Good list Marty! I agree with the inclusions. I might order them slightly different but when you get to the top 10 or so I don't think order is all that important. Its no secret that I'm an M. Graham guy. I suppose some of that comes from my knowledge of Art Graham the founder and his reputation for shopping around for the best pigments. I got to talk to him face to face last year and his passion for paint making was impressive. Just feel like its the best paint I've ever used. Love the honey formulation too! All that said I can't really argue with any of your picks. American Journey is an interesting group I thought about trying. I've read a few places that they are actually made by DaVinci which we both agree is top notch.
The Mind of Watercolor I replied that M. Graham was your favorite before I read the comments. I agree with you. Great list. M. Graham are my favorite as well.
Hi Steve - Thanks for the note my friend. It's a little tough putting together any list like this, but I knew your M. Graham's would be on the list, but just where on that list was a tough choice. It was hard to edge them out of the top 5, because they are fantastic. So I looked up David Mitchell, no relation, and WOW. That guy is a Master, no doubt about that. I love his style and you're right it reminded me of Wyeth. Art Graham sounds like a guy with a passion and that's who I want making my paints. All the best Steve. Talk to you soon. ~Marty
I would love to try the m grahams, if only to see if they really are that "even" on paper. I like to controll my paints a bite more wich is why I Mix my schmincke often with yarka aka white nights. Pple call me nuts for not liking granulation that much. But yes well that's just me,lol. For that reason I like perusian over ultramarine with a hint of paynes grey in it etc,grin. That's what you get when you paint a full year with cotmans before updating I guess,hahaha. Unfortunately M Grahams doesn't sell in the netherlands. So if they read along here: Guys get that Contract with the dutch already. I have been drooling for months now :P :P
I agree with liking only some slight granulation. I think with me, it's a matter of control. Maybe when I get more practice, I will like granulating paints more.
Ok, now you've done it! 😉 Since you begged the question and I don't really plan to do an episode like this myself, I'll chime in. My top 5: M. Graham Daniel Smith DaVinci Maimeri Blu Sennelier Honorable Mention: Holbein, Mission Gold, Schmincke, American Journey, Winsor & Newton Pro, Qor For what its worth... Fun episode Marty, thanks!
That's a pretty sweet list my friend. But dropping Schmicnke out of the top five... I don't know man. :-) I haven't tried the Maimeri Blu yet, I'm really looking forward to it, especially if it's in your top five. Thanks for weighing in Steve, I am thankful. ~Marty
Hahah! I knew that would get your attention. Honestly, I just don't have the experience with Schmincke you have and the high price I think is just due to distributor availability over in the US. I know they are good paints though. As I said once you get into the top 10 or so you're in pretty good company and its hard to go wrong.
When I have trouble sleeping or I'm feeling a little anxious, painting with my beautiful colors grounds me and excites me at same time. Color is magical. Thanks for all time and effort you put into helping everyone. I love your gentleness.
Thank you so much for this. I bought water mixable oil paints a year ago because I thought that oil was the way to go. I didn't want to deal with the strong fumes and clean up, so I decided on the water mixable. Well, I hated them so they are in my closet. I share this because I have never liked watercolor because I thought they were all wishy washy transparent. I like vibrant colors. I had no idea there was such variety, so I'm going to try one of these brands you recommended. Watercolor might be my answer after all. No fumes, easy clean-up I imagine. Thanks again!
Thank for this, Marty. Great to see so many paints! My top 5 would be (after 40 plus years painting in the watercolor medium) : 1) Winsor and Newton Artists 2) Daniel Smith 3) St. Petersburg 4) Sennelier 5) Maimeri Blu
I love Sennelier! I got the Test Pack a while back (such a bargain, and I encourage anyone who wants to try Sennelier to get it), and I have just invested in a dozen more tubes. Waiting for all the beautiful new colours to arrive!
I am new but have purchased a set of Mission Gold watercolors and I'm very happy with them. Your review of them and the great price I got on Amazon made me feel good about it. I enjoy your videos and thanks for all the great information you share.
I'm sure that someone has mentioned here in the comments already about DaVinci paints made in the US. My experience with those has been really good. Holbein is my go to, so to speak, along with Windsor & Newton and DaVinc. I've use several from the list and agree with you that many of the choices are absolutely fantastic to work with. The M. Graham's are truly amazing in quality, consistency, and just the experience of painting with them is an absolute joy. Thanks for the video! Nicely done. And thanks for sharing your personal works! Beautiful stuff Marty!
