Review & demo - Daniel Smith Essentials set (and how essential it is!) 🎨

[@SadieSavestheDay]

This is exactly the set I would recommend to beginners!

[@EveBolt]

Me too! :D *high-five!*

[@MeowMeowKapow]

The Daniel smith essentials set was my first introduction to DS.....I tried them, and was immediately hooked. These colors are all still heavily used in my palettes, and this set in particular is often one I recommend to people looking for where to start. When I first started, I had no idea what I was doing.....so the FIRST watercolor set I intentionally purchased was this giant mijello mission gold set with like 36 colors or something and a big palette. I love those paints, but having so many colors to choose from was kind of intimidating and I just wasn’t sure how to mix things and managed to miraculously make a pretty good Porco Rosso piece, but.....I had no right to make something as good as I did considering how lost I was. =>.

[@ColoringKaria]

I really like this set and as a beginner i found it to be really useful. It was way easier to learn color mixing early than to get trapped in needing 100 colors!

[@EveBolt]

Hehe! True! Though one eventually needs 100 colors regardless of if they learned color mixing or not. Not our fault that all the colors are beautiful :)

[@FayeWulf]

This was my first primary colour set when I first started painting and none of the tubes remain. I loved the ultramarine and pyrrol red so much that I got a bigger version of the two.

[@EveBolt]

Oh wow, how I wish I could've started with that set. It would've made such a big difference! It's the best way to start with watercolor, I think.

[@FayeWulf]

Oh i started with some cheap child's watercolour set, lol, this was my first primary set and it was professional grade but yes, I would have loved to have started with Dan Smith XD

[@cecilialofgren1396]

My first colours where W&N cotman. Then I bought a set of St Petersburg’s watercolours. When I was “hooked” to watercolour I started to build a wide range of paint from different brands, such as Holbein, W&N, DS, Schmincke and some home made paint from different artists. And my favourite paper is Arches.

[@dianethoroughman9541]

I bought these, and I like them really well. I hope to eventually buy more. I did the 238 dot sample sheets which is really awesome.

[@EveBolt]

I'm glad you had a positive experience with these paints! :) The 238 dot sampler is also a really neat way to see all the colors and make a good list of the extra colors to add to the starter set of 6! (I have it somewhere and still have to sample all the colors!)

[@abbylink5759]

Always a treat to see a video from you during the week! This was the very first professional set I ever bought and I love all of the colors. This set really is perfect for beginners and the most essential color for me is that quinacridone rose. Out of all the ones I've tried it's my favorite.

[@EveBolt]

Aww, thank you! :D Oh yes, that quin. rose is the real deal! It's beautiful and so useful, I'm glad they included it and not a variant on the alizarin crimson theme that is recurrent in so many sets.

[@lisathaviu1154]

That is a really beautiful painting. I really love Daniel Smith paints. They are reliably good and the colors you expect to blend well, do.

[@EveBolt]

Thanks! :) And yes, exactly! They are reliable and they pack that extra oomph that other reliable paints (W&N) seem to be lacking.

[@ohsfer11820]

I guess I'll start with this. Thank you

[@elagleza1996]

I really want to try this set, thank you so much for the review, I really enjoyed it.

[@gwensimmons_gigi1629]

TFS this DS Watercolor review! 😘👍🏾I started with the Sonnet set of 24, which I still use, but have shifted slowly to QOR and Sennelier WC.

[@ColoringKaria]

Gwen Simmons sennelier is my soul. I like Qor but I never seem to reach for them.

[@EveBolt]

You're welcome! :) Qor and Sennelier are really good paints and painting with them is absolute joy :)

[@fufufuaru]

I can't stop staring at the tree with autumn leaves

[@EveBolt]

Hehe! :) It's such a nice orange color, fall trees are gorgeous :3

[@darkshadow8261]

Heroo Everynyann

[@MB-vk8vw]

I actually purchased this online today! I am glad that I found this video, as this is my first watercolor set of professional-grade watercolors. ( I decided to splurge a little bc of the quarantine.. and I have so much time now😅)

[@EveBolt]

That's a very good choice, I hope you'll enjoy playing with these and that they'll make the quarantine more interesting :)

[@heathercatlady546]

Terrific video, Eve! That was my first professional paint purchase and I’ve never looked back. I love the vibrancy of Daniel Smith paints. They’re a little expensive but a little goes a very long way. Beautiful painting Eve! You definitely chose the right subject for that demo. That tree stayed so vibrant. That’s exactly why I ❤️ Daniel Smith.

