I have a crazy theory that M. Graham puts so much honey in, because it somehow allows them to jam more pigment into their tubes than they could otherwise. They are by far the most pigmented paints on the market. Lots of personality, just like the city where they're from. They are love it or hate it! I'm still trying to decide :) Mine never set up. I really love the Cerulean Deep!
@@JayNathanWatercolor I've been trying them out, since it makes sense for me (price-wise) to use watercolors made in the US. I'm a bit annoyed with Daniel Smith these days so I've been checking out MG, DaVinci, and Qor. I love to complain about how we have no good paper made here, but we have TONS of good paint.
They are really hit or miss about setting up dry in the pan. I have over a dozen colors and most of them actually fully dried, just tacky to the touch more like Sennelier or White Nights do. There's a couple colors though that just never really harden and I have a feeling that some batches may have been made with excess honey preventing them from ever hardening. I've also seen people have the problem where it looks like they dry, then they take them to paint outside and they all re-liquify and slide off the palette!
Oh right so they do dry eventually? That's good to hear. I'm sure the heat and humidity here in Thailand doesn't help? I can't imagine the mess they would make if they all re-liquified in the palette. 🤣
@@JayNathanWatercolor I think they probably would never dry in your humidity. It took over a year for one color I put on my palette to dry, so I only use them fresh from a tube, with the exception of the Cobalt Violet tube I have. That one was a bad batch, and was mostly solid in the tube. I chisel some out every once in a while, it is a very pretty bluish violet color.
The only 2 M Graham colors that I have are Viridian PG18 and Ultramarine Pink PR259. They are much easier to rewet than in other brands. These pigments are known to be difficult to rewet which is why I specifically purchased them from m graham.
Mind of Water Color channel recommended Transparent Red Iron Oxide by M Graham PR 101. One of my best purchases ever. Great for mixing greens. Nice on its own.
Its seems people either love or hate MG paints. They are the stickiest Ive ever purchased, but none can compare with how ready they are to use. I only travel with them if I know my palette will stay horizontal, because they will spill and make a mess. I love the quin and napthol reds. The PR209 seems to leave some fine sediment?, but it has a 2 tone look to it thants very interesting. DS quin coral is more smooth and transparent, while Senneliers PR209 is very fine, possibly less pigmented, and subtle. I really like the dispersion too. I find it better to mix a puddle of MG paint with water than take it directly from the pan to paper, or you might produce globs of paint. Globs is a technical term. :) I really like olive greens, but that one is not appealing to me in any way. 😂 TFS
The PR209 is very nice. I'm not usually a fan of non earth reds even though I keep trying different ones in the hope I'll learn to love them. Maybe this pigment will be the one that stays in my palette. 🤣
I find my M. Grahams to stay sticky longer than Sennelier or Mission Gold, but when diluted and used to paint, they dry at the same speed as paints like Daniel Smith or Da Vinci. But when I want to use thicker paint, I don't use M. Graham - I have a painting where the M. Graham paint never dried at all, and finally something got stuck to it. Btw, I dried my M. Grahams in pans in a food dehydrator, and they did fully dry. The Olive Green doesn't look green at all...
I bought a tube of Azo Green by M Graham and have had nothing but problems with it; it has something horribly sticky in it which fouls my brushes and my palette. I have to repeatedly wash out my brushes with hot soapy water and then drag them through a towel to get all the stickiness out. No more Graham colors for me! I didn't have this problem with the smaller tube of Azo green; this was an $18 tube of 1.25 oz.
I love my MG paints and travel with no trouble with them, any of them. They wake up quickly but they aren’t runny at all. No worries re leaking. Thanks as always for another great video.
I have M Graham and it takes long time for them to firm up and dry. But they will. I had a whole tube of cobalt turquoise dry up right in the tube along with my mineral violet within 3 years. I live in a dry climate and as long as you dont seal with a lid and let them breath, they firm up very solid, even in humid climate because I was in a humid climate when I bought them. My caps split so that caused a couple tubes to dry up. They will dry but It just takes longer. They are made in my State of Oregon, in USA so the small family business isn't that far from me. M Graham and DeVinci both are very affordable and the cheapest option for artist grade watercolor here in the USA since they are made here. Not my favorite brand because they and Daniel Smith seems less clean and fresh looking to me. My Favorites are Winsor & Newton, Holbein & Schmincke. Thanks for sharing. Im a pigment nerd.
