their own comments below. Life would be far less interesting if we all loved exactly the same things!

Happy painting :-)
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Wallace Seymour Vintage Watercolours

January 2, 2018, 10:29 pm
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I have just posted about the Wallace Seymour pan colours known as Artists Watercolours, but to avoid confusion, I've decided to give the Vintage Watercolours their own post.

These are a little bit more tricky to write about since they are not a range that suit my method of painting, but many people have enjoyed them and may wish to comment below.

As I prefer to use watercolours in dried out form in a palette - since part of the joy of watercolour is the convenience of having them always ready to use - I squeezed some of the three tubes I bought in Manchester (while at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in 2016) into half pans and allowed them to dry. They cracked badly and were almost impossible to paint with, so I added distilled water to soak and rewet and then added some glycerine, stirred and fiddled, and allowed to dry again. Here you can see how even with the glycerine added to try to hold them together, the dry pans cracked badly. 

Pip Seymour labelled Vintage Watercolour tubes and squeezed into full pans.

Here you can see my them painted out and fresh from the tube along with two more that a friend had bought. Cerulean and Ultramarine are really lovely and rich with gorgeous granulation but Payne's Grey was a disappointment as it is labelled as PB29 + PR102 so should have been a lovely warm grey, however my tube didn't match the lovely sample colour hand-painted on the tubes. Lemon Titanate is never a strong pigment, though Venetian red usually is.
Pip Seymour Vintage watercolour tube colours painted fresh from the tube. Lemon Titanate, Cerulean, Ultramarine Blue Deep, Venetian Red and Payne's Grey.
Here I have painted the sample from the dry pan (left) and from the wet tube colour (right) and you can see the difference. I've decided these tubes are not for me, but are an option for those who paint with fresh tube paint. Which, like Sennelier and M.Graham, is probably what they were designed for :-)

Pip Seymour Vintage (tube) colours painted out from dry sample (left) then wet sample (right) for each colour.
Happy painting :-)
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Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours

January 3, 2018, 10:00 pm
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The Australian professional range of Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours were created in 1966. The range now includes 67 colours and the colour chart can be found here. The colours can also be found on the website here but some of the information is slightly different and I don't know which is the more recent. Neither show pigment information though it is clearly written on the labels. They have a high pigment content with no fillers and are made with only lightfast pigments rating ASTM I or II.

I have only tried half of this range, which is ironic as I am an Australian living in Australia, but they tend to paint out nicely fresh from the tube, which I believe is how they are intended to be used. If setting up a palette, which is how I prefer to paint, add a drop or two of glycerine to each colour to keep them from cracking up.

There is also a range of 30 10ml tubes of student watercolours called Art Prism available, but I am not intending covering student watercolours.


This is a bit of an unusual post since I normally don't show swatches of the whole range unless I have most of them painted out, but since I can't find a pigment list I thought it may be helpful to show the full range anyway. To fill the blanks I have used The Wilcox Guide to the Finest Watercolor Paints 2001-2 edition to obtain pigment information for the colours I haven't tried. This may well be out of date so please contact me if you have better information :-) I have also added pictures from old notebooks from the 1990s, long before I started painting this style of swatches.


The numbers are what appears on the Art Spectum website. The pigment numbers are what was on the tube or sample, or what was used back in the 2001.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Chinese White (not shown), Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Yellow, Spectrum Yellow (Cadmium Yellow Hue).
This sample of Permanent Gamboge contains PY153, which is no longer available so may have been reformulated. the same is true of Permanent Indian Red.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Aureolin, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Permanent Gamboge, Permanent Indian Yellow, Cadmium Orange.
 There are a few ranges with a PO36 orange, in this case called Vermilion, and they are always lovely!
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Permanent Orange, Coral, Vermilion Permanent, Spectrum Red, Cadmium Red.

Spectrum Crimson is made from PV19 Quinacridone Red and PV19 Quinacridone Violet.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Brilliant Red, Cadmium Red Deep, Pilbara Red (see below), Spectrum Crimson (Alizarin Hue), Permanent Crimson (see below).

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Pilbara Red.


I had Pilbara Red many years ago and painted a sample in a book. It's rather like a glowing burnt sienna. The Permanent Crimson sample is also from this notebook.



Art Spectrum Watercolours - Permanent Crimson (Alizarin Hue) 
 Permanent Rose Madder is a very nice rose madder hue - it has the gentle quality of the original fugitive pigment but is made with PV19.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Rose Madder (Permanent Hue), Permanent Rose, Permanent Magenta, Flinders Red Violet (previously known as Thio Violet), Cobalt Violet.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Mauve, Flinders Blue Violet (also known as Mineral Violet), French Ultramarine, Ultramarine.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Cobalt Blue, Spectrum Blue, Prussian Blue, Indigo Blue, Phthalo Blue.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Antwerp Blue, Cerulean Blue, Tasman Blue, Australian Turquoise, Viridian.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Phthalo Green, Australian Leaf Green Dark, Olive Green Permanent, Hookers Green Permanent, Oxide or Chromium.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Australian Green Gold (see below), Sap Green Permanent, Australian Grey, Naples Yellow, Naples Yellow Reddish.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Australian Green Gold
 My old sample of Australian Green Gold painted in a notebook.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna Hue (Light), Raw Sienna Natural (Deep), Burnt Sienna Hue, Burnt Sienna Natural (see below).

