PART 2 - Reds, Pinks, and Purples: Color Swatches of EVERY Daniel Smith Watercolor

An opinionated artist's explorations of 200 watercolors made by Daniel Smith. In part two I make color swatches of the pink, red, and purple paints using the color sample dot cards. I also share interesting pigment tidbits and my thoughts about the colors as we go.
Hopefully, this is helpful if you are befuddled by all the color options (and how similar some of them are... spoiler alert, some are nearly identical), want to see how the colors look in action, or are looking for a relaxing 35 minutes of color conversation.
What are your favorite Daniel Smith colors? Share in the comments!!
I got the dot cards on Amazon, and it was honestly some of the best hours of entertainment I've gotten from $23 in a long time. Here's the link for the dot sample sheets! amzn.to/3wTb9tL
Sketchbook: Strathmore 400 series hardbound book. I rarely use sketchbooks except for color and painting notes! This is my favorite I've found so far for color swatching, as the colors are quite true compared to how they appear on a cotton rag paper. amzn.to/3NyX1vg
Paintbrush: an old one from 15 years ago that is no longer manufactured. But it is a filbert shape, which I love for color swatching.
Music licensed from Artlist:
Face of the Deep // Matthew Magenta
Please note that I do not swatch out the interference or duochrome colors, as those are not pigments I use in my painting practice.

[@elvenham1]

Since you're concerned with lightfastness, I would recommend against the Anthraquinone Red. It's PR177, which is not lightfast. You also have to watch out for mixes that contain it (like Moonglow). A shame, since it's so pretty. Same goes for Rhodonite, which fades and turns brownish. Potter's Pink and those cobalt violets are low-tinting in general, so you won't get heavy payout, but they're great for delicate touches, and the Potter's Pink adds interesting granulation in mixes. But yeah, none of them would be particularly useful in a limited plein air set.

[@artofhiking]

@elvenham1 thank you so much for the note!!! I know some artists don't mind using less lightfast colors, but I am so hard on my paintings already that I don't want their longevity to be cut short by the pigments (although squished mosquitos are probably more of a concern :) Such a bummer about moonglow!!! gah! I also appreciate the note about the subtle colors, as I was not impressed when I first recorded the video, but now (many months later) they do look so beautiful in that subtlety on the page. If only I could carry unlimited colors with me in the field!

[@adriannabcustomfurniture]

I use Potters Pink in mixes because it's low tinting and gives me granulation without changing the color much. I also love it on its own for certain things. I do wet my paints about 3-5 minutes before using them, so I've never had an issue getting it out of my pan. I also love Schminke Potters Pink more and more lately. If anyone likes the super granulatinf paints by them, they use Potters Pink in almost every single one to make them granulate. I make my own super granulating colors because they are easy to mix. Anyway haha It's interesting hearing other people's opinions about paints. I don't need my art to last over 100 years 😂 I love my Mayan colors lol it means that paint was made almost the same way Mayans made their paints and used the same pigments. I use Mayan blue genuine in almost all my paintings. I also scan my paintings and have them professionally printed if I want to hang them up on a wall. They end up looking the exact same as my originals because of the paper I have them printed on. I could never paint like you can haha. Mine would look like garbage 😂 I need to sit down, focus and take my time to get any kind of decent painting. I've painted in my yard and even when I take my ADD medication, I can't focus for anything 🤦‍♀️ your paintings are so beautiful. I live in CT and my favorite season is autumn, obviously. I love Daniel Smith for painting leaves since most of their colors granulate and I love using them to paint leaves and trees (bark & branches), as well as woodland things. I live in the woods, so yeah. Thank you for sharing your opinions with us! 🖤

[@artofhiking]

Hi again! Thank you for sharing all of this wonderful info and you experiences with the different colors! I am really bad about branching out from Daniel Smith (partly because have an easier time finding them on sale or cheaper than other brands, and partly because I try to keep my materials somewhat consistent because of my students!). I have a small pan of Mayan blue from Greenleaf and Blueberry, and I think I might just have to pull it out to paint with it again!!! Lastly, if you are interested in learning more about my painting process I have a series of step-by-step watercolor classes called the Adventure Art Academy! Sharing with zero expectations- I Just love creating the classes (I film them outside on my hiking trips) so I always mention it!

[@laurahale5774]

This was fun and informative. Thank you!

[@artofhiking]

woohooo! :) I'm just happy a few folks have found them. It took a LOT of time to film and research the pigments as I went, so there's a happy artist/ video creator over here reading your kind notes.

[@PeachesandMoss]

Great video

[@artofhiking]

thank you for the note!!

[@nancyrolfe3033]

I love the way you swatch the deepest and lighter shades of each color and the information you shared. I left a detailed message on another video. Just making sure I hit like on the 5 swatching videos! Thank you!

[@artofhiking]

I'm glad you found it helpful, Nancy!! Also, if you want to be notified (via email, I believe, I'm still new to KZbin) when I publish new videos please tap subscribe if you haven't already! As a newer account, subscriber numbers do help, so I'm trying to be better about asking!

[@jacqulynhilyard1561]

Very practical and useful info, thank you.

[@artofhiking]

thank you so much for stopping by, and for the note! I'm glad you enjoyed it.