[@valasafantastic1055]

Seems like a great set. Perfect for learning split primary colour mixing! If you have this and want a few more colours it is based on what you paint and how accurate to subject you are getting the colours as well as if you are willing to use toxic pigments, if lightfastness is important to you and if you enjoy opaque colours or are looking only for the most transparent. Also are you looking for granulating colours or only the non granulating? Etc. Overall here’s a few suggestions If fugitive is not an issue and you want bright accurate colours for florals, neons, tropical fish etc; opera (neon) pink and opera (neon) yellow Original fugitive Alizarin crimson (Pr 83) is also gorgeous and a very perfect cool red for mixes. If you like opacity (I do) and agree mid is not a sin; Naples yellow, titanium buff and rich earth tones like M graham’s terra Rosa are incredible. Naples yellow is the highlight in sunlight, a warm ‘white’ in mixes and really really amazing! Titanium buff makes ‘vintage pastel’ mixes. Consider also titanium white gouache for opacity, pastels and highlights! For Gothy neutral tones and a more ‘reading effect’ a black is great (note does overpower/deaden mixes) oxide/lunar black (PBk 11) makes ‘dusk and lunar’ granulating black mixes. Ivory black is warmer. And lamp black is the most strong pure neutral tone black option. A good neutral tint, sepia ( various more neutral deep brown)or Anthraquinone blue (PBk 60), also provides a ‘neutral’ dark black without deadening. Perylene black/green (PBk 31) is amazing and foresty. As well as the popular Payne’s grey (which may be more blue-grey) And can all be a more ‘alive’ version of a black on a pallet. It depends on your personal needs/preference For accurate bright turquoise, tropical sky and water as well as plenty of other things a vibrant brilliant cobalt teal blue is ideal. Cobalt is toxic. Pg 50. It’s however a vital colour and lightfast. You can get less toxic version using gouache or there is a mixing way with watercolour (let me know if your interested I may do a video) Azo green/green gold; great for certian glowing tones and fantastic in mixes for plants and many other things! (Py 129, etc) I also advise a gold that glows. Such as Quinacridone gold and the best for plant colours is m Graham nickel quinacridone gold (po 48+py150) You can also go for ‘neutral’ primaries even if it’s by mixing (can use empty half/full pans) the cool and warm. You can also get ‘earth primaries’ earth tone versions of red, yellow and blue! These can make more earthy landscape or natural mixes for many subjects. Ex; red; Indian red, red oxide, red iron oxide, brunt’s sienna (often pr 101), Yellow: yellow ochre/raw sienna (most yellow ochre are more opaque and most raw sienna are more transparent but each brand varies…) Blue: indanthrone/Anthraquinone blue (PB 60), indigo, a very blue Payne’s grey, and maya blue (pb 82) You can also pre mix custom mixes when you discover a colour. And also look into the mother colour technique. I say expand as you go and can afford. Also do get inspiring colours that excite you if you can and do practice and keep notes from mixes. You can add written notes along with the swatches. Consider keeping a small book of colour notes and mixes and observations about the paints/pigments and mixes. You can even wright down approx rations and amounts of water. Also the paper makes a huge difference do paper tests in each paper you have and look to see the differences. Ok that’s a long enough advise comment, I hope this helps people!

[@sarajacobphotographe]

This is my favorite basic watercolor set! :D Just the right amount of colors.

[@anaeliart6520]

Thanks for the video ! Finding the perfect colors for a watercolor palette is so hard and so exciting :) love watching your videos.

[@pyrrols]

thank you for this i've been looking at this set

[@EveBolt]

You're welcome! It's a really good set :)

[@koriev2920]

oh, this was a timely video!! i've been going back and forth over purchasing this set vs. purchasing the m graham essentials set. i've been leaning towards the m. graham, both because it has other sets i can purchase and because it has a brown (and i feel like, with the amount of landscapes and animal portraits i do, mixing a basic brown would get old fast) but the ds split complementary set is so tempting!!

