Daniel Smith Triads

The best deal in watercolors are the Daniel Smith triad packs

that you can snag on sale during one of their many promotions.

Here are my latest four sets:

Ballet, Hydrangea, Canadian Geese, and Alpine Wildflowers.

In addition to the three watercolor tubes,

 There is an insert with product information and a painting idea.

On sale, this is a $100.00 watercolor order from Daniel Smith:
15 15ml tubes, two sets of sample dots, and 10 half pans.
For this quality of paints the price is right.

My Muse

 Vladi is curled up, keeping me company.

I can paint for hours with this kind of inspiration.

Blending Watercolors

Blending paints is not something I do naturally.  I like

everything neatly colored within the lines.

Luckily Daniel Smith watercolors blend like a dream.  Here are three

of my favorite colors: Manganese Blue Hue, Nickel Titanite Yellow,

and Quinacridone Pink (of course :).

Sakura Koi vs. Winsor & Newton Cotman

Winsor & Newton Cotman paints on the left, Sakura Koi in the middle,

and Peerless watercolors (knock-your-socks-off bright) on the right.

Despite repeated attempts, I have been not able to bond with the

paints in my travel W&N cotman case.  Some of the colors seem too

pale, others seem to dance away from my hot pressed paper.

I've replaced that palette with the Sakura Koi set, using

the collapsible W&N brush with this kit's water brush.  The

range of colors and ease of use make this a winner for me.

Peerless Watercolors

I ran across Peerless Watercolors in a scrapbooking article.

Transparent watercolors coated onto a paper film.
This sampler sheet is from an Etsy seller.

I swiped the colors next to the names, yes they are that bright dry!

These paints take my breath away, almost fluorescent, mixing to the

clearest grays and browns I've ever made.  I have no idea how fugitive

they are, but the range of pinks alone will draw me back for more.

238 Daniel Smith Watercolors

 Daniel Smith has an incredibly tempting range of watercolors,

and you can try 238 of them with their paint dot cards.

Its just like using dry pan watercolors.

The paint is placed onto printed watercolor paper, I've swiped each

with a wet brush to test the colors.

 This is a great way to try the paints. the only down side is that

you may want to buy more than ever.

Even the specialty paints like the Primatek and iridescents are represented.

Since my paintings are miniatures, I'm thinking of seeing if I can paint

a whole exhibit of paintings off one set of sample cards :).

Koi Watercolor Sketch Box

 I have been having issues with my traveling Winsor & Newton

watercolor set.  The size and brush are great, but I need to carry

a surface, water, towel, etc.  So I decided to try the ultra-cheap

Koi 24-watercolor pocket field sketch box.

 Its not tiny at 6" x 4 1/2" x 1" but it contains everything I need.

24 colors, a water pen I adore, sponges for blotting...

 ...even a removable palette that firmly attaches in three different

configurations.  The cover also acts as a postcard-sized easel.

My watercolor paper and small ruler/straight edge fit inside.

The colors are saturated and mixed just fine wet on wet, some

with a bit of granulation.  This sketch box is a blast! I can see

using this for a long time by refilling the wells from tubes.