Daniel Smith Watercolor Mineral Set: Are They Worth It?

[@VanmeterFL]

You are VERY organized and I love all the links. I have used several of the Prima Tek paints and love them. It's funny, I was helping my oldest grandson with his virtual studies during Covid when the original "controversy" came out about the Prima Tek line. He was learning how to develop a hypothesis and test for results. I took the same approach to the Prima Tek line. I painted swatches of my Prima Tek paints AND the synthetic pigments someone claimed were "90%" of the composition. Then I tested their staining qualities and immediately realized there was a hole in the theory. The Prima Tek line is very low staining and the synthetic pigments are highly staining pigments like phthalo green. I didn't ring true. I did ask the person who initiated the claims on Instagram about the discrepancy and anticipated I'd receive a scientific explanation. Instead, I received a response that was far less professional than the one she claimed to receive from DS. Now, I didn't use a microscope but relied on a common sense approach. Though some of the Prima Tek colors are very similar to similar synthetic pigments, they ACT very different on many fronts.

[@WatercolourMentor]

Hi Nana, yes I like the colours but I haven't used them much since I bought that set. Found I've used the primary and secondary set a lot more. They've now become part of my staples. I really like the granulation of the mineral set though and ended up also buying some Lunar Black that is a granulating black. I think the consensus with the mineral set is that it has said minerals in it, but in low quantities, mixed with other dyes and pigments. I'm glad you like my videos :) -Darren

[@greggtransky9080]

Thank you very much, great painting and review. Grateful. Sondra Borrie

[@WatercolourMentor]

You're welcome Sondra!