[@KittyBlueArts]

I received this set for Christmas and I still haven't used them D: I received the Sennelier 96 set of watercolors for Christmas too so I've been kinda obsessed with them since they're my favorite paints.. I'll get to trying these out soon! They look very nice to work with :)

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

You'll probably never use your Daniel Smith paints. ;) There's no contest there when you have 96 Sennelier!!.. lol!

[@ColoringKaria]

oh my first artist palette was the sennelier set of 18 artist paints.

[@EveBolt]

That's a very (very) decent first palette! :D

[@ColoringKaria]

I think that’s why I fell in love with watercolor! They are so great to work with!

[@grayblosser6630]

The essentials set was my first time buying DS paints (and I ordered them online!). I had no idea they were from Seattle until I read the insert. They're such a quality paint and local for me so I haven't felt the need to buy other brands. I feel so spoiled. I wish I could show you their store! You would have so much fun sampling everything!

[@stellabelikiewicz1523]

Oh man! Your question about first ever color selection reminded me of the first acrylic paints I acquired when I was around ten years old. I got them at a craft store rather than an actual art supply store, and the only yellow that was in stock was yellow ochre! My color mixing experience was extremely weird for the next couple of years!

[@VisualMind]

That set has been on my wish list for quite some time! I already own a lot of art supplies so I don't want to just buy lots of random supplies anymore 😂 thank you so much for the review, that's exactly what I needed :D I guess I will actually buy this set ☺

[@EveBolt]

Thanks! :DDepending on where you are, and your patience, this set can get to be around 20USD on amazon.com, which makes it a really good grab, both in terms of pricing and value. I hope you'll enjoy using it :)

[@VisualMind]

I think it costs 36€ on the german amazon :o That's more than twice that price :o Maybe I should wait a little! Thanks :)

[@lockeyarts]

My first watercolor set was a Talens cake set of 12 colors consisting of yellow, yellow ochre, vermilion, carmine, burnt sienna, sepia, turquoise, ultramarine, purple, may green, viridian and black. I recently dusted off that little tin and found that the colors are a lot better spaced on the color wheel than I remembered. It's basically a primary triad with two steps in between each primary. The complementary colors also neutralize each other very well. If only I had known what I was doing back then. :D

[@EveBolt]

Hehehe! I absolutely relate! :) It's great to revisit older supplies and realize that they are even better than we remembered! If the paints still work fine, you can make the best of that set now ;)

[@TsukabuNosoratori2]

Not a bad set really. I would also buy a cerulean or manganese blue for a brighter color for skies and water. Then one would also be able to mix some brighter greens and purples should they choose. I only have a couple of Daniel Smith colors compared to other brands that I have. But I still like it. The first paints I ever got that I liked (before I discovered different brands) though were the 18 set of SakuraKoi tube paints. It made me see the difference between the the Koh-i-noor cakes I'd been using for years and tube paints for the first time without being overwhelming because of too many colors.

[@EveBolt]

I would also personally make a few edits to this set if it was only for me, but as it stands it's a really good place to start. (And I approve of the manganese/cerulean ♥) You're fortunate that you went for the Sakura tube paints, they look better than the Koi travel palettes. And 18 colors is a great number, it has just enough extra room to include some very useful colors that somehow never make it into the 12-sets.

[@MalamikArt]

It really is the perfect set. That didn't stop me from buying more though Haha! They are super vibrant and you get what you pay for with these! I'm surprised you hadn't reviewed these already, but I'm glad you did :)

[@EveBolt]

I agree! It's nice to have in case one needs a super compact set of very few colors. They are really awesome colors! I'm thinking I would switch the Ultramarine with indanthrone if I had my say in things, but still ;)

[@kuvira44]

Merci Eve !! I bought this set because of your recommendation ! ♥️🧡💛

[@EveBolt]

Awesome! I hope you'll enjoy painting with these beautiful colors :)

[@DrawingWithFire]

Great video Eve! 😁 I love the landscape you chose to paint. It really shows off the colors. This was the first Daniel Smith paints I bought. They sucked me in... lol 😆

[@EveBolt]

Thanks Val! :) They are really the best beginner set in my opinion, and they really do sell the DS paints (in the sense that it makes one want to buy MORE!) lol

[@glorioskiola]

Thanks for the video!