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Burnt Sienna Natural.



Burnt Sienna Natural was one of my favourite watercolours in the 1990s - look at the gorgeous granulation! I switched to one that rewet better but it's lovely fresh from the tube. This was painted on nice Moleskine watercolour paper. 






Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Yellow Ochre

The Yellow Ochre sample was from a 1990s notebook. The actual colour is far less green - it's a classic yellow ochre colour.



The original Australian Red Gold is a gorgeous colour, now also made by Daniel Smith as Aussie Red gold. I always think it is a shame when other pigments are added to the gorgeous earth pigments - I prefer Raw Umber and Burnt Umber to be just PBr7 as I love the earth colours.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Australian Red Gold, Light Red, Indian Red (see below), Raw Umber, (see below) Burnt Umber.
Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Indian Red

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Raw Umber
These are two other samples from 1990s notebooks, from before I started making these swatch cards.

The Raw Umber was rather awful and gummy :-(

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Mars Violet, Warm Sepia (see below), Sepia, Payne's Grey, Neutral Tint.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Warm Sepia.
There is not a lot of difference between the Warm Sepia and Sepia. Both are very dark!


Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Ivory Black, Lamp Black





There is obviously a lot more to be added here, but happy painting!













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QoR Watercolours

January 7, 2018, 5:06 pm
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I explored some of the QoR colours some years back when they were first released, and wrote about them here. Rather than update that post, I'll show the full range, organised the same as the colour chart, here. Well almost - just three missing. I'd like to express my thanks to Golden for sending me samples to be able to test out and show almost the full range.

QoR are very different from traditional watercolours and feel different to paint with. They need to be used more liquid and will often explode on a damp paper as they must have a lot of oxgall or other dispersing medium. They can be hard to control. On the other hand, they have a very little to no drying shift so remain very bright, and are largely very finely ground pigments so even the cadmiums are less granulating than the same pigments in other ranges. My initial reaction to them was somewhat critical as they didn't work the way I like watercolours to work, but using them again and fresh from the tubes, watching the colours explode onto the wet wash and seeing what they could do if you want to play with them, I think they add another dimension to the watercolour world. I think it is good that all watercolours are not produced the same way. We are then able to pick and choose those that work the way we each wish to.

I really feel that these are best used fresh from the tube. They don't rewet well enough to work as a travel watercolour as far as I have explored, which makes them less portable. But this is true of M.Graham and Sennelier tube colours too and suits the way some watercolour artists work in the studio.


These yellows are similar in hue, apart from Nickel Yellow which is always a very weak pigment. the cadmiums are really finely ground and are very beautiful.
QoR Watercolours - Nickel Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Primrose, Hansa Yellow Light, Bismuth Vandate Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light.
These are the mid to warm yellows. Indian Yellow has the look of some of the Quinacridone Gold hues and is slightly brighter than QoR Quinacridone Gold.
QoR Watercolours - Benzimidazolone Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Aureolin Modern, Nickel Azo Yellow, Indian Yellow.
This is an unusual pigment for Quinacridone Burnt Orange - it's usually called Brown Madder or Quin burnt scarlet. Quin burnt orange is usually more orange - once again it is important to know the pigments when reading a paint name to have a better idea what to expect.
QoR Watercolours - Permanent Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Gold Deep, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Cadmium Yellow Deep.

The sample of Cadmium Orange looked lovely dried but I simply couldn't get a decent wash from it so haven't included that one here - you can see what I mean at the bottom of this post. Transparent Pyrrol Orange is gorgeous - though different from the Daniel Smith paint of the same name. Pyrrole Red Light is a lovely pigment for a warm red in a classic split primary palette.
QoR Watercolours - Diarylie Yellow, Cadmium Orange (not shown), Transparnt Pyrrole Orange, Cadmium Red Light, Pyrrole Red Light.

QoR Watercolours - Indigo, Ultramarine Blue, Ultramarine Blue Violet (not shown), Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue Chromium.

These blues all painted out nicely.
QoR Watercolours - Indanthrone Blue, Prussian Blue, PHthalo Blue (Green Shade), French Cerulean Blue, Manganese Blue.

 Viridian is often a weak pigment but is quite strong in the QoR range.
QoR Watercolours - Cobalt Teal, Phthalo Turquoise, Cobalt Turquoise, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Viridian Green.
The Cobalt Green (not shown) is made from a lovely PG26 pigment rather than the PG50 - deep and granulating usually. Terre Verte is always a weak pigment but perhaps would be stronger fresh from the tube? These versions of Sap And Hooker's Green are very usable as convenience colours though I'd prefer two-pigment rather than three-pigment mixes if possible.
QoR Watercolours - Permanent Green Light, Cobalt Green (not shown), Hookers Green Sap Green, Terre Verte.
These convenience greens are also interesting, though have many pigments. Buff Titanium is one of my favourite Daniel Smith colours and QoR is the only other source available commercially. However, this version has little granulation though is a lovely creamy ecru colour.
QoR Watercolours - Chromium Gren Oxide, Olive Green, Bohemian Green Earth, Green Gold, Titan Buff.
Many of these were painted from dry samples which look weaker. I really think QoR colours need to be used fresh. Raw Sienna is ideally made from PBr7 rather than PY43, which is yellow ochre.
QoR Watercolours - Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre (Natural), Transparent Yellow Oxide, Raw Sienna (Natural),
Transparent Red Oxide.
 Lots of single pigment earth colours. Transparent Brown Oxide was tested from a small dry sample so may be stronger fresh from the tube. You can really see the difference.
QoR Watercolours - Mars Orange Deep, Venetian Red, Burnt Sienna (Natural), Transparent Brown Oxide,
Burnt Umber (Natural).
 I like the use of natural earth pigments - they are not mixed with anything else, and the siennas and umbers are nearly all made with the appropriate PBr7 pigment. Raw Umber Natural is especially dark and rich. Van Dyke Brown is far warmer than usual.
QoR Watercolours - Rae Umber (Natural), Sepia, Van Dyke Brown, Carbon Black, Ivory Black.

