It's been a rough start getting back into the swing of things but I managed to finish another piece in September. I've been using the Winsor & Cotman watercolors exclusively up until now and was satisfied enough, especially at this stage of my technical skillset. Some peers have never the less encouraged me to sample better paints and after doing some research, I started eyeing Daniel Smith's brand of watercolors. While not prohibitively exclusive like some other brands, Smith's paints are still on the upper tier of price range but they are raved as one of the best paint lines available. I found that buying them in sets will often halve the price yet I hesitated ordering due to the high shipping cost. Freight usually would not have been so problematic but for the competition of Dick Blick (and their deep discount + free shipping) on my art budget.
The happy ending is that I generously received three sets of Daniel Smith triad sets from my MIL for my birthday this year. I've heard from other artists that DS shipments take a little longer to arrive (another point for DB) but MIL ended up having to re-order as my shipment got lost. My booty consisted of: Cadmium Orange Hue, Cobolt Violet, Cobalt Violet Deep, Isoindoline Yellow, Quinacridone Fuchsia, Terre Verte, Tiger's Eye Genuine, Sugilite Genuine and Mayan Blue Genuine. The majority is new to my palette with the last three within DS exclusive PrimaTek line (earth tones rendered from semi-precious stones and minerals).
DS paints only come in tubes so I purchased another W&N travel set, emptied out the pans and refilled them with the DS paints. Most of the colors were thick and buttery smooth except for the PrimaTek line which appeared lumpy and coarse. Tiger's eye genuine had separated but I was able to blend it back together. The synthetic colors didn't shrink too much overnight, however, the PrimaTek colors had dried to only about 1/3 the original volume...somewhat disappointing since this is generally an indicator of more fillers and less pigments.
My mother always complains that whenever Chris calls home, it's usually to ask about his dog which inspired me to test the new colors on a postcard of Rev. As it turns out, I ended up solely using the PrimaTek hues supplemented by cotman yellow orche, ultramarine and burnt umber, which means I can't speak to the standard line of DS colors at this time.
Let's start with the positive. Working previously from such a limited common palette, I was pleasurably entranced by the new colors in the Primatek line. The Mayan Blue Genuine is an attractive deep turquoise hue. The Sugilite Genuine has a lavender iridescent sheen...subtle but coyly enticing. The Tiger's Eye Genuine is a very subdue brown, more yellow than burnt umber, not exciting but versatile. It's probably a personal preference but because they're based on earth minerals, the hues are generally muted and incorporated well into my neutral aesthetic. They're rich without being vibrant, complex but not loud. I didn't feel that I had to work at toning down the colors to achieve a natural likeness. Conversely though, I felt that the pigment load was rather low. It took quite a bit of paint to achieve a strong tint.
The other problem that I experienced was that the PrimaTek colors tend to lift fairly easy making glazing a difficult task. This is probably due to the rather large particles of natural minerals vs. the microscopic particles of synthetic compounds. I don't think this should be a deterrent from using the line, but the artist should be aware and adjust his technique accordingly else risk some annoyance as I did at first.
My overall impression is that Daniel Smith's PrimaTek line is worth sampling but it's probably not the best bang for your buck. The low tinting strength and higher cost makes it economically unattractive especially when you consider that most of the hues can be replicated. In essence, you're getting a little paint for a lot of money. Now how much mileage you get from selling paintings created with semiprecious lapis lazuli, garnet and turquoise is another matter. It seems like the PrimaTek line, as with a lot of commercially successful art, benefits from good marketing.
Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"