[@cecilialofgren1396]

Nice with “The Bolt Vault”!🥰

[@Pixiewithpens]

this does seem excellent! i am a beginner and i've got a 12 set of w&n cotman and a 10 set of van gogh. the van gogh selection is in my opinion better, with including warm + cool, but i'm baffled as to why neither of these starter set include a PV19. i purchased that separately and it's extremely useful!! both of those sets also include a white, which to me seems... eh. especially with the cotmans, which i got in pans. the van gogh i can at least use straight from the tube and have it show up as a highlight at the end of the process, but using the white from the cotman pan just seems to make a chalky mix that i don't particularly care for. anyway! thank you for this video, i might get this whenever the time comes for me to upgrade :)

[@kitse_xiii8334]

What tape do you use on your Strathmore journal? I just got it, and I love it for watercolor and watercolor pencils!

[@EveBolt]

It's a pretty neat journal! :) I use blue or green painter's tape, depending on what I have nearby. I think the blue is a bit better though!

[@kitse_xiii8334]

Such a helpful video! I subscribed! I'm getting the color for chart, and might go ahead and get this essentials kit. May I ask, do you know if these tubes can fill up a full pan? I'm planning to slowly replace my student grade colors with these~

[@EveBolt]

Thank you! :)I'm pretty sure 5ml can fill a full pan, but I don't think there'd be much left after that. Daniel Smith is a great choice to replace your student paints, their vibrancy and pigment-load are really worth it.

[@ShannonZirkle]

I’d love to know which colors you mixed when doing the swatch chart.

[@EveBolt]

It's just the 6 colors from this set!

[@bizdikbirt6809]

Hi! I started with Van Gogh palette and I'm using it quite for a long time. Now I want to use DS. :) I want to pick New Gamboge, Phthalo Blue and Quin. Rose. I researched these but there are so many information and I'm a bit confused. :D I'm wondering are these colors fugitive or not and also how they mix with other brands like Van Gogh and Gansai Tambi?

[@EveBolt]

You can check on sunandcolors.com/ to see the lightfastness of the paints tested out. They seem to be lightfast colors. I can't say how they would mix with other brands. I think VanGogh would be good, I don't know about Gansai Tambi. It's not the same binder.

[@bizdikbirt6809]

@@EveBolt That was very helpful, thank you very much! 🙏🏻💛

[@emmahenson6759]

How do you mix grey using these colours?

[@EveBolt]

Hi! Try mixing together the Hansa yellow light, the quin rose and the phthalo blue. If the mix is too green, add some magenta; too orange add some blue; too purple add some yellow. You can play with the ratios until you get a grey :)

[@KarijnsWatercolors]

These are great. :D I am looking greedily at this set every time I go to Amazon, but I already have my DSmith set and those tubes have only been squeezed out once, so I really need to use them more before buying more. T_T

[@EveBolt]

You're right :) They are good paints regardless, so it's not lost if you happen upon this set by chance. Just as your current set is really good paints. You could paint bigger things so you'd need to get new paints more often ;)

[@jensheart]

YeS! This set is perfect! I love the flow it gives and how vibrant they look! I'm curious tho about the browns. I think it would be beneficial to add Payne's grey or Neutral black to have wider range or earthy colors...What do u think? How was ur experience with mixing browns? Btw. I'm amazed by how much you grow in color balancing your landscapes. This "japan garden" painting has such a great mood in it!

[@gitikaasiwal6746]

What did you spray on your palette before putting the Colors? Also I want to say that painting was beautiful.

[@EveBolt]

Thank you! :) It was just water, I wanted to make sure there was no dust or odd bits in the palette before putting the colors in :)

[@paulage1art]

Love your reviews! I just checked on prices of this set on Amazon US vs Amazon Canada - oh wow! US with Prime delivery is $27.76 and in Canada is $43.81 plus $5.98 shipping = $49.79! almost double!! I also read from another Canadian that metal empty metal palettes are hard to find. Is that true for you? Paula in Florida

[@calamityjitt667]