I am always delighted to see a mixed grey made without the deadening effect of a black pigment. Neutral Tint contains a yellow (yellow oxide), a magenta (quin magenta) and a blue (phthalo blue) pigment. I think this would be an interesting watercolour for some tonal studies. I last tried Ardoise Gray from a very small sample dot but it is a very gentle colour from the tube too.
QoR Watercolours - Payne's Gray, Neutral Tine, Ardoise Gray, Chinese White, Titanium White.

Update - And here are the three Iridescent colours. They are difficult to show but since I have them it gives an idea. They are not particularly strongly tinting.

QoR Watercolours - Iridescent Pearl Fine, Iridescent Silver (fine) and Iridescent Gold (fine)






Hopefully I will be able to add the last two samples one day, and perhaps a better sample of Cadmium Orange than what I have. You can see it here - it was too weak to include above! After all, I always try to get the best I can from each colour - but in the meantime, happy painting.












Art Spectrum watercolours here
Blockx full range of Watercolours here
Daler Rowney Artists' Watercolours here
Daniel Smith new colours 2017 here
Daniel Smith full range here
Da Vinci range here
Dr PH Hydrus Watercolours here
Lukas watercolours here
M.Graham watercolours here
MaimeriBlu full range here
Mission Blue full range here
Old Holland full range here
QoR watercolours here
Rembrandt Watercolours here
Schmincke new colours 2017 here
Schmincke full range here
Sennelier watercolours here
St Petersburg Watercolours here
Wallace Seymour Artists Watercolours here
White Nights watercolours here
Winsor & Newton Full range here

Only Holbein to go...

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Daler Rowney Artists' Watercolours

January 9, 2018, 5:19 pm
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Daler Rowney Watercolours - Sketching set of 18 quarter pans. 
Daler Rowney is an English company that began in 1783 selling perfumes and wig powder but moved into artists colours and were the suppliers for Constable and Turner. In 2013 they bought the German companies Lukas and Nerchau. They make a large range of paints, including three watercolour ranges - Aquafine is a student range and Simply Watercolour are affordable basic sets.              As always, I'll concentrate on the Artists' Watercolour range of 80 colours, available in 5ml tubes, 15ml tubes or half pans, and in a number of sets, including the Miniature Pocket Set shown left with 18 quarter pans. I found this at a lovely art store in Bath (Minerva Art Supplies) - it was the last one so was on sale. Very cute. Nice colours generally, though as is often the case, the two yellows are almost the same colour. What's the point of that?
These are not so easy to find outside the UK and Europe (though I do remember finding them in Singapore) so I have only tried just over half of this range. The tube colours were very liquid so shrank a lot as they dried, but they generally re-wet very nicely. I have included the blank swatches for the whole range so the pigment information is also available. I'll update as I try more.

Daler Rowney Watercolours - Naples Yellow (not shown), Nickel Titanate Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale,
Bismuth Yellow. (not shown)

Daler Rowney Watercolours - Permanent Yellow, Aureolin (not shown), Cadmium Yellow (not shown), Cadmium Yellow (Hue) (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Deep.
There are a number of colours made using PY153, which is no longer being manufactured. It is a beautiful warm yellow so well worth picking up if you find it.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue, Gamboge Hue, Indian Yellow (not shown), Cadmium Orange (not shown), Cadmium Orange Hue.
Vermilion (Hue) (not shown) is made from PR255, which is my favourite warm red option.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Warm Orange, Permanent Red, Cadmium Red Pale (not shown), Cadmium Red Pale (Hue), Vermilion (Hue) (not shown).
Cadmium Red (Hue) is now made from PR245+PY74 but this is an old sample.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Cadmium Red, Cadmium Red (Hue), Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Red Deep (not shown), Cadmium Red Deep (Hue) (not shown).
 This is one of the nicest Perylene Reds made with PR179 - rich and deep crimson without the harshness of some brands.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Perylene Red, Alizarine Crimson (not shown), Alizarin Crimson (Hue), Carmine (not shown), Permanent Rose.
PV14 used in Cobalt Magenta is never a strong pigment but very granulating.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Quinacridone Magenta, Permanent Magenta, Cobalt Magenta, Ultramarine Violet (not shown), Permanent Mauve (not shown).
 The Prussian Blue is very grainy. It's the only colour that just didn't paint out nicely.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Indanthrene Blue (not shown but woudl be PB60), Prussian Blue, Indigo (not shown), Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) (not shown), Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) (not shown).
 Permanent Blue is a traditional ultramarine.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Manganese Blue Hue, Coeruleum (not shown), Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Blue Deep (not shown), Permanent Blue.

