Review of Expensive Watercolors {Daniel Smith}

Hello my name is Lindsay I am a watercolor floozy. I can’t resist having a fling with a new set of beautiful watercolors, especially if I find some on sale which I did. I got this 6 watercolor essential set from Daniel Smith for $22 from Amazon Warehouse Deals, I snagged it because there was only one, I think it was shopworn or a return, I did not care as long as the paint was good. The paint was great but unfortunately there were 2 ultramarines in the set in place of a pthalo blue but Daniel Smith send me out a replacement tube so all was good.

I had dozens of people ask me to review Daniel Smith paint and even more recommend it. The price however gave me pause but I am really glad I tried these! Unfortunately it makes me want more. Oh, and a warning, if you go to the Daniel Smith website you can see beautiful swatches of colors and descriptions that sound like you are reading the back of a wine label or a romance novel, I had to step away from the computer before I spent a paycheck on romantic sounding names like Moonglow and Undersea Green. They have a fantastic copywriter! Enough talking, lets see what these paints are all about in today’s review and demo:

The colors included in the 6 color watercolor essentials set are:
Hansa Yellow Light (col yellow)
New Gamboge (Warm Yellow)
Quinacridone Rose (Cool Red)
Pyrrol Scarlet (Warm REd)
Pthalo Blue GS (Cool “greeny” blue)
French Ultramarine (Warm “purply” blue)

If you want more info on basic split primary color mixing check out my free video here but if you want a more in depth course using the Daniel Smith colors try the class Luminous Watercolor Mixing at Craftsy.  Last I checked it was 33% off and I did enroll in it myself to be sure it was a good color mixing class.

You can find a good deal on Daniel Smith tubes on Blitsy. They also have the set I used at Simon Says Stamp (but honestly, you can get the 6 tube set for half the price on Amazon.)

I really like these paints and this set is perfect for clean bright mixes, perfect workhorse colors to start off with. The only negative I can think of on Daniel Smith paints is they are expensive but luckily they often have sales so you can keep a list and stock up when you find a deal. They sell dot sample cards if you want to try colors before comitting to buying a tube or stick of paint which might be smart, or dumb if it just makes you want more. #WatercolorFloozyProblems. I also love the descriptions they put of each color on their website, although warning, you might get talked into buying:)

This 6 color set is wonderful for beginners or experienced artists wanting to try and compare with basic colors. I’ll say that the quality is excellent so advanced painters might want to try some of their more exotic pigments to round out their collections especially if you seek granulating colors.

I will be using these paints in a video tomorrow as well (as if I could waste ANY of the paint on that palette!) if you want to see it in action some more. Also today I wanted to announce the winner of the ArtNeko stamps from last week (sorry to cram so much in to one post) Virginia Michelini enjoy your prize! You will get an email from me with instructions on claiming your stamps, congrats! Let me know what you think of these paints in the comments below, thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!