What a fantastic review ! How courageous of you Marty to dare to list / rate such a personal (even subjective) medium as watercolor ! I follow a great many artists on youtube who avoid giving their own personal opinions on this topic like the plague . You'd think we were discussing religion or politics when we narrow down our personal likes and dislikes about watercolor paints , talk about passion. I really value these types of perspectives because I value the individual minds of Watercolor and why they do prefer what they do . I think if we all opened our minds to each individuals perspective on their preferences , we'd all become better for it . Excellent job Marty , just outstanding !
Hi Tracy - Don't know how courageous I am, but I appreciate that you think so. :-), It was overdue to get this out there and I definitely think you are right about how divisive our art material preferences can be. I am trying to build bridges. ;-) Thanks for the support Tracy. ~Marty
Awesome video! Thank you very much. I'd always used DS and love them still, but after reading a Liz Steel post moved to Schmincke French Ultramarine to mix with my DS Hansa Yellow Medium to make sap green. It made all the difference in the intensity of color. M. Graham's version of Viridian is far superior to DS's version. It goes to show there are many wonderful watercolor companies out there but each company has colors that surpass other manufacturers. M. Graham stays so sticky in my very humid climate because of the honey binder they use but you have to balance all things out in the end. Thank you again!
Mr. Owings, that was so fun! My cousin is on a European tour and headed to Germany with a goal of bringing back some Schminkes for me to try!! I'll be excited to compare and test. Thank you for your video period I always give you a thumbs up before I even start watching !
Hi Marty...........Just saw today's Schmencke new colors., and wanted to pop over here to check out your top 5. Not long ago I had a chance to learn a bit about DaVinci watercolor paints. They are American made in a small factory devoted to excellence, in California. There are only 7 people who make and distribute their paint. It is a third generation family company. They are meticulous about each step of the manufacturing process. I know this because I have spoken with them on more than one occasion and am always impressed with what I learn. A while ago, I was gifted a set of DaVinci watercolors. They were striking but I had ordered specialty colors, not the traditional colors. So, after hearing you share your thoughts about getting dot card samplers, I ordered a set from them. 24 colors $6.95.. These arrived Saturday and blew me away with their vibrancy and clarity. I am a big fan of Sennelier and the luminosity of honey humectant paint. These seemed to glow even more than my Sennelier or M. Graham paints........So, I spoke with Laura, at DaVinci today. I asked her about the honey content. There isn't any. I have no idea how they make these so incredibly vibrant without it. However, I did ask about the rumor that American Journey is made by DaVinci. They are. Interesting side note. I did a price comparison and buying the straight DaVinci brand is less expensive than buying the American Journey version of several colors. Because they are such a small company you can order directly from them and shipping is free if your cart is $49....at least in the continental USA. No tax unless you live in California. Win/Win for us all. Great Paint, Great Company, Great Price and free shipping. Cant beat that combo! As you know, I am an enthusiastic fan of your reviews and so I thought I'd share a bit of my experience. I haven't move to Nicaragua yet, but it's still on the schedule. Thanks for all you do for me and all the invisible "us!"
WOW! This is great info Judith. You really did your homework. I love the Da Vinci brand and have for a long time. I rated them (American Journey) in my top ten all-time best. I need to revisit them soon and check out the DaVinci brand itself. I love the story of this company and the fact they are producing really great watercolors. I will ask if they use brighteners and about the pigments when I get a chance to talk to them. Alas, I have a long, long list of things to do. Nicaragua and adventures await you my friend. Can't wait to hear about them both. Thank you Judith for all of your support. ~Marty
6 років тому
I couldn't agree more! I love Da Vinci WC Great earth tones, best price for artist grade paint! I also was using American Journey. I thought they were the most economical till I compared them to Da Vinci. Wow! Did not know Da Vinci made American Journey.
Hi Marty! Sorry haven't been posting. My Mom died a month ago and you are my first post. I really enjoyed this. I've seen every one of your reviews and I really love the thoroughness and your kindness! Have missed watching and look forward to more. You are awesome! Take care and keep on painting! All the best to you and your family! 😀
teresa b I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family Teresa. Lost my Mom so I know how it feels. Time will ease the pain and replace it with loving memories.
Hi Elga - That was actually a mistake and I meant to put Rembrandt's in that spot. I like Van Gogh, but they weren't in my original top ten. I am sorry about the confusion and hope you'll forgive me. ~Marty
Very usefull video. I use the Van Gogh I got as a student so yeah.. student grade probably. I also have some Sakura koi and one Danie smith which was dissapointing. The sennelier looks interesting and I’m curious about the W&N marker! I use an eco line marker and I live to replace it with a better one. You are not the only one to favour Schmincke! Thank you for this video..