Love my M Graham paints - also love Sennelier, Mijello, A Gallo & Roman Szmal (all have honey). M Graham makes a beautiful Pyrrol Red, Anthraquinone Blue and Transparent Red Iron Oxide.
Yes, I love these paints. They were the first professional one's that I tried. I do agree with the Olive being too brown. I'm sure though that it can be spruced up with some other color. Karen from Canada ☺☺
I dream of M.Graham's Quinacridone Set. Given the high currency exchange rates plus import taxes (I just checked on Amazon, and it would cost me about 30 times the sale price 😆) it will remain there: in my dreams. Change of subject, I have a dozen of White Night's pans and most of them stayed moist ever since I first tried them, ages ago. They remain sticky and strangely puffed, but never runny, it seems.
Aw that's no good. What country are you in that the import costs would be so high? I don't have that much experience with White Nights.but I do know I hate their tube paints. They're made with honey too aren't they? I guess that explains why they stay sticky?
I don't know if this will make you feel any better about not getting it, but I bought the quin set and returned it because of too many texture issues. For some reason (possibly the high amount of honey) they didn't disperse into water evenly or as readily as most watercolors. I had to try 3 different types of water to get them to even remotely provide a smooth wash (M.Graham is known to have quirks with hard water/tap and perform better with purified/distilled). Either way, no other pro brand aside from Turner has given me so much trouble.
I live in Arizona, the desert southwest United States, and love these paints because they don't dry out. As an artist who lives in the desert I have to be very careful about how I store my supplies. I am constantly checking and resupplying pens or paints that have dried out to the point where they are no longer viable. It's amazing how much moisture or the lack there of can damage your supplies. With the exception of some of the brown pigments these paints stay moist, viable and lovely in my palettes. My favorite paints are the quin series, azo series and cobalt series. I also love their Payne's Gray, Cobalt Teal, Cerulean and Terra rose. I love to paint desert landscapes. These paints provide the perfect array of colors for desert scenes.... Thanks for the video! It was great!
I loved the cobalt teal look so much, I bought it to add to my Cottman palette a couple years back. Still working on a custom color palette that fits my work.
Yep, still waiting for mine to dry and it's been 4 weeks. Of course I live in a humid place so... it is what it is. Put a piece of waxed paper over the paints to keep dust out or keep it from getting all over. Recently noticed how much I like how goopy they are. I'm at the point where using certain colors from the tubes has become more regular. Especially when I need to mix darks or shadows. Which is where my second complaint comes in. When mixing darks they can stay shiny and sticky on the painting. Side note: most of my PB28s are listed as turquoise. Love mixing with this color for two toned flower petals or a shell that has a pearly look. TFS, love your channel.
The Olive is made to granulate. It’s mixed with a black. It looks to be a granulation set … I have 2 M Graham sets and they are soooo smooth & pigmented. But yes, they never seem to dry; ever. They don’t travel too bad in godets. My favorite are the earth tones as I use them the most. (However, the blues and Gamboge are gorgeous.)
I love swatching M. Graham watercolors. They are so beautiful. I have a few of them in my palette. My permanent alizarin crimson, Ultramarine violet, ultramarine blue, anthraquinone blue, Azo green, and Payne's Grey seem to have set just fine though extremely sticky. I can't tell you the amount of times my fingers have accidentally landed in the m graham pans in my palette 🙃 I found that the Viridian and Quinacridone Rose seemed bit too wet for me to comfortably keep in my palette though they still never spilled out. The cobalt teal however did spill in my M. Graham palette. I think it has the most liquid consistency out of all of my M. Graham paints.
You're right, they are beautiful. Sounds like you have a nice collection of them? I've not experienced any problems with the cobalt teal yet. It's sticky but has stayed put in the pan so far.
@@JayNathanWatercolor it could just be my tube of cobalt teal. I'm glad it's staying put for you! I have a soft spot for M Graham paints, they were the first brand of watercolor I bought when I was starting my watercolor journey. 😊
I love M.Graham paints! Although I haven't done a proper lightfast test, I've had a swatch of PR112 on a memo board for about 4 years and it is still very bright.
Love the colors. I love the Olive green, Azo yellow and Burnt sienna, together. I always wanted the Olive green. Even though it’s a multi pigment that I can mix. Quinacridone Red is one of my favorite. Referring to the pigment PR 209. The Yellow as well, love it. I do own the Cobalt Teal and the Terra Rossa. Both granulating. Want more.
