For Daniel Smith, color is … everything! Extra Fine watercolor pans, beautiful Watercolor Sets make the artists go wild! Color has always been the main reason– to fill your palette with the beauty and the emotion that sets your imagination free!
Cleaner, more transparent and brighter in chroma than Cadmium Yellow Light, this is a high-tinting, organic pigment. Hansa Yellow is considered the ‘perfect yellow’, offering more control when mixing. Painters admire the purity of this primary pigment and ability to adjust its temperature while avoiding a gray from a hidden complement. Think of a yellow pepper.
Hansa Yellow Medium is a high-tinting, organic pigment. Considered the ‘perfect yellow’, Hansa Yellow Medium offers more control when mixing. Painters admire the purity of this primary pigment and adjust its temperature while avoiding a gray from a hidden complement. Think of a yellow pepper.
Hematite is ground from a heavy silvery-black mineral rich in iron. In a thick wash, the heavier iron particles settle, creating bold granulation, in a thin wash, it is a soft dove gray. Hematite mixes beautifully with other colors adding its granulation and slightly neutralizing the mixed in color. One way to use Hematite Genuine is, with single brushstrokes, sketching in branches from thick to thin, the beautiful granulation automatically providing the texture of bark. Hematite or the traditional Greek name, Bloodstone – when you paint, you can almost feel the pounding of the battle drums as ancient warriors covered their bodies with Hematite in the belief that they would be protected from mortal wounds. According to lore ad superstition, large surface deposits of Hematite mark the site of hard fought battles, where the blood of fallen soldiers flowed into the ground.
Low to medium-staining, Hooker’s Green is a warm, natural green. Useful in formulating greens of all sorts, this Irish shamrock green combined with French Ultramarine can resemble frothy waves or, in a more concentrated mixture, range from reflected forest light to deep, dusty evergreen blues.
Unlock a wealth of color with this princely pigment. Rich in texture, this highly saturated purple will granulate to reveal shades of plum and ultramarine. From the deepest purple, this semi-transparent and low-staining pigment continues to deliver as it is applied in ever more delicate washes to the palest lavender. Give a stand of garden Irises the royal treatment or kiss the sunset with the softest touch. This regal pigment is palette royalty.
Artists choose Indian Red for architectural renderings, old brick and other subjects where a flat (matte) granular surface is desired. The opacity and density intrinsic to Indian Red make this grayed earth brown a useful asset. One coat of this low-intensity pigment covers even a highly saturated passage. Yellow Ochre, Cerulean Blue and Indian Red form an opaque triad, producing grayed, earthlike mixtures common to landscapes.
Don’t let the old line: made from the urine of cows fed an exclusive diet of mango leaves deter you from adding Indian Yellow to your palette; DANIEL SMITH’s vat pigmented Indian Yellow is a new formula. This medium to high tinting yellow lends a rusty orange edge to undisturbed puddles, a curious property when painting ripe fruit and vegetation. Autumn leaves and floral close-ups make great study subjects as you explore this pure chroma, ever so slightly granular yellow. Indian Yellow wets well and flows evenly.
DANIEL SMITH Indigo formula mixes Indanthrone Blue with Lamp Black for an extremely lightfast, intense dark that closely matches true Indigo. Transparent, yet high in tinting strength, this Indigo leaves a gentle faded blue denim stain when blotted from a damp state paint. Blueberries, blackberries and plums are a few subjects to play with using this technique. Use Indigo wherever dusty purples are desired. Indigo evokes a feeling of atmospheric depth used for expressive, moody skies.
Why choose Luminescent Watercolors? Because Nature has optical surprises in the colors that you see in birds’ feathers, insects, fish, and seashells, many flowers also have a pearly, dewy sheen to them. Consider the iridescence of a snail’s trail or a silvery spider’s web. Other things that also have a sparkle, or glow depending on the light, a silvery or golden moon, clouds aglow at sunset, rainbows, the sparkle of snow and ice, and glint of water reflections. Don’t forget the sheen of metals like pewter, copper, silver, and gold. There are also mythic subjects that are often thought of as having a special iridescence to them such as fairies, dragons, mermaids and other fantasy figures.
Why choose Luminescent Watercolors? Because Nature has optical surprises in the colors that you see in birds’ feathers, insects, fish, and seashells, many flowers also have a pearly, dewy sheen to them. Consider the iridescence of a snail’s trail or a silvery spider’s web. Other things that also have a sparkle, or glow depending on the light, a silvery or golden moon, clouds aglow at sunset, rainbows, the sparkle of snow and ice, and glint of water reflections. Don’t forget the sheen of metals like pewter, copper, silver, and gold. There are also mythic subjects that are often thought of as having a special iridescence to them such as fairies, dragons, mermaids and other fantasy figures.