I agree with you Marty, I havent used the W&N markers but your top 4 are all I use every day. I may even put the Daniel Smith in the number one spot only because I find their selection more interesting and more lightfast on the purples and pinks. That was a disappointment by Schmincke that I had bought a few with 1 star. I paint illumination on animal parchment so I like opacity also so it was good to hear which companies have higher opacity. And they must be light fast especially because I live in a very sunny country. I so much appreciate the trouble you go to to buy these paints and review them for us.
Hi YB - Thank you for the notes. Yes, a lot of people will have DS at the top and I couldn't argue too much about that. I just happen to prefer Schmincke. I hear that Schmincke is releasing some new colors very soon. I think they've seen a dent in sales due to DS. ~Marty
I am a newbie and limited in my knowledge and money to just go out and buy a lot of paints. I was given a few colors but the palette was limited so not really knowing anything went into an art store and they directed me to the St Petersburg Yarka. I loved them but for some reason I felt I wanted to customize my palette choices even though I had 36 options in the Yarka. So I filled in and created a great selection of Daniel Smith and really love them. But every once in a while I go back and you know I think I like the Yarka better. Perhaps its the honey and smoothness. I think they are like the experience you speak of with Sennelier. Smooth, beautifully transparent, and rich, and rewet instantly with full pigment on the brush. And way less granulated then DS. But there are times the granulation is preferred. So both are awesome. Thanks for you review. I hope to try other brands in time. But really have such great options now, I kind of feel, "why?"
Hi Len - Thanks for the comments and sharing your thoughts on Yarka. I've heard some people complain that the Russian paints are too opaque for their liking. I've tested most of them and yes they are more opaque, but you can add a bit more water and overcome that. ~Marty
Fantastic review and comparison, Marty! Those Winsor and Newton watercolour markers keep playing on my mind, I think they'd be such a fantastic set (paired with a water brush) to take along for a short break somewhere... They are so tempting!
I'm a Sennelier person and, believe it or not, Prima (I know but they're cheap and pretty... nice palettes too) and Academy (single pigment, transparent) quite often for journaling. Okay, with this list you've convinced me to try a couple of oft used pigments in Schminke. I'm used to the more delicate look of watercolor loving the light for ... you know... the "glow" so DS vibrancy has always scared me. Maybe if I see it on super sale I'll try a tube. Thanks so much for this. You've answered what I've wondered a long time... which ones you like best and why.
Hi Pat - Thanks for the note. I think you're going to like DS if you try them. I didn't find them overly vibrant, just right. As for Schmincke, once you try them, there really is no going back. ~Marty
Super fun seeing the top picks of a practicing artist! As a relative newbie to watercolor I only have a top 3 brands I buy, but I've never tried Schminke. I may have to spring for a couple of tubes :)
I was using Talens Rembrandt for many years n' sometimes Talens Van Gogh ones for sketching etc. Both were nice; Rembrandt ones were too durable with good colors and Van Gogh ones were really fast with brush. But 2 weeks before i've decided to try Schmincke Horadam tablets; omg! Still cannot believe the difference! That lightfastness is more than amazing and no need to mention the vibrant colors! If u r a professional artist or serious on your watercolor art; go for Horadam, believe me u won't be disappointed! (btw great list!)
I gotta say my top favorite is Schmincke too. Then Winser & Newton, Holbein, M Graham, and 5 is Daniel Smith. I would put Sennelier down to number 6 for me. I have QoR also and those are behind Sennelier. I actually like using my M Graham with the Sennelier because they are both made with honey. I have tried several brands. Looks like you have tried more than I have. Thanks for sharing!
I really do want to purchase Schmincke water colors next! I know they have a great reputation and regarded highly amongst artist. Thanks for your opinion.
Very good list Marty. I am also a huge Daniel Smith fan with Sennelier being my 2nd favorite....i just love the glow of those. I have not yet tried M. Graham but would like to. Thanks for posting this!