Wow! Those really do remain SUPER sticky and wet! I have Mission Golds honey based paints and they are soft and semi tacky but not sticky to the touch: they stay in place well after a few weeks drying on a dehumidifier. I just plucked them all from plastic half pans and transferred them to a custom wooden palette using a palette knife and they are perfectly firm enough now.
Oh right! I forgot that the Mijello have honey in them. My mission golds also have no trouble drying in the palette. Now I want to see this custom wooden palette of yours 🤣
I love my M. Graham paints. Huge pigmentation. Used them on my small "on the road metal box" with not a single issue. I live in the tropics so don't tell me about humidity issues, NONE. They have the best ultramarine blue on the market.
lovely swatches! 😆 i think the typical 'cobalt teals' are made with either PG50 or PB28. i've seen a shift many brands having used PG50 but now use PB28. there're still some that continue to use PG50.
@@JayNathanWatercolor not at all~ honestly i wouldn't be surprised if a brand came out with a cobalt teal made with PB36 since it's a very versatile pigment 😊
I use azo yellow from DaVinci as my main light yellow. Interestingly the White Nights brand also contains honey. Pyrrol scarlet from Daniel Smith is a very warm gorgeous poppy color, my favorite warm red along with the quin coral and not an orange like M.Graham ‘s label. The colors are very saturated but I also deal with humidity issues and so I use mostly other paints but I love M.Graham’s one pigment rose of ultramarine. It is the best that I have seen.DS has two pigments in theirs and the blue separates due to the granulation.
You’re right. The olive green misses the mark. I love all burnt siennas but would wear that scarlet pyrrole even though I’ve never met an orange I liked.
Thanks for the swatching. I have a limited number of M Graham paints. I like them, live in a very humid area but mine have fully dried in my palette. After seeing this I’m going to add Cobalt Teal and Quin Red. I’d suggest you get Permanent Alizarin, Sap Green (their version is slightly olive) and perhaps the Indian Yellow (I love this color).
They’re an overly-expensive brand in the UK, so it’s interesting to see them and they look lovely. The olive is a bit too dark, but the others are good, I’d add a phthalo blue green shade and a rose, though.
I really like these. Reds are not my faves in general but these reds are really nice, especially that Quin Red. It seems like few Olive Greens are the color of olives (!) but this would be a really nice green earth hue or dark moss; it's different and interesting and looks like a good landscape color.
I only have their Payne's Grey. It stay sticky for a while and I don't rewet it when I use it. They stay kind of sticky like some of my Mission Gold paints from Mijello. Sennelier is not as bad but they need more than a week to dry. White Nights also have honey in their binder. I think Schmincke uses a bit of Honey in their binder, too. But they dry down perfectly.
I don’t like that Olive Green either. It needs more of the PG7 pigment. Very disappointing but at least we’ve seen it. I only have two M Graham watercolors, Phthalo Green and Indian Yellow (PY110). The latter is very nice and unique in my collection but they are indeed very sticky paints. They pair well with the few Sennelier paints that I have, so I keep them in a palette together. Neither are my preferred brands though, and I won’t be purchasing more tubes once I use up what I have on hand.
Sennelier is another brand I really want to test out. I've only ever tried a tube of their cobalt blue and really loved it. Do you think you're just not a fan of honey based paints? Which is your preferred brand?
@@JayNathanWatercolor I don’t think it’s necessarily the honey since I love White Nights and Roman Szmal paints which are also formulated with honey. I think I just tried both brands too late after I’d already started to have favorites. Winsor and Newton are my favorite brand. I love the clarity of their Professional series and how well they layer. The Cotman line is hit or miss, but there are a few (i.e. New Gamboge) that are so close to the Professional line that I can use either or on my palette. After W&N, I love my Van Gogh paints. The colors are so vivid, I don’t even need the artist grade versions of certain colors. I would encourage any budget-conscious beginner to try this line first. I have a few Holbein and Daniel Smith hues that I love and are unique to those lines (Shell Pink, Fuchsite Genuine and others). I know that the latter is embroiled in scandal right now because of their Primetek line, but I still love the ones I’ve already bought. I have a collection of White Nights that I also love. They are so bright and pair well with the Van Gogh paints. I have a couple of Roman Szmal pans in soft hues (Potters Pink, Earth Green & Buff Titanium). They also remind me of the White Nights and are ones I use frequently. Lastly, I like DaVinci because they are economical. If I could only use one brand though, I would be satisfied with W&N; they are definitely the paints I use most now. The M Graham and Sennelier paints that I own were received either in art subscription boxes, samples, or second-hand and, with the exception of the PY110, I pretty much already had similar colors in other brands and didn’t see anything ultra special about them. Also, at this point, I have so many paints that I can’t keep collecting more. Oddly I’ve never tried Schmincke, but I won’t be buying anything else until I use my current supplies. I love living vicariously through you though! 😃
Hi Jay, interesting they look lovely. Are any of these colours listed on the back of the tubes as toxic. I assume Cobalt Teal is being a cobalt. Can you advise please ?