Daler Rowney Watercolours - French Ultramarine, Cobalt Turquoise (Red Shade) (not shown), Cobalt Turquoise (Green Shade) (not shown), Transparent Turquoise, Cobalt Green Deep.
 Viridian is lovely and rich. This can be a very weak pigment - one of the best versions.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Phthalo turquoise (not shown),Viridian, Phthalo Green (not shown), Hooker's Green Dark, Terre Verte Hue.

Daler Rowney Watercolours - Oxide of Chromium Green (not shown), Hooker's Green Light, Vivid Green (not shown), Sap Green (not shown), Olive Green (not shown).
 There are some lovely earth colours but I always prefer raw sienna and burnt sienna to be made with PBr7.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Green Gold, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Light Red.
 Transparent Red Brown is also known as Brown Madder and Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Venetian Red (not shown), Transparent Red Brown, Perylene Maroon (not shown), Indian Red (not shown), Mars Violet.
 Vandyke brown (not shown) is worth looking at as it is make without black - could be interesting.
Daler Rowney Watercolours - Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Vandyke Brown (Hue) (not shown), Warm Sepia,
Neutral Tint (not shown).

Daler Rowney Watercolours - Payne's Grey, Ivory Black (not shown), Lamp Black, Chinese White (not shown),
Titanium white (not shown).


Art Spectrum watercolours here
Blockx full range of Watercolours here
Daler Rowney Artists' Watercolours here
Daniel Smith new colours 2017 here
Daniel Smith full range here
Da Vinci range here
Dr PH Hydrus Watercolours here
Lukas watercolours here
M.Graham watercolours here
MaimeriBlu full range here
Mission Blue full range here
Old Holland full range here
QoR watercolours here
Rembrandt Watercolours here
Schmincke new colours 2017 here
Schmincke full range here
Sennelier watercolours here
St Petersburg Watercolours here
Wallace Seymour Artists Watercolours here
White Nights watercolours here
Winsor & Newton Full range here

Only Holbein to go...
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Holbein Artist Watercolour

January 10, 2018, 3:07 pm
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Holbein from Japan has been making watercolour since the early1920s. They don't contain any ox-gall, animal products or dispersing agents so are easy to control. They claim that the pigments are more finely ground than in other ranges and describe themselves as "a European style transparent watercolor which preserves the brush handling qualities inherent in Japanese watercolor techniques". They generally rewet beautifully from the samples I have received so can be used fresh from the tube or dry in the palette.

The colour chart shows 108 colours, without the pigment information. They are available in 5ml and 15ml tubes and some pan colours. Note in this range there are only a possible three stars for lightfastness.
The colour chart also shows a series of symbols
T = Transparent,
N = Non stain
E = Easy lift
H = hard lift
X = granulating
B = Semi transparent
O = opaque
S = Staining
I = intense.
I've added this information to the swatches, though sometimes it seems contradictory.

The pigment information isn't included on the colour chart so I've had to search around for that and do the best I can. Some don't look right to me so are in pencil.
Update - I found a link to the pigment information here so have updated the pigments in the captions. Many of the problem fugitive colours have been reformulated :-)

And finally - I have tested less than half of this range but decided to include the empty swathes simply because the pigment information is hard to find. I'll update over time. They are arranged according to the Holbein 2017 colour chart.

I always avoid PR83. The other less lightfast pigment, PT23, has been removed.
Holbein Artist Watercolour - Crimson Lake (not shown but now replaced with PR177+PR122+PV19), Permanent Alizarin Crimson (not shown but now PV19 + PBr25), Carmine (not shown), Rose Madder (not shown), 
Quinacridone Red (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Pyrrole Rubin (not shown), Perylene Maroon (not shown), Pyrrole Red, Quinacridone Scarlet, Scarlet Lake (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Opera, Brilliant Pink, Shell Pink, Cadmium Red Purple (not shown),
Cadmium Red Deep (not shown).
 This is a really orange version of PR108 in Cadmium Red Orange!
Holbein Artist Watercolour - Vermilion (not shown), Vermilion Hue (not shown but now made with PO73 + PR254 + PY110), Cadmium Red Light (not shown), Cadmium Red Orange, Brilliant Orange(not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Permanent Yellow Orange, Cadmium Yellow Orange (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Deep (not shown but now made with PO20+ PY53), Cadmium Yellow Light (not shown but make with PY35), Cadmium Yellow Pale (not shown but made with PY35).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Cadmium Yellow Lemon (not shown but made with PY35), Imidazolone Lemon (not shown), Imidazolone Yellow (not shown), Gamboge Nova (not shown but now made with PY154+PY150+PY110), Permanent Yellow Light (not shown) but now made with PY74+PY83).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Isoindolinone Yellow Deep, Quinacridone Gold (not shown), Permanent Yellow Deep (now made with PY74+PY83), Aureoline (not shown), Permanent Yellow Lemon (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Lemon Yellow, Naples Yellow (now made with PY35+PY42+PW6), Jaune Brilliant 1, Jaune Brilliant 2, Greenish Yellow.

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Olive Green, Leaf Green, Permanent Green #1, Permanent Green #2 (not shown now made with PY74+PY53+PG7), Cobalt Green (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Viridian (not shown), Cadmium Green Deep (not shown but now made with PY35+PG7+PG18), Cadmium Green Pale (not shown now made with PY35+PG18), Hooker's Green (not shown now made with PG7+PY110+PY150), Bamboo Green.