I've been using watercolors since my freshman year of college -- 1970, as of yet I have not found a single manufacturer who's complete line does not have it's faults... notice I said "complete line"... I've also limited my palette to 15 colors and never use them all in a single painting. Permanent and absolute light fastness colors are of extreme importance to me because I sell my work so it must be archival... when I worked as a commercial illustrator it didn't matter that much because once my work went to a printer for repo if the original faded who cares ? Also watercolor paints are about the biggest rip off there is... if your paying $30 for a half ounce of paint that comes to around $4,000 a gallon... even NASA doesn't pay that much for a gallon of paint... my advice is to spend your money wisely... many student grade and 2nd range colors are every bit as good (especially the earth tones) as their "professional grade" counter parts for one tenth the cost. PS - even though I have a couple of "traveling pan sets" I only buy watercolors in tubes.
The Windsor newton watercolor markers look very similar to peerless watercolors. I'm not sure if you have heard of them, but I highly recommend them. They are definitely a unique experience and quite affordable too. The are probably the most portable watercolor. They are vibrant and transparent.
Owings Art here is a link www.peerlesscolor.com/ here is a link to the Christmas cards I made with my kids using peerless. luvleel8dbug.deviantart.com/art/Christmas-cards-with-the-kids-650060358
Thanks for sharing your list Marty! It was nice to hear from you again. Feels like it's been a while. I as well have my own list: 1. M. Graham 2. Daniel smith 3. QoR 4. Schmincke 5. Sennelier 6. Old holland 7. Mission gold 8. Holbein 9. Turner 10. Dr. PH martins hydrus
I have tried 2 out of the top 5 on your list - the Schmincke Horadam and Holbein, and also the Mijello Mission Gold. I'm not so sure if I have a favorite, but in terms of which watercolor I use most - it's the Mijello . I'm a total amateur and I think I tend to use the Mijello's more is because of 2 main reasons. The first reason is the palette that it comes with (I bought the 36 color set - 7ml each, with the plastic palette from a local online store in Malaysia for about 55USD). It's really large and gives me a lot of mixing space, versus having to use additional palettes. Of course, I could transfer my other paints into palettes but I did not buy any spare ones so far, lol. Second reason is there are a lot of colors. I don't really know how to mix colors much. I do mix colors, for example, I would mix purple and pink if I want a purpleish-pink color, but I don't really know how to mix that same color with the 12 colors that I have from Schmincke (which costs... so much >.
Greetings - Thanks for your comments. Perhaps someday in the distant future you'll find use for your Schmincke's, but in the meantime, enjoy the Missions and enjoy having fun, that's what it's all about in the end. :-)
Thanks great review, I enjoy your down to earth open approach and no waffle. I like holbein and w+n paints. I'm in Australia and the others are too expensive for me.
A great top 5. From what I've tried I agree that Schmincke is number 1. Holbein is 2nd place for me. Sadly, I've never been able to try Daniel Smith (I can't get it sent here for some reason). Very brave of you to try and make a video like this, and hopefully your feedback and comments are kind!
I like the Schmincke too... like buttah... but I also Like W&N - both in my opinion are great for transparency... these both seem to react to certain papers very nicely and can be very vibrant depending on the paper ... so smooth. Also Daniel Smith... is great in a different intense way... Looking forward to trying out Da Vinci and Sennilier (your enthusiasm) - thanks for the video!
I'm an addict for water colour s .. I love testing all the different brands too I haven't tried all the different brands but I'm getting there ha .. Nice review!
I use the Schmincke pans. Do you see a difference between the tubes and pans? They are excellent paints no doubt. I also use the sennelier pans but havent tried their tubes. My holbein and DS are tubes that I squeezed into pans. Maybe thats why I prefer them. I should note that my selection of Schmincke colors I bought are mostly colors that are classic old masters and medieval colors. Cads, cobalts, lakes, and earths. Just the lakes werent lightfast. My holbeins are really vibrant and tranparent. I actually got a set of 48 colors directly from Japan by mail. Anyway I go on...
Hi YB - I see no noticeable difference between the pan and the tubes of Schmincke. They are great in either format. Holbein are also great and I agree with you about the vibrancy. I don't know if they are adding brighteners, but I do know that a lot of their paint is single pigment. ~Marty
Hiya Marty, thanks for a great video on your top watercolours. I currently have three out of your top five; Sennelier, W&N watercolour markers and my latest favourite addition, Daniel Smith. I especially love their Primatek set with Jadeite being my favourite. I will get round to trying your favourite Schminke when I can stretch to it. By the by, I loved how you described painting with the Sennelier. Hope you're having a fab week my friend. Best as always, Jane 😊
Hi Jane - Thanks for the note and for watching as always. Ha! Yes the lovely Sennelier's. Some of the worlds best art supplies are made in France. I think you'd like the Schmincke's, but they are very technical paints. They are consistent and even and well, very German. ;-)
You've done a tremendous amount of work for us. Thank you. I will help us on many different levels. No more expensive experimenting unless we wish to and can afford to. We can also spend more time painting than trying paints.