Why choose Luminescent Watercolors? Because Nature has optical surprises in the colors that you see in birds’ feathers, insects, fish, and seashells, many flowers also have a pearly, dewy sheen to them. Consider the iridescence of a snail’s trail or a silvery spider’s web. Other things that also have a sparkle, or glow depending on the light, a silvery or golden moon, clouds aglow at sunset, rainbows, the sparkle of snow and ice, and glint of water reflections. Don’t forget the sheen of metals like pewter, copper, silver, and gold. There are also mythic subjects that are often thought of as having a special iridescence to them such as fairies, dragons, mermaids and other fantasy figures.
Why choose Luminescent Watercolors? Because Nature has optical surprises in the colors that you see in birds’ feathers, insects, fish, and seashells, many flowers also have a pearly, dewy sheen to them. Consider the iridescence of a snail’s trail or a silvery spider’s web. Other things that also have a sparkle, or glow depending on the light, a silvery or golden moon, clouds aglow at sunset, rainbows, the sparkle of snow and ice, and glint of water reflections. Don’t forget the sheen of metals like pewter, copper, silver, and gold. There are also mythic subjects that are often thought of as having a special iridescence to them such as fairies, dragons, mermaids and other fantasy figures.
Why choose Luminescent Watercolors? Because Nature has optical surprises in the colors that you see in birds’ feathers, insects, fish, and seashells, many flowers also have a pearly, dewy sheen to them. Consider the iridescence of a snail’s trail or a silvery spider’s web. Other things that also have a sparkle, or glow depending on the light, a silvery or golden moon, clouds aglow at sunset, rainbows, the sparkle of snow and ice, and glint of water reflections. Don’t forget the sheen of metals like pewter, copper, silver, and gold. There are also mythic subjects that are often thought of as having a special iridescence to them such as fairies, dragons, mermaids and other fantasy figures.
This exceptionally beautiful PrimaTek color is made from the more strongly colored of the two minerals known as jade – the other is Nephrite. Used for eons in China and Central America, this gemstone now becomes a spectacular artist’s color. From deep, dark-green mass tone to the palest wash, it creates all the exquisite shades we think of when we think of jade.
DANIEL SMITH Lavender is a beautiful periwinkle blue, and quite different from our other blues. This semi-transparent lavender blue has beautiful granulation, and lifts easily. In addition to being an excellent floral color, our Lavender suggests certain shades of faded denim.
Lemon Yellow, a brilliant primary yellow, is the perfect pigment for mixing a range of hues when a clean yellow is necessary. This saturated, bright color adds life to your work at full strength and washes out to a sweet soft glow for a light and subtle statement. You’ll enjoy the smooth handling properties and the durability of this extremely lightfast paint.
Imagine a transparent black with an expansive value range and pigment particles that react like magnetic shavings attracting and repelling each other. Unique pigment properties make Lunar Black a radically reticulating color. When dry, a Lunar Black wash resembles a marbled moonscape. This mottled stony texture can be successfully glazed. You can even gently paint into a wet-to-damp Lunar Black, dropping into the watery pigment, virtually any combination of favorites. Lunar Black is a wonderful mixer adding exciting black granulation to the mix! Lunar Black is an inorganic neutral black watercolor pigment and a DANIEL SMITH exclusive. Think Black Magic-and re-think black.
The fabric of the night sky glides off the brush in this heavenly shade. Granulating lunar black floats above a phthalo undertone, perfect for capturing a moonlit sky. Inky as midnight, or diffused as the moon on water, semi-transparent Lunar Blue lifts beautifully, leaving behind a mere shadow of itself. This moody watercolor is sure to delight.
This cool turquoise blue is ideal for creating form or indicating space. It is a medium-staining, transparent pigment with wonderful granulating properties. A good substitute for Cerulean Blue, Manganese Blue Hue offers an additional advantage: it mixes well with non-staining, semi-opaques to create a mottled texture in underlying colors. Note: true Manganese Blue, discontinued from product lines due to environmental concerns and toxic by-product, has been replaced in the DANIEL SMITH line with a formulation which closely resembles it. The result is a safe, high quality lightfast pigment with the color we adore – Manganese Blue Hue.
Mayan Blue Genuine is one of the PrimaTek colors, this gorgeous green-tinged indigo nearly defies description. Long ago, it adorned the murals and sculpture of the Mayan people and was featured in their rites and rituals. Despite exposure to severe heat and humidity, the color has hardly faded over a thousand years. Now, using methods derived from ancient Mayan chemistry, this unique, metal-free pigment has been recreated using an eco-friendly process. Its versatility, durability and exquisite hue will make it an instant favorite.