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Viridian Hue (not shown), Emerald Green Nova (not shown), Compose Green,
Sap Green (not shown but now made with PY150+PG7+PR122), Terre Verte (not shown).
 Marine Blue is very beautiful :-)
Holbein Artist Watercolour - Green Grey (not shown), Shadow Green, Phthalo Blue Red Shade (not shown), Phthalo Blue Yellow Shade (not shown), Marine Blue.

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Horizon Blue, Turquoise Blue (without PY3), Cobalt Turquoise Light, Peacock Blue, Manganese Blue Nova.

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Compose Blue (not shown), Verditer Blue, Cerulean Blue (not shown), Cobalt Blue,
Cobalt Blue Hue (not shown).
 Both ultramarines are rich and gorgeous.
Holbein Artist Watercolour - Ultramarine Light, Ultramarine Deep, Prussian Blue (not shown), Royal Blue, Indigo.
 Cobalt Violet Light is now made with PV14.
Holbein Artist Watercolour - Lavender, Permanent Violet, Mineral Violet (actually made with PB29+PR122+PB225), Cobalt Violet Light, Bright Violet (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Bright Rose (not shown), Lilac (not shown), Quinacridone Magenta (formally Rose Violet),
Mars Violet (not shown).
 These earth colours are nice. Less granulating than some brands.
Holbein Artist Watercolour - Indian Red (not shown), Imadazolone Brown, Light Red, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber.

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Raw Umber (not shown but now made with PBr7 + PY42), Raw Sienna (now made WITH PBr7 + PY42), Yellow Ochre (not shown), Yellow Grey (not shown), Umber (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Sepia (not shown), Ivory Black (not shown), Lamp Black (not shown ),
Peach Black (Now just PBk6) , Neutral Tint.

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Van Dyke Brown (not shown but this is the real vandyke brown pigment), Payne's Grey (not shown but now PBk6 + PB15+ PR122), Davy's Grey (not shown), Grey of Grey (not shown but now PBk6 + PW6), Chinese White (not shown).

Holbein Artist Watercolour - Titanium White, Gold, Silver, Compose Green 3 (discontinued), Permanent Red (discontinued)

There is a lot to add here, but hopefully it's helpful!

Art Spectrum watercolours here
Blockx full range of Watercolours here
Daler Rowney Artists' Watercolours here
Daniel Smith new colours 2017 here
Daniel Smith full range here
Da Vinci range here
Dr PH Hydrus Watercolours here
Lukas watercolours here
M.Graham watercolours here
MaimeriBlu full range here
Mission Blue full range here
Old Holland full range here
QoR watercolours here
Rembrandt Watercolours here
Schmincke new colours 2017 here
Schmincke full range here
Sennelier watercolours here
St Petersburg Watercolours here
Wallace Seymour Artists Watercolours here
White Nights watercolours here
Winsor & Newton Full range here

The only professional watercolour range I haven't tackled yet, as far as I am aware, is ShinHan PWC. I haven't tried enough to even start on these.

Happy painting!
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'Drawing Attention' - the Urban Sketching Zine.

February 6, 2018, 3:03 pm
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The Urban Sketchers organisation, which was 10 last year, is going from strength to strength. The monthly newsletter has been redesigned to an informative 'zine' that is packed with information, gorgeous photos and plenty of live links. I am delighted to have been featured in February but I'd encourage anyone interested in urban sketching to subscribe as all the USk events and workshops are being listed in the zine.

Here is the link to subscribe http://www.urbansketchers.org/p/drawingattention.html

Here is the link to the January edition, featuring Rob Sketcherman, Deborah Rehmat, Liz Steel and Lynn Chapman.

And to February,  featuring Marion Rivolier, Marc Taro Holmes and me.

The organisation is gearing up for the next symposium in Porto this July - registration will be open soon - and another series of 10x10 workshops are being offered in many cities around the world. I'm busy working on the next series for Sydney. Hopefully we'll have a great range of workshops to choose from by the end of this month.

Happy Sketching.


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Ultramarine PB29 watercolours under the spotlight.

February 7, 2018, 7:10 pm
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One of my most popular posts to date is a watercolour comparison of blues with 43581 views. While I have these comparisons on my website a well, I thought I'd update these and also post some key pigment comparisons all photographed in the same light at the same time as specific spotlight posts. These photographs are taken under 'sunlight' bulbs with no adjustment.

Ultramarine is made with PB29. It may be called French Ultramarine, Ultramarine Deep, Light or otherwise, but it is almost always a single pigment, granulating and liftable colour. It may be a little more on the purple side (warmer) or a little more on the green side (cooler) but it's an incredibly useful colour to have.

French Ultramarine is often the more purple version, if there is more than one in a range. I don't tend to have more than one version of this pigment, though if you wanted to get two that were very contrasting you might look at Old Holland Ultramarine Blue Deep - which is perhaps the most purple and granulating, compared with Schmincke Ultramarine finest which is the least granulating and a little more on the green side.

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine - Art Spectrum, French Ultramarine Blue Deep - Blockx, French Ultramarine Light - Blockx, Ultramarine Blue - Daniel Smith, French Ultramarine - Daniel Smith.

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: French Ultramarine Permanent (RS) - Da Vinci, Ultramarine Blue - Da Vinci, Ultramarine (Green Shade) - Da Vinci, French Ultramarine - Daler Rowney, Permanent Blue - Daler Rowney.