I totally guessed 4(sort of) of your top 5. No Holbein just because I'd never tried, and I had Winser and Newton but not the markers. I've tried W&N but was not a big fan because the dry so hard in my opinion, I prefer easy to rewet paint. I also hadn't tried their markers because I had a horrible time working with the Letraset markers which is their previous name. I was blown away when you showed them on paper in the video. They worked nothing like the old ones which were dye based.
Eve Bolt - Bolt's Vault , Eve The Windsor and Newton are officially not refillable, but i tried and I could refill one 😊 je les adore, j'ai les Tombow, les Zig clean Brush, ils sont tous excellents mais les W&N, on dirait qu'ils sortent du tube directement !
Allo Chrissie! :D Bon à savoir, merci! Je préfère les trucs qui ne finissent pas à la poubelle quand ils sont terminés, alors c'est génial s'il y a une façon de les remplir quand même! :D
I like Sennelier a lot too. But I have no idea exactly why, because I can not honestly claim they top in any technical way (other than that their pigment selection is very modern and competent). Sennelier are just enjoyable to paint with for me. I'm fine with being personally biased :) .
Very good list ! I am sooooo happy that you put W&N watercolor markers on the list, I find these that I bought after watching your review (thank yoy) to be out standing. I am still waiting for more than a month to get my Sennelier at Jackson's Art, they are still backorder. I have around 26 D.Smith in tubes that I have choosen one by one and I combined them with my Holbein (great ! Great ! Great !) and the Pure color set of Mission Gold (thanks tomSteve's review). I was surprise that you did not mention St-Petersburg White Nights, I love them. I am happy because I never tried any Rembrandt, Lukas 1862 or VanGogh, and you are tempting me to try them on. Thank you so much for this final review, it is just "formidable" 😊😊
Thank you Chrissie. I left the White Knights off my list because I wasn't overly happy with them. They were too opaque for me and ended up chalky on my work. Still they weren't terrible. I think DS and Holbein would make a decent combination. ~marty
The Holbein paints are my first paints that I bought, and they're nice. But there's a single problem, atleast at my case. Living in a tropical country, where moisture is high. My holbein paints tend to absorb surrounding moisture, thus getting a bit sticky to the touch, but no paint transfer. But the paints of Rembrandt and Winsor & Newton that I put in the same palette doesn't do that. Great list btw.
Hey Marty, great video. Looks like you're a fellow Minnesotan. Really appreciate your this video on great water colors. I'm just starting to paint a bit with Daniel Smith water colors and I'm pretty impressed by them though the cost of some of them hurts my wallet a bit so I have to go easy on what to purchase.
Reminded I got a pal of mine to send me a Holbein set that was sold as part of a sketching set sold at the Ghibli Musuem shortly ago! I have yet to break into it myself, but I hope to use it soon!
I agree with your list Marty , Schmincke is my favorite too . Second , close second Daniel Smith . I have W&N artist grade too , in fact I started water coloring with Windsor & Newton in 2016 but there just not quite bright enough for my eyes , I really like the “pop “ of color to excite my process . Great second or third time watching this video 🙋🏻♀️ .
Thank you, excellent video presentation. I value highly your ethics and objectivity. I am a beginner (this stage has lasted years) and I value quality. Have Schincke (perhaps wrong spellin. However, I do not want to pay that much for a button of colour, it seems vanity. Turner, and other passionate, devoted masters, their painting was the main focus, and the money for paint, perhaps not such high quality. I decided, White Nights are of reasonable price and very good paint. It is really the consumerism which is driving people.
Have you ever tried the White Knight water colors? I heard good things about them before for their price ($60 for 36 colors) I was looking for a good watercolor but all the best one are too expensive for me right now
Very nice list. My top 5 favorites are- 5.) Kuretake Gansai Tambi 4.) Van Gogh 3.) SakuraKoi 2.) Winsor&Newton (both professional and Cotman) 1.) M Graham. Mind you, I haven't tried watercolors to the extent of some people. I still have Schmincke and Daniel Smith on my "To try" list. But so far, those that I have work quite well in my mish-mash palettes. Have you thought of trying the Kuretake starry colors set? Metallics might not be your thing, but these are certainly worth a try. I love them for adding shimmering effects and so on in my works sometimes 😊
Have not tried the starry colors, but that sounds interesting. You have a very good list, although the Van Gogh's are a little high on your list for me. :-)
Owings Art technically it's low on my list with MGraham being my favorite 😅I did it from 'least favorite' to 'most favorite'. Forgot to say that in my original post, sorry! Amazon has the Starry Colors for about $13-14 last time I checked so at least it's not super expensive.