Daniel Smith is heavens... But gotta do some serious pigment research first or its totally overwhelming range! :) yet worth every penny of the price! The selection is very nice, would be even better if they would go with primary/secondary color wheel instead, but for learning the ropes of color theory this is perfect. Personally I'm more into mid yellow, red-orange, magenta, warm blue and green combo, which does as great job as six split primary, if not better as the colors are more evenly distributed around the color wheel, so no mix gets really dull when two side shades are combined (kudos to handprint!) Py151, Po71, Pr122, Pb15:6 and pg36 are my smallest set (tossed in PBr 6 as a "neutral" which is like burnt umber). In DS range those are azo yellow, transparent pyrrol orange, quin lilac, phthalo blue RS and phthalo green YS. PBr6 is e-f transp. Brown iron oxide gorgeous granulation! As for 12 colors (not very "essential" though :D) for all rounder purposes py3 hansa yellow light, py110 perm yellow deep, pr255 pyrrol scarlet, pv19 quin red, pr122 quin lilac, pb29 (french) ultramarine, pb15:3 phthalo blue GS, pg7 phthalo green BS.... And for earth colors py150 nickel azo yellow, pr101 transp red iron oxide, pbr6 e-f transp brown iron oxide and pb60 indanthrone blue. Truly all I ever found myself to need... Brightest shades of mixes possible with least colors needed and everything can be muted down if necessary. Not good if someone dislikes mixing though :)

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

You should totally watch Denise Soden's swatching of 72 Daniel Smith colors ;) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZorKmoCfpcR6g80

[@calamityjitt667]

Debi Taylor I did! ^.^ love swatching videos, they are peaceful, relaxing and awesome source of future planning :D

[@askialuna7717]

I started with a 24er Akademi box from Schmincke. It was like that: I did not need a few colors and a few missing :-(. Well, I took that because many of the colors I needed were not in the set of 12 . I did not have a neutral red, such as Pyrrol scarlet PR254, I need to mix it from cinnabar and Carmine every time, when I need it that was very annoying and the purple was very weak. I then had to buy another purple. I can't mix color so well and after the box was almost emty. I want to buy a new set, and was quite overrated with the amount of colors that existed in the catalog of the store where I bought my stuff . Then I took a booklet from Schmincke with me. There was no booklet from the others. I my mind it was relatively good because there are also to the individual color descriptions. like z.b useful for landscape painting. because I paint that the most, I paid the most attention to it. It ended up that in retrospect I had too many shades of green and I tried to take only colors of the lower price groups. I had bought whole pans. I guess I had about 24 colors, later one or two years later I bought 20 more and I need two 24 Boxes. A ca. 150 euros have already come together . In my opinion, this is a pretty bad thing, especially because I have not informed on the internet, so I probably would have liked to find the nice offers and would have even landed on a art forum at that time. It was about 2008 when I bought this box then I was 14. I bought the Akademi boxes when I was 10 years, buying in a rather expensive shop for 38 €. The whole pans I bought in a small store from boesner its like HobbyLobby in small. The Akademie box would have cost 25 € there at the time. Today, I find it very pity that I have done so, because I do not like the Schmincke watercolor paints because they do not even granulate. Now I use a mix of many different brands depending on what's on offer. Based on Janes Blundell 48 color palette.

[@EveBolt]

I had a similar experience when I started painting many years ago. I was much younger, and internet was just starting to be a thing. It was difficult to find good information and I had no idea what I was buying. Most of my supplies then came from a framing shop that had a tiny art supplies display. I would've saved a lot by knowing more about what I was using. With KZbin and internet today, I'm happy that younger, beginner artists have a lot more options :)

[@askialuna7717]

I m happy too ;-). I think it's great that so much information can be found online now. You are very sympathetic and you can explain well :-).

[@tiffanyelena]

Are these non-toxic?

[@EveBolt]

You can check the Daniel Smith website for that info :)

[@demiphoto]

It's so funny that I decided to buy the set and the same metal pallet before I saw your video.

[@TheSgyro]

Was gna get this set at first.. But then something weird happened and it doubled in price😓

[@DrawingWithFire]

TheSgyro keep an eye on the price. They fluctuate on amazon.

[@EveBolt]

Yeah!! I went to pick the link and was stunned! It's almost the same price in CAD and in USD, but the CAD is a much weaker currency. The Essentials set used to be around 23 USD on Amazon... What happened?!