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine Light - Holbein, Ultramarine Deep - Holbein, Ultramarine Blue Light - Lukas, Ultramarine Blue Deep - Lukas, Ultramarine Blue - M.Graham.

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine Light - Mission Gold, Ultramarine Deep - Mission Gold, Ultramarine Blue Deep - Old Holland, Olutramarine Blue - Old Holland, French Ultramarine Light Extra - Old Holland.
Schmincke introduced French Ultramarine in 2017. It is a lovely and very granulating version, quite different from their Ultramarine Finest, which I think is the least granulating ultramarine available.
Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine Blue - QoR, Ultramarine Deep - Rembrandt, French Ultramarine - Rembrandt, Ultramarine Finest - Schmincke, French Ultramarine - Schmincke (new 2017)

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine Deep - MaimeriBlu, Lutramarine Light - MaimeriBlu, Ultramarine Deep - Sennelier, French Ultramarine Blue - Senelier, Ultramarine Light - Sennelier.

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine - St Petersburg, Ultramarine Blue - Schmincke, Ultramarine - White Nights, Ultramarine (Green Shade) Winsor & Newton, French Ultramarine Blue - Winsor & Newton.

Ultramarine Blue Watercolours: Ultramarine Blue Deep - Wallace Seymour. 

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Da Vinci Watercolours and a Sydney workshop.

March 6, 2018, 8:14 pm
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The 12-colour Da Vinci full pan set.

Da Vinci watercolours are one of my three favourite brands. They come in a range of tubes sizes including (in the US) massive 37ml tubes, and some colours are available in pans. You can see the 12 colour set left - the full pans are larger than 'normal'.

It's a pretty good range, though I would make a few changes if I were to use just 12...


The empty Da Vinci palette.




They are incredibly consistent across the range. They are generally nice and thick from the tube, they don't separate, they dry nicely with minimal shrinkage and they rewet with ease.

They are largely single pigment colours, and are labelled clearly. They also include genuine cadmiums, so these are what I'd use then I want more opaque colours.







This is a palette I've put together of 20 of my favourites from the range. I alternate between the cool Hansa Yellow Light and my preferred mid yellow Arylide Yellow - one I use, the other I tend to teach with. Either work beautifully. (The Da Vinci Yellow in the set above is very similar to Arylide yellow and is another excellent primary yellow option.)

All but two in this palette are single pigment colours - the Sap green is a very nice convenience mix of phthalo green and yellow ochre and the Jane's Grey is my own convenience mix of PBr7 and PB29.

My 20-colour Da Vinci palette
I love the earth colours in this range - like Daniel Smith, they use the PBr7 for the burnt and raw siennas, the raw umber is deep and cool and the permanent alizarin crimson is a gorgeous PV19 version that is as close as I have found to the genuine, but fugitive, alizarin crimson pigment. I also love the Benzimida Orange Deep. It's a gorgeous rich mid orange. I normally mix oranges but this one is so lovely I'd include it, just as I'd include Schmincke's lovely Transparent Orange in a Schmincke palette. In my Daniel Smith palettes, I use Transparent Pyrrol Orange as my warm red, but it is far more red then this orange. As far as I've noticed, they are totally intermixable with Daniel Smith and Schmincke too.

The Da Vinci range includes gouache, acrylics and oils as well. They come from Southern California and are readily available in the US and Canada, but only at Pigment Lab in Sydney. You can see my post showing the (almost) full range here. I'll be doing some watercolour workshops using them and the Wallace Seymour watercolours through Pigment Lab this year, with the first coming up this month! You can see more detail and book a place here. (And of course you could use any brand of watercolour you wish!)

Happy painting!


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TWSBI Diamond 580 fountain pen

March 11, 2018, 8:56 pm
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The TWSBI Diamond 580 filled with Sailor Storia Lion ink
For all I love fountain pens, one of the frustrations of using them is that they run out of ink. So do other pens of course, eventually, but fountain pens need to be refilled regularly, especially if using them for sketching and cross-hatching!

I carry small Nalgene bottles of ink with me when travelling or sketching so I have some on hand, but I've long been curious about the TWSBI pen as it has a massive (2ml according to their literature) ink capacity. I am using the TWSBI 580 AL which is the largest of the series with the largest ink capacity. It also comes in a mini version that is shorter and slimmer.

It's available in Australia from Larrypost, who specialise in all things pen, sketchbook, watercolours and ink. In the US I'd recommend Gouletpens.com. I filled the pen with a sample of Sailor Storia 'Lion' ink, a lovely golden brown ink, also from Larrypost. This is a pigmented ink so is fairly waterproof - an important consideration when sketching with watercolour. I wanted to use a fairly light colour to do the sketch for this sandstone building in Pyrmont. You can see the large capacity of this piston filling pen that works without a cartridge or converter.

Drawing with Sailor Storia Lion ink and the TWSBI Diamond 580

I have the Extra Fine nib, which always my preference as I really like fine lines. This is a Taiwanese pen with German nibs, so the Extra fine is not as fine as my Japanese EF nibs, but it is a really nice line width for writing or drawing - very like the Lamy. You can see how light the sandstone is in this picture, and why a black ink or even my usual dark brown or grey, would have been too strong.







Completed with watercolour, the initial line-work almost disappears.
Union Street, Pyrmont, ink and watercolour.