Hi. Thanks for your comment 🙏 I don't actually have the tubes so I can't give you an answer. Your best bet would be to contact M.Graham through their website www.mgraham.com and ask them. They're pretty quick to respond in my experience. 😊
That olive green is way too dark to be an olive green color, i heard that their pb60 anthraquinone blue is very nice, and their neutral tint is good and doesn’t contain a black pigment, M.graham is just a hard brand to get over here
I got my first set today (desert) and noticed the smell as I was using them.. First it was whiffs of what smelled like wet dog. Then when I figured out it was coming from the paints I noticed the palette had a fishy smell. I do have a sensitive nose, and while I love the colors, I don’t see myself buying them again because of this.
@@awatercolourist Yeah I saw just a few people mention they thought it had an unpleasant smell like vomit or musty mold. It seemed like some of those comments were from a specific time frame 2-3yrs years ago. I suspect that it was either a specific batch, pertained to specific pigments, or the fact that an intense honey smell isn't pleasant for everyone. I saw a lot of responses where other people said they weren't offended by it. I can't say for sure if anything has gotten worse in the last few years though since they changed ownership, but overall I don't seek out MGraham paints anymore (too quirky and sticky compared to other brands).
@@KimberlyCrick Hi Kimberly :-) Thank you for your input. When the time comes and I get the chance to buy M Graham colours I’ll just buy two or three tubes to test them out. If I do not like the smell then it isn’t much of a loss. I really want to try out their stickiness. It’s so notorious that I want to experience it 😂. If I do not like it then I’ll just use the paints fresh out of the tubes.
I have a crazy theory that M. Graham puts so much honey in, because it somehow allows them to jam more pigment into their tubes than they could otherwise. They are by far the most pigmented paints on the market. Lots of personality, just like the city where they're from. They are love it or hate it! I'm still trying to decide :) Mine never set up. I really love the Cerulean Deep!
You might be right about that 🤣 I'm going to explore more of the brand in the future. They're just so expensive to get here.
@@JayNathanWatercolor I've been trying them out, since it makes sense for me (price-wise) to use watercolors made in the US. I'm a bit annoyed with Daniel Smith these days so I've been checking out MG, DaVinci, and Qor. I love to complain about how we have no good paper made here, but we have TONS of good paint.
Yes and also why they are the most staining as well.
They are really hit or miss about setting up dry in the pan. I have over a dozen colors and most of them actually fully dried, just tacky to the touch more like Sennelier or White Nights do. There's a couple colors though that just never really harden and I have a feeling that some batches may have been made with excess honey preventing them from ever hardening. I've also seen people have the problem where it looks like they dry, then they take them to paint outside and they all re-liquify and slide off the palette!
Oh right so they do dry eventually? That's good to hear. I'm sure the heat and humidity here in Thailand doesn't help? I can't imagine the mess they would make if they all re-liquified in the palette. 🤣
@@JayNathanWatercolor I think they probably would never dry in your humidity. It took over a year for one color I put on my palette to dry, so I only use them fresh from a tube, with the exception of the Cobalt Violet tube I have. That one was a bad batch, and was mostly solid in the tube. I chisel some out every once in a while, it is a very pretty bluish violet color.
They also attract bees! I do not recommend using them outside. LOL!
@@JayNathanWatercolor first of all You're in THAILAND. Difficult to have any pity. 😂❤
The only 2 M Graham colors that I have are Viridian PG18 and Ultramarine Pink PR259. They are much easier to rewet than in other brands. These pigments are known to be difficult to rewet which is why I specifically purchased them from m graham.