[@TheSgyro]

Eve Bolt - Bolt's Vault it used to be 40 dollars first.. Then it changed to 80 now😂.. Crazy taxes

[@DrawingWithFire]

TheSgyro you can set up an account on this site & track prices for Amazon items: camelcamelcamel.com/Daniel-Smith-285610005-Essentials-Introductory/product/B00WT5VRF6 I tend to put things in my cart & check back every so often to see if the price drops.

[@Jubileester]

I’m still very new to watercolor but well on my way to a paint addiction. My first sets were Schmincke Akademie and Kuretake Gansai Tambi. My first professional quality watercolors were the QoR 6 color intro set, quickly followed by the Daniel Smith essential and primatek 6 packs. I thought the Akademie colors were super bright and amazing but QoR and Daniel Smith are even brighter and more awesome!

[@EveBolt]

Welcome to this world of beautiful colors and texture!! You followed a great route so far, with nice student set choices (the Schmincke Akademie are great!!) and brilliant professional quality choices as well :)

[@annikania2682]

Hm, honestly I don’t feel like that it would be a good set for a beginner, because I, and I feel like a lot of others, had a lot of problems with mixing in the beginning! And personally there is just something missing with no earthtones! And, since this particular set is 35€ here in Germany, I would much rather get the van Goghs or buy paints open stock, where I can at least mix and match (I sadly think the Daniel smiths are ... overrated, hate me for that), or, small addition, the white nights 24 set, which is still 5€ less on german amazon and they are for me not worse then what I got from ds this far!

[@soliferi]

Totally agree, I'm not keen on DS either. they're obviously great quality but just something I don't like like theyre naturally too warm or lacking lustre. white knights are very grainy and can look dirty but are fine for a beginner. personally I learned a lot from just using a lemon, magenta and ultramarine and mixing for a while. my opinion for a beginnere is probably just get a large of each from any decent student brand in thise three and mix for a while. then later a 6 set in artist quality and later a larger set in a favourite brand. somehow i found the white knights 24 set overwhelming and kept to the same basic colours or avoided them at the time i had them. I do love the Van Goghs too

[@annikania2682]

soliferi when I was young and started, I personally think a very limited pallete would have made it much harder for me xD but yeah, as soon as I got accustomed to the techniques and how I wanted to use them limiting myself helped a lot with style. Personally I never had that feeling with my white nights, especially the day I got myself some cotmans, and got a full grown crisis from using them xD

[@calamityjitt667]

Mixing is a key in wet media, or it gets pricey really fast (exponentially I would say :D) just look at copics, lol. Only thing that can't be mixed up are rich, saturated, bright colors. They can be tinted with water, or darkened/dulled with their complements. Looking at color wheel, earth tones are closer to the "middle black" of the wheel so all of their shades can be mixed easily (from warm spectrum mixture with a touch of blue). Where it gets funny is when you want particular characteristic of the pigment (aka granulation or staining property) but to understand how the colors themselves really work together, those are more likely to put you back in research. Limited palettes for the win! ^.^

[@annikania2682]

Calamity Jitt Calamity Jitt well, I know my color theory and I’ve done enough work with the Zorn pallete. Tho in my opinion, I at least want some of these tones that would require to mix all three of them, because, well, on one hand it sure is convenience, but it also is just more clean in my opinion! And honestly, this set just lacks something for me...

[@calamityjitt667]

Annikania I totally understand, don't get me wrong, please :) everyone has different requirements, especially after the first steps are taken. This set is great for someone who never seriously encountered the color theory, but due to its nature it can serve just as the base, if at all, to artist who already knows what they want :) or if unfamilliar with the brand for testing purposes, albeit cmy triad would serve just as well and cheaper in that regard (in 5ml tubes)

[@StephenMarkTurner]

The theory behind those colours looks like basic 'split primary'. But you did mix nice dark but not too dull green with those paints though. Also that area with the 'red leaf' colour is real nice

[@InLiquidColor]

Eve, calling a set with ultramarine perfect?! Hahah, only joking. Fun video as always :)

[@EveBolt]

For me (personally) I'd switch it with Indanthrone blue, but as far as general things go, it's a good set! And most people love Ultramarine, so heh XD

[@justtheletterV274]

Really

[@esecaonepuerco]

Vegan 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@EveBolt]

??