I wanted to test out this pen for other purposes too so I've filled it with black De Atramentis Document ink - my go-to ink for drawing with fountain pens. I'll give it a run with the black in in my diary and sketches and see how it goes.

The TWSBI pen is also available with a gorgeous ink bottle that has a very clever filling mechanism. You can fill the pen without getting your hands covered in ink! You take off the nib and fill the body from the beautiful and cleverly designed bottle. It works with the diamond range but also the Classic range of pens and with a universal converter so really nifty!

The TWSBI Diamond 580 pen and the Diamond 50 ink well.
It is heavier (28grams) than some of the other fountain pens I've used, and quite thick in the barrel so it doesn't easily fit in the pen loop of my dairy. I usually use a Lamy Joy as it slots in very nicely. So I am keeping this one in a pencil case in my handbag.

I wasn't sure whether I like the lid posted or not - it is heavier than the Joy posted but feels shorter un-posted. It is not strictly designed to 'post' - it sits on the turning screw that is used to fill and empty the pen rather than fitting fully over the barrel of the pen. The Mini version, however, does post normally. The Classic version doesn't post at all. Of course I don't post the Lamy Joy nib, but I often do with other pens. It's all about the weight and balance of each pen.

Lines made with a Lamy and a TWSBI, both EF nibs.
I ended up using it un-posted most comfortably when I took it out sketching on Saturday and gave it a proper run. It is a robust nib, not a flexible nib, but there is a bit of line variation possible - press lightly and get a very fine line, press more firmly and get a darker and thicker line. Turning the nib upside-down also gives a fine line but not finer so I didn't really bother doing that with this pen. It ran very smoothly with the De Atramentis ink and I enjoyed working with it. It certainly didn't come anywhere close to running out of ink! And that is the big feature of this pen - ink capacity. If you write and draw a lot, it's hard to beat. Interestingly is also coped very well with the medium texture of this watercolour paper. The EF Japanese nibs such as my Sailor 1911 EF can struggle since they are so fine.

A Moreton Bay Fig and Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden, Lavender Bay, drawn with the TWSBI Diamond 580 pen and De Atramantis Document Black ink. The paper is Fabriano Artistico.
I'll be taking the Kaweco for a spin at some stage. I do love drawing with fountain pens :-)

For more on fountain pens see Lamy here, My Favourite Pens for Drawing here and Working in Ink here. There are also many posts on mixing inks on this blog - just use the search tool :-)


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Mijello 20-colour palette

March 13, 2018, 9:28 pm
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My teaching palette. 20-colour Mijello palette.

I'm always playing around with colours and palettes but this one is working so well I thought it deserved its own post. It is the Mijello 20-colour palette, that I received in the UK last year. It is available from Jacksonsart.com. It is slightly larger than the very popular 18-colour fusion palette, that I also like, and used previously, but with this I can add a couple of my most used convenience colours. Of course the same colours could be set up in a Masters Palette too. You can see a huge range of palette options on my website here - I have just updated this Palette section :-)

I really like the open-well style of palette rather than pans or half pans - they provide excellent brush access and plenty of space for the paint. This has three large mixing areas and you can remove the clear insert to clean it or to place it over a painting to check the colour match.

I use it for my teaching, so it has my recommended palette colours. If you want 20 colours I think these are also hard to beat :-)

The colours are Daniel Smith -
Buff Titanium - I use this all the time for urban sketching and for the subtle colours of some Australian natives.
Hansa Yellow Medium - a lovely primary yellow - great for mixing brighter oranges and greens
Quinacridone Gold - this is the PO49 but the new hue also works well - wonderful for a golden glow or for mixing gorgeous greens.
Pyrrol Scarlet - I think this is a beautiful warm red, and it neutralises beautifully with phthalo blue GS (For my personal palettes I use Transparent Pyrrol Orange but the scarlet is gorgeous.)
Pyrrol Crimson - a rich crimson that neutralises with phthalo green BS
Quinacridone Rose - another lovely primary option - this mixes clean purples and is a lovely rose.
Ultramarine - a great warm blue
Cerulean Chromium - so useful for skies and for a bit of extra granulation
Phthalo Blue Green Shade - a transparent staining colour that I generally only use for mixing
Phthalo Green Blue Shade- another transparent staining colour that I use for mixing. This neutralises with Pyrrol Crimson
Perylene Green - a fabulous deep green for landscapes and florals
Undersea Green - a gorgeous neutralised green convenience mix. Great for landscapes and florals.
Sap Green - another really useful convenience mix - I use this and undersea green a lot in urban landscapes too.
Yellow Ochre - I love using this as an earth yellow in an earthy primary triad.
Goethite - this is one of my favourite watercolours due to the extraordinary granulation. I use it for urban sketching, beaches and landscapes
Raw Sienna - lovely for skin tones and for the golden glow of sunsets. More transparent than yellow ochre.
Burnt Sienna- a nuetralised earthy orange - excellend as a basic skin tone and for mixing a range of browns.
Indian Red - the most opaque watercolour if used at full strength, this is also lovely in an earthy triad.
Raw Umber- a deep cool brown - really excellent for leaf litter, urban sketching and trees.
Jane's Grey - I don't make up palettes without my convenience mix of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine.

I don't seem to have a paint-out of this palette, which is unusual, but the colours can all be seen in the palette link to my website here Let me know if you'd like me to add one here.