Mind of Water Color channel recommended Transparent Red Iron Oxide by M Graham PR 101. One of my best purchases ever. Great for mixing greens. Nice on its own.
I like them for the same reason you do. My fav is AnthraBlue.
Its seems people either love or hate MG paints. They are the stickiest Ive ever purchased, but none can compare with how ready they are to use. I only travel with them if I know my palette will stay horizontal, because they will spill and make a mess. I love the quin and napthol reds. The PR209 seems to leave some fine sediment?, but it has a 2 tone look to it thants very interesting. DS quin coral is more smooth and transparent, while Senneliers PR209 is very fine, possibly less pigmented, and subtle. I really like the dispersion too. I find it better to mix a puddle of MG paint with water than take it directly from the pan to paper, or you might produce globs of paint. Globs is a technical term. :) I really like olive greens, but that one is not appealing to me in any way. 😂 TFS
The PR209 is very nice. I'm not usually a fan of non earth reds even though I keep trying different ones in the hope I'll learn to love them. Maybe this pigment will be the one that stays in my palette. 🤣
I love M. Graham paints! They are one of my fav brands! I have almost the entire line. I love how they move in water so wondeful! Thanks for sharing
You're welcome 🙏 Wow you must have so many? They are a very good quality paint 😊
I live in so GA-very humid. They are a problem here. The olive remains me a bit of your Rembrandt Greenish umber. I like it!
I think you're the first commenter who like the olive green 🤣
@@JayNathanWatercolor I love weird greens. I think because they are actually the kinds of greens we see here near to the swamp!
I find my M. Grahams to stay sticky longer than Sennelier or Mission Gold, but when diluted and used to paint, they dry at the same speed as paints like Daniel Smith or Da Vinci. But when I want to use thicker paint, I don't use M. Graham - I have a painting where the M. Graham paint never dried at all, and finally something got stuck to it. Btw, I dried my M. Grahams in pans in a food dehydrator, and they did fully dry.
The Olive Green doesn't look green at all...
Really? The paint didn't dry on the painting? That's crazy! 🤣
I bought a tube of Azo Green by M Graham and have had nothing but problems with it; it has something horribly sticky in it which fouls my brushes and my palette. I have to repeatedly wash out my brushes with hot soapy water and then drag them through a towel to get all the stickiness out. No more Graham colors for me! I didn't have this problem with the smaller tube of Azo green; this was an $18 tube of 1.25 oz.
I love my MG paints and travel with no trouble with them, any of them. They wake up quickly but they aren’t runny at all. No worries re leaking. Thanks as always for another great video.
I live in a dry climate and would love to travels with my MGs. What kind of palette do you use?
I have M Graham and it takes long time for them to firm up and dry. But they will. I had a whole tube of cobalt turquoise dry up right in the tube along with my mineral violet within 3 years. I live in a dry climate and as long as you dont seal with a lid and let them breath, they firm up very solid, even in humid climate because I was in a humid climate when I bought them. My caps split so that caused a couple tubes to dry up. They will dry but It just takes longer. They are made in my State of Oregon, in USA so the small family business isn't that far from me. M Graham and DeVinci both are very affordable and the cheapest option for artist grade watercolor here in the USA since they are made here. Not my favorite brand because they and Daniel Smith seems less clean and fresh looking to me. My Favorites are Winsor & Newton, Holbein & Schmincke. Thanks for sharing. Im a pigment nerd.
You're very welcome. Good to know that they will eventually dry. Even if it takes 3 years 🤣
Your favourite brands are the same as mine 😊
What a lucky man!!! A great gift and beautiful watercolors. Too bad they are so expensive in Europe. Enjoy them a lot Jay!!! We wait for more videos!!
I'm very lucky. Lots of paint to swatch over the next few weeks ☺️ It seems that M. Graham are pretty expensive everywhere 🤣
Love my M Graham paints - also love Sennelier, Mijello, A Gallo & Roman Szmal (all have honey). M Graham makes a beautiful Pyrrol Red, Anthraquinone Blue and Transparent Red Iron Oxide.
Agreed. Love M. Graham
Yes, I love these paints. They were the first professional one's that I tried. I do agree with the Olive being too brown. I'm sure though that it can be spruced up with some other color. Karen from Canada ☺☺
try turquoise. it's a unique paint compared to others with similar mixes. quin rust is fantastic too. :)
I dream of M.Graham's Quinacridone Set. Given the high currency exchange rates plus import taxes (I just checked on Amazon, and it would cost me about 30 times the sale price 😆) it will remain there: in my dreams.