Just about every art store I've ever been to has carried W&N artist grade tube paints. I think availability is a concern for many people. Both Michael's and Hobby Lobby carry them and you can get a tube with 40% off coupon (can print out and use one coupon daily) so you can build up a set of the best colors affordably and have plenty of paint to fill up your pans. Those coupons help a lot. That's how I built up a nice selection of quality brushes, and I even bought a couple of easels with them. Schminke is my favorite brand of watercolors though. I like Van Gogh paints also.
Guess American Journey are really Da Vinci? Know this post is older but the Renesans available on Etsy (Mind of Watercolor has talked about them), from Poland, inexpensive and honey-based, look interesting.
Not a lot of people know about russian White Nights watercolors (from what I know) but they are fantastically good watercolor paints, probably best in Russia. Highly recommend to try these.
Hi Daria - I did a review on them. They are okay in my opinion. They are opaque when compared to other western watercolors. I found them to be a little chalky and the pigments were not always consistent. Still I thought they were overall good watercolors.
I!m too much of a beginner to appreciate the differences in the different brands just yet but I do have a few Schmincke pan colours and they do rewet beautifully. Their customer services is also excellent. I contacted them in Germany recently about a small matter and they were brilliant. Would definitely like to try more of their stuff and also e Sennelier as I have never used honey paints.
What you primarily experience with an artist grade watercolor is the individual properties of the pigment. Not so much the brand. Brand differences tend to be rather subtle. That's why single pigment colors are important. The only reason. The mixed colors fill some rather uncritical functions, such as replacements for pigments commonly used by artists for a long time, Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson,.. or just simply convenience colors. Also, the fundamental property of Artist paints is precisely *permanence*, including lightfastness. That's really the entire raison etre. So what I'm saying, is that with your criteria you'd be most happy with a set of colors made from very common printing ink pigments, super intense, strong, bright and brilliant. Do you have any idea how cheap and easy such paints could be made? And maybe you should check out Prima Marketing's sets? And I can certainly see why you'd think Mijello Mission or Aquafine are any good. I do see your point that you think hobby/amateur painters shouldn't be so fixated on the lightfastness issue. I understand how you think. But I don't agree with it. I think you're wrong. I mean, lightfastness shouldn't be an obsession or you wouldn't get anything painted. I get that. But watercolors are vulnerable and some hues are notoriously susceptible to fading if the pigment doesn't belong to the very small top pick. Typical cases in point are red and violet. I also don't agree because I don't feel you gain anything by courting less permanent pigments. Artist paints are intense, transparent and bright enough. And affordable colors which are just as permanent as the best artist grade are actually available. I'm speaking of Cotman and Van Gogh. I also don't think they give up anything else to, for instance, Aquafine (which are less permanent). So you can just as well paint permanently. There's one more reason why you should. It affects the market of watercolors. If people support inferior watercolors it's going to influence the market situation, and at some time we're going to see good artists produce fugitive art, while preferring some not so serious brand because they've become used to them or the "colors pops" or whatever. It has happened before. And is still happening. With oils even, because some enthusiast manufacturer figured it would be cool to reintroduce obsolete pigments like Chrome Yellow and Madder Lake. And dispersion can be controlled by using wetting agents and gum rather than through brands. I'm going to stop being argumentative here, and just finish with my own lists. There are two of them. How I rate them: 1 Daniel Smith 2 M Graham (only suffers because the range is smaller than Daniel Smith and I feel they are too hygroscopic, otherwise superb) 3 Winsor & Newton Professional 4 Schmincke Horadam 5 Talens Rembrandt How I like them (because of various personal reasons, such as mainly being pan user, local pricing&availability and the irrational, such that while I think Horadam are "better", I simply enjoy Sennelier more) 1 Winsor & Newton Professional 2 Sennelier 3 Schmincke Horadam 4 Daniel Smith (suffers because of pricing and availability in Europe) 5 M Graham P.S. and finally I'll have the opinion that there isn't much difference between the top 10 or so brands.