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Isaro Watercolours

March 27, 2018, 7:51 pm
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Isaro Watercolour 7ml tubes
Isaro Watercolours come from Belgium. I was familar with Blockx, also from Belgium, but hadn't heard about them until one of my blog readers told me so I am grateful for that information. I am also grateful to their creator, Isabelle, for the samples. They are available in shops in Belgium and France, and there are some videos in French on the website showing the manufacturing processes.

The website states that "The entire range of Isaro water colours has been developed to give maximum transparency to the colours. In addition, the ingredients that enter into the composition of the binder are all carefully selected. Only a top quality gum arabic is used in the manufacture of Isaro water colours. Gum arabic varies in colour from very pale yellow to dark brown. The gum, in fact, darkens on contact with the tannin in acacia bark. Consequently, it is essential for Isaro to select an acacia gum which, when dissolved in water, gives a clear solution so that the luminosity of the pigments is protected. Glycerine and honey are added in very precise proportions to ensure the paste remains supple. A single-flower honey was chosen, the honey of acacia, since good quality honey of this type is a very clear".

I received samples of nearly all the colours and really enjoyed painting them out. The cadmiums seem very finely ground and not as opaque or heavy as they can be. Some names were different on the colour chart and the website so I will note both in the captions. The dried dots of colour mostly rewet with ease. They are available in 7ml and some in 20ml tubes. The 7ml tubes feel robust with a solid lid.

It is a really nicely balanced range of just over 50 colours, plus some metallic colours, with a good mix of traditional and modern pigments. I didn't notice any pigments that are not lightfast. The tubes are well labelled with series number, lightfast stars, opacity guide and pigment information. The majority are single pigment colours but there are some useful mixes.


Isaro Watercolours - Titanium White (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Isaro Yellow Light (also called Isaro Yellow), Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Deep.

Isaro Watercolours - Indian Yellow, Isaro Yellow Deep, Cadmium Orange, Pyrrol Orange, Cadmium Red Light.
 I love PR255 Scarlet Red (also called Pyrrole Red on the website - Pyrrole Scarlet would be a great name for this colour) as a warm red in a transparent split primary palette. The cool would be Magenta in this range, with Pyrrole Red Deep as the optional third red.
Isaro Watercolours - Scarlet Red (also called Pyrrol Red. Pyrrol Scarlet would be a great name for this one), Isaro Pyrrole Red, Pyrrole Red Deep, Cadmium Red Deep, Perylene Red.
Magenta is the usual Quinqacridone Rose/Permanent Rose colour, while Isaro Pink is the normal Quiacridone Magenta colour. Isaro Mauve is Quinacridone Violet in most ranges. Isaro Purple Deep is Dioxozine Violet.
Isaro Watercolours - Magenta, Isaro Pink (Also called Isaro Rose), Ultramarine Pink (also called Ultramarine Rose), Isaro Mauve, Isaro Purple Deep (also called Isaro Mauve Deep).
The Ultramarine Violet is a particularly nice version of this often weak pigment. I like this version of a PB35 Cerulean too.
Isaro Watercolours - Ultrmarine Violet, Ultramarine, Indanthrone Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue.
Indigo Blue is made with two blues and a brown pigment rather than the usual black and blue mix, which is great to see. As far as I know, Da Vinci is the only other manufacturer to make an Indigo hue without black. There are no cobalt turquoise colours (PB36) in the range.
Isaro Watercolours - Indigo blue, Prussian Blue, Phthalo Blue, Turquoise Green (not shown), Phthalo Green.
 Emerald Green is Viridian - often not a strong pigment.
Isaro Watercolours - Emerald Green, Phthalo Green Yellow, Chromium Oxide Green, Olive Green (not shown but this is the new formula), Isaro Grey Light.
 Chartreuse Yellow is often called Green Gold - a wonderful pigment for the look of sunlight through foliage, or as a cool yellow option. The Yellow Ochre says it is made from PY42 on the colour chart but PY43 on the website. I am not sure which is correct, but it's a lovely version of this colour. Oxide Orange is the most orange version I have ever seen of a PR101 colour - really lovely.
Isaro Watercolours - Isaro Green LIght (not shown), Chartreuse Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Oxide Orange.

Isaro Watercolours - Burnt Sienna, Mars Red, Mars Brown Light, English Red (not shown), Venetian Red.
 Raw Umber was not as strong is I'd like. The Sepa and Van Dijck Brown are really dark versions of these hues.
Isaro Watercolours - Oxide Purple, Burnt Umber (not shown), Raw Umber, Sepia, Van Dijck Brown.
There are a number of 'Metallic Touch' watercolours that contain mica or copper. It is difficult to show sparkle but I have included these after the Lamp Black swatch. Steel Blue is a bit like my Jane's Grey but with mica added.
Isaro Watercolours - Payne's Grey, Lamp Black, Steel Blue, Icy Lake, Imperial Moon.
 'Or' (Gold) is included on the website but not in the colour chart, so I created a swatch fro that. I also created a swatch for Nickel Yellow as it was on the colour chart but as it is not on the website I assume it has been discontinued. It is not a very strong pigment in any brand so that's not surprising.
Isaro Watercolours - Silver Sky, Eternal Summit, Star Dust, Coppery Red (not shown), Gold (not shown), Nickel Yellow (not shown and probably discontinued.)

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