Change of subject, I have a dozen of White Night's pans and most of them stayed moist ever since I first tried them, ages ago. They remain sticky and strangely puffed, but never runny, it seems.
Aw that's no good. What country are you in that the import costs would be so high?
I don't have that much experience with White Nights.but I do know I hate their tube paints. They're made with honey too aren't they? I guess that explains why they stay sticky?
I don't know if this will make you feel any better about not getting it, but I bought the quin set and returned it because of too many texture issues. For some reason (possibly the high amount of honey) they didn't disperse into water evenly or as readily as most watercolors. I had to try 3 different types of water to get them to even remotely provide a smooth wash (M.Graham is known to have quirks with hard water/tap and perform better with purified/distilled). Either way, no other pro brand aside from Turner has given me so much trouble.
I live in Arizona, the desert southwest United States, and love these paints because they don't dry out. As an artist who lives in the desert I have to be very careful about how I store my supplies. I am constantly checking and resupplying pens or paints that have dried out to the point where they are no longer viable. It's amazing how much moisture or the lack there of can damage your supplies. With the exception of some of the brown pigments these paints stay moist, viable and lovely in my palettes. My favorite paints are the quin series, azo series and cobalt series. I also love their Payne's Gray, Cobalt Teal, Cerulean and Terra rose. I love to paint desert landscapes. These paints provide the perfect array of colors for desert scenes.... Thanks for the video! It was great!
That Cobalt Teal looks beautiful! The paints seem to flow very well. I must say I'm not too fond of that olive green though XD
The teal is very nice. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they made that olive green 🤣
I loved the cobalt teal look so much, I bought it to add to my Cottman palette a couple years back. Still working on a custom color palette that fits my work.
Yep, still waiting for mine to dry and it's been 4 weeks. Of course I live in a humid place so... it is what it is. Put a piece of waxed paper over the paints to keep dust out or keep it from getting all over. Recently noticed how much I like how goopy they are. I'm at the point where using certain colors from the tubes has become more regular. Especially when I need to mix darks or shadows. Which is where my second complaint comes in. When mixing darks they can stay shiny and sticky on the painting. Side note: most of my PB28s are listed as turquoise. Love mixing with this color for two toned flower petals or a shell that has a pearly look. TFS, love your channel.
The Olive is made to granulate. It’s mixed with a black. It looks to be a granulation set … I have 2 M Graham sets and they are soooo smooth & pigmented. But yes, they never seem to dry; ever. They don’t travel too bad in godets. My favorite are the earth tones as I use them the most. (However, the blues and Gamboge are gorgeous.)
I love swatching M. Graham watercolors. They are so beautiful. I have a few of them in my palette.
My permanent alizarin crimson, Ultramarine violet, ultramarine blue, anthraquinone blue, Azo green, and Payne's Grey seem to have set just fine though extremely sticky. I can't tell you the amount of times my fingers have accidentally landed in the m graham pans in my palette 🙃
I found that the Viridian and Quinacridone Rose seemed bit too wet for me to comfortably keep in my palette though they still never spilled out.
The cobalt teal however did spill in my M. Graham palette. I think it has the most liquid consistency out of all of my M. Graham paints.
You're right, they are beautiful. Sounds like you have a nice collection of them? I've not experienced any problems with the cobalt teal yet. It's sticky but has stayed put in the pan so far.
@@JayNathanWatercolor it could just be my tube of cobalt teal. I'm glad it's staying put for you! I have a soft spot for M Graham paints, they were the first brand of watercolor I bought when I was starting my watercolor journey. 😊
I cant begin to count how many times Ive caught sticky MG paint on my fingers too. Haha
I love M.Graham paints! Although I haven't done a proper lightfast test, I've had a swatch of PR112 on a memo board for about 4 years and it is still very bright.
That's great. I keep meaning to do proper light fastness tests but never get around to it.
Love the colors.
I love the Olive green, Azo yellow and Burnt sienna, together.
I always wanted the Olive green. Even though it’s a multi pigment that I can mix.
Quinacridone Red is one of my favorite. Referring to the pigment PR 209.
The Yellow as well, love it.
I do own the Cobalt Teal and the Terra Rossa. Both granulating.
Want more.