You make some interesting points and I appreciate the effort you put into explaining your positions. Many people will agree with you regarding lightfastness. I don't want that to be keep people from painting, that's my main point. You have some great lists there and I can't argue with either of them, I might just order them slightly differently as I have. Thank you very much for sharing your experiences and your insights. ~Marty
It is true, the WN markers are so unique if you know how to take advantage of their highly controllable features. I simply use them like a marker I am able to gradually blend from very dark to very light and in different shades and as I said with high precision and control, from there it is easy to duplicate to different areas or to a new painting. I buy different colors from each of these companies because some colors are so unique like you said, the mineral paint from D. Smith and Schminke's 95 one pigment colors and colors from other companies whom I have a hard time to duplicate myself. Talking about watercolors It is a jungle out there so I owe you big thanks, Marty Owings, for your take on watercolors it has helped me to decide on specific colors and brands.
Hi Aviaja - Thank you for the kind words. Yes, the W&N markers are great just as markers. You make some great points on how to use them. And of course you mentioned the best paints in the world, Schmincke and DS. :-)
winsor & newton professional and daler & rowney aquafine is about the best i can afford as Daniel Smith is around £25 to £30 a tube as for the others there beyond my price range i would love to spend more but just dont have the cash :(
There's a UK website where they sell Daniel Smith and the 15ml tubes go from £11 to £25 (the most expensive are the genuine ones made with precious stones) but the average is in £15. It's this one : saa.co.uk
how about White Nights? I do have a few tubes od Winsor and Newton and schmincke, but for some reason, I prefer the Russian ones. They do the same job or better at a much lower cost.
Great to see what you guys say about the paints ... I'm rather new to watercolor so it's nice to see reviews of paints I've never tried yet. Those French paints sound interesting.... I want to paint love (-: Can you tell me about my Da Vinci paints ?? Have you tried them? What Ya think? For me they seem too have fine pigments and are very ... sort of creamy and nice too paint with. The best on my small list that I've used so far.
Hi Todd - Yes, I have tried the DaVinci paints and they are the same as American Journey (made by the same place) They are excellent. I rated them in my top 10 all-time.
Thank you so much for your great reviews! I love how unassuming and honest you are with all of the products, and it's been really helpful for someone like me who didn't know much but sort of just jumped in head first. This video (and your original Holbein review) convinced me to buy Holbein as my first artist grade set, and I've been in love with it ever since. Eventually, I hope to be able to try the other brands as well. :)
Interesting to see your top ten list. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on them. I haven't used many of them(namely M Graham and American Journey) due to the region I am in. I feel that though the principle of watercolour production is somewhat uniform, every brand makes them for different uses. For example, I find Schmincke and Sennelier's great for glazing, and Daniel Smith and Mission more for their paints' vibrancy and unique colours(e.g. Primatek colours from DS and the controversial Burnt Sienna from Mission Gold). Lukas and Rembrandt, I find they are great for expressionist arts. Among some of the brands you haven't mentioned, I like Maimeriblu - I only have their student grade colours(Venezia), but they're wonderful! Quite comparable to Van Gogh - I like them both, but I prefer Maimeri a wee bit more. Oh, and Old Holland makes great ones, too. Although I find them a bit too pricey.
always heard positive reviews of the schmincke horadam but theyre a bit expensive! i personally love the st petersburg white nights and M graham Great video!
I would like to see you compare St Petersburg Yarka, Sonnet and St Petersburg White Knights that is suppose to be the same as Yarkia. I think you need to compare the pan sets.
Well let’s see, I have tested them a few times, but don’t regularly paint with them. I just have a few others I think are a bit better, but I think these are great paints overall. I definitely recommend Maimari Blu because they have lots of single pigment colors, they are very well made and consistent. Also they aren’t as expensive as some of their competitors. A lot of it comes down to preference for a painter. They are very good paints though.
I'm really surprised that you didn't include Lukas in your lists since you ranked it so high in your review and compared its quality to Schmincke and Sennelier. What was your thinking?
hi marty, great video and a fab list. going to treat myself soon, but which out of daniel smith, schmincke or sennelier, or perhaps a bit of all 3! lol. we,ll see . cheers.