Good to see the olive green getting some more love. I still don't like it though 😂
Wow! Those really do remain SUPER sticky and wet! I have Mission Golds honey based paints and they are soft and semi tacky but not sticky to the touch: they stay in place well after a few weeks drying on a dehumidifier. I just plucked them all from plastic half pans and transferred them to a custom wooden palette using a palette knife and they are perfectly firm enough now.
Oh right! I forgot that the Mijello have honey in them. My mission golds also have no trouble drying in the palette.
Now I want to see this custom wooden palette of yours 🤣
I really enjoyed the first row of Colors and mGraham is a brand I’ve always wanted to try! The Colors seem bright, hope to try them in the future.
Great! I'm glad you enjoyed them. I was the same as you, I always wanted to try them. Fingers crossed you get the chance in the future 🙏
I love my M. Graham paints. Huge pigmentation. Used them on my small "on the road metal box" with not a single issue. I live in the tropics so don't tell me about humidity issues, NONE. They have the best ultramarine blue on the market.
lovely swatches! 😆 i think the typical 'cobalt teals' are made with either PG50 or PB28. i've seen a shift many brands having used PG50 but now use PB28. there're still some that continue to use PG50.
Oh right. Shows how much I know about teals and turquoises 🤣 Thanks for the information 🙏😊
@@JayNathanWatercolor not at all~ honestly i wouldn't be surprised if a brand came out with a cobalt teal made with PB36 since it's a very versatile pigment 😊
@@PaintinHiding DaVinci makes a GORGEOUS "Cobalt Turquoise" which is a Cobalt Teal type color from PB 36 as well!
I use azo yellow from DaVinci as my main light yellow. Interestingly the White Nights brand also contains honey. Pyrrol scarlet from Daniel Smith is a very warm gorgeous poppy color, my favorite warm red along with the quin coral and not an orange like M.Graham ‘s label. The colors are very saturated but I also deal with humidity issues and so I use mostly other paints but I love M.Graham’s one pigment rose of ultramarine. It is the best that I have seen.DS has two pigments in theirs and the blue separates due to the granulation.
Try Nickel Azo Yellow PY150 from M. Graham and you will never use another yellow
You’re right. The olive green misses the mark. I love all burnt siennas but would wear that scarlet pyrrole even though I’ve never met an orange I liked.
Thanks for the swatching. I have a limited number of M Graham paints. I like them, live in a very humid area but mine have fully dried in my palette. After seeing this I’m going to add Cobalt Teal and Quin Red. I’d suggest you get Permanent Alizarin, Sap Green (their version is slightly olive) and perhaps the Indian Yellow (I love this color).
That's great to hear that they do fully dry eventually. Thank you for the recommendations. I hope you enjoy the Cobalt Teal and Quin Red 😊🙏
Add Nickel Azo Yellow from M. Graham
They’re an overly-expensive brand in the UK, so it’s interesting to see them and they look lovely. The olive is a bit too dark, but the others are good, I’d add a phthalo blue green shade and a rose, though.
I really like these. Reds are not my faves in general but these reds are really nice, especially that Quin Red. It seems like few Olive Greens are the color of olives (!) but this would be a really nice green earth hue or dark moss; it's different and interesting and looks like a good landscape color.
I'm not a fan of reds either but I agree that this quin red is very nice. I still don't like the olive green though 🤣
I only have their Payne's Grey. It stay sticky for a while and I don't rewet it when I use it. They stay kind of sticky like some of my Mission Gold paints from Mijello. Sennelier is not as bad but they need more than a week to dry. White Nights also have honey in their binder.
I think Schmincke uses a bit of Honey in their binder, too. But they dry down perfectly.
I didn't know that Schmincke used honey? I never have a problem with my Mijello drying. They seem to be pretty quick for me.
@@JayNathanWatercolor I guess that Schmincke uses honey. They also sell binder and pigments separately and I think one of the ingredients was honey.
I don’t like that Olive Green either. It needs more of the PG7 pigment. Very disappointing but at least we’ve seen it. I only have two M Graham watercolors, Phthalo Green and Indian Yellow (PY110). The latter is very nice and unique in my collection but they are indeed very sticky paints. They pair well with the few Sennelier paints that I have, so I keep them in a palette together. Neither are my preferred brands though, and I won’t be purchasing more tubes once I use up what I have on hand.
Sennelier is another brand I really want to test out. I've only ever tried a tube of their cobalt blue and really loved it.
Do you think you're just not a fan of honey based paints? Which is your preferred brand?
@@JayNathanWatercolor I don’t think it’s necessarily the honey since I love White Nights and Roman Szmal paints which are also formulated with honey. I think I just tried both brands too late after I’d already started to have favorites. Winsor and Newton are my favorite brand. I love the clarity of their Professional series and how well they layer. The Cotman line is hit or miss, but there are a few (i.e. New Gamboge) that are so close to the Professional line that I can use either or on my palette. After W&N, I love my Van Gogh paints. The colors are so vivid, I don’t even need the artist grade versions of certain colors. I would encourage any budget-conscious beginner to try this line first. I have a few Holbein and Daniel Smith hues that I love and are unique to those lines (Shell Pink, Fuchsite Genuine and others). I know that the latter is embroiled in scandal right now because of their Primetek line, but I still love the ones I’ve already bought. I have a collection of White Nights that I also love. They are so bright and pair well with the Van Gogh paints. I have a couple of Roman Szmal pans in soft hues (Potters Pink, Earth Green & Buff Titanium). They also remind me of the White Nights and are ones I use frequently. Lastly, I like DaVinci because they are economical. If I could only use one brand though, I would be satisfied with W&N; they are definitely the paints I use most now. The M Graham and Sennelier paints that I own were received either in art subscription boxes, samples, or second-hand and, with the exception of the PY110, I pretty much already had similar colors in other brands and didn’t see anything ultra special about them. Also, at this point, I have so many paints that I can’t keep collecting more. Oddly I’ve never tried Schmincke, but I won’t be buying anything else until I use my current supplies. I love living vicariously through you though! 😃
Hi Jay, interesting they look lovely. Are any of these colours listed on the back of the tubes as toxic. I assume Cobalt Teal is being a cobalt. Can you advise please ?
Hi. Thanks for your comment 🙏 I don't actually have the tubes so I can't give you an answer. Your best bet would be to contact M.Graham through their website www.mgraham.com and ask them. They're pretty quick to respond in my experience. 😊
That olive green is way too dark to be an olive green color, i heard that their pb60 anthraquinone blue is very nice, and their neutral tint is good and doesn’t contain a black pigment, M.graham is just a hard brand to get over here
Thank you for the recommendations. I agree, the olive green is too dark for me too. A neutral tint without a black sounds very interesting to me.
my m graham paints started smelling bad after about a week... does anybody know a possible reason for that?
Hi. There is another commenter who asked about the smell. I'm not sure if there is any definitive answer though.
I got my first set today (desert) and noticed the smell as I was using them.. First it was whiffs of what smelled like wet dog. Then when I figured out it was coming from the paints I noticed the palette had a fishy smell. I do have a sensitive nose, and while I love the colors, I don’t see myself buying them again because of this.
M Graham wannabe here I particularly want to try their PO48, PB27, PY129, quin gold hue, ultramarine, PY110 and quin rose.
Yay! I hope you get to try them all soon 🙏
@@JayNathanWatercolor Thanks! I really hope so 🙂
Some people say that the M Graham paints stink; is that true?
They smell fairly strongly of honey, some people probably like the smell - but they definitely have a smell!
@@KimberlyCrick That actually sounds nice. Wet Canvas has a whole thread on how the M Graham paints smell bad, like really, really bad.
@@awatercolourist Yeah I saw just a few people mention they thought it had an unpleasant smell like vomit or musty mold. It seemed like some of those comments were from a specific time frame 2-3yrs years ago. I suspect that it was either a specific batch, pertained to specific pigments, or the fact that an intense honey smell isn't pleasant for everyone. I saw a lot of responses where other people said they weren't offended by it. I can't say for sure if anything has gotten worse in the last few years though since they changed ownership, but overall I don't seek out MGraham paints anymore (too quirky and sticky compared to other brands).
@@KimberlyCrick Hi Kimberly :-)
Thank you for your input. When the time comes and I get the chance to buy M Graham colours I’ll just buy two or three tubes to test them out. If I do not like the smell then it isn’t much of a loss. I really want to try out their stickiness. It’s so notorious that I want to experience it 😂. If I do not like it then I’ll just use the paints fresh out of the tubes.
I got my first set today. I’d be fine with them smelling like honey, but for me, it’s more like wet dog and fish. I won’t be buying any more.