I Love both the Schmincke ( Husband would say I'm a bit of a schmincke addict,lol) and the white nights. In the us I believe they sell under the Yarka brand name and White Nights I love for mixing practices cause they are so ehh cheap. But I live on the German border so I often hop over to buy my schmincke per pan. The half pans sell crazy cheap here from schmincke, for around 3 euro. The only downside from schmincke is their ridiculous price for their tins, so I just use empty traveler rembrand tins for them for storing :) once my half pan is empty I refill that with 5 ml schmincke tubes. I think tube paints are more vibrant than the pre made pans but the downside with schmincke is that you need to cover tube poured pans,cause it may take weeks to harden and some actually stay moist. If you have a pet you need to store schmincke in a closet cause it is a magnet for cat hairs :) :)
Greetings - You are a smart shopper. Makes sense to use your empty Rembrandt tins for your Schmincke. Yes they are very steep here. Like $5 to $15 for half pans depending on the series number. Cat hairs...LOL.
Is it bad that I have 5 out of your top 6.... as well as a holbein dot card.....? not sure what my favourite is... I think it would have to be schmincke or sennelier. I do love the markers but I find the paper makes a bigger difference for them. For me the cheapest are schmincke and MGraham....... although the QOR sets are even cheaper right now so I have just picked up one to try - but the individual tubes are really expensive.
Hey Marty, the QOR only arrived today, I ordered the introductory set from a place that I knew had the original set in the large tin because I wanted the cerulean blue and preferred Indian yellow colour (even if it is a mix) - I am really glad that I ordered this older style tin because I really like the cerulean blue, it is my favourite in the set, as for the tin, I think it is big enough to store all my tube paints! The main thing I don't like about the QOR so far is that a few of my tubes are not full with the Indian yellow being the worst offender which is pretty much half full - perhaps this is because I ordered one of the original style sets. Haven't had much time to play but so far I do really like the way they react with water and the colours. As for MGrahams, I haven't made up my mind -, they are beautiful to use and mix but don't dry well where I live (or really at all - even viridian which i bought hoping it would dry, some colours were so just so wet that I had to move them out of my general pan palette with other watercolours and into a holbein pallet which has shallow wells this seems to be better and a couple of colours are now just starting to be touch dry (as long as you touch them lightly.) I love the vibrancy although I have a weird mix of colours since with the exception of my favourites i bought colours i didn't have in other brands.
Thank you so much for the summary review of your best watercolor paint! I have choose to use Sennelier after see your review last year and it's don't make me disappoint since there. And Holbein also great too! Schmincke and Daniel need time to got familiar with. Just a little questions, is Lukas worth to top 10 in your choose? I have seen them sale in incredible price at Jerry and refer to a friend but he still hesitate to invest large sum in them. Thank again for all!
I would value your opinion on the St. Petersburg "White Nights" watercolors. As I own them myself along with Koi and Peerless watercolors. I really like the variety of brands I've purchased over the passed years because of their differences in color range and styles. I do love the intensity of the White Nights paints, but I consider myself a mixed media artist and enjoy new experiments with brands. Just would love to hear your thoughts on the White Nights, coming from a pro ! Thank you, I really enjoy your channel.
finally you made this video because i've been wondering, after watching most of your product reviews, what brand is your favorite. I agree about the ''lightfastness'' opinion. thank you for the great video as always ;)
I love my St Petersburg White Nights! What nice paints for a nice price. I will do further research as I replace pans though and try not to choose any 3 pigment colors, but even still, no blending issues with them at all. They didn't make a mention. They are just good value, probably the best value at 36 for 60.. on Ama! Have a great day Marty!
I did not see a mention of Old Holland. Does this mean you have not tried it because even though i would put Daniel Smith and Holbein above it its still one of my favorites. You should give it a try if you haven't yet.
Thanks Marty for sharing your list and thoughts. You better watch out Steve is high on M.Graham. LOL By the way he is having a live show tomorrow maybe you could stop in and ask him. I am glad you included Holbein paints on the list. It is great that so many such as yourself share info.
Hi Essie - Thank you for the comments. I already heard from Steve and I knew his list would differ slightly from mine...lol. That's what's awesome though, because they artists are so unique in their choice of art materials. :-) ~Marty
We may tease but most of we want you a l l to keep sharing all this wonderful information with us. Even we that are land locked in West Texas. LOL. We all need to laugh more not less in life.
Great job Marty! I'm a Daniel Smith guy but I use a few Mijello colors and I enjoy my Lukas set quite a lot for sketching. I didn't really like the Holbein watercolors because of the opaque quality but I love their gouache and when I use them together with their watercolors I like them a lot more. The next on my list to try are DaVinci and Sennelier. Have a great day and thanks for the video. -Pete
Hi Pete - Good to hear from you. I know that many, many people will have DS at the top and I don't blame them, they are an excellent choice for a top pick. I agree about the Holbein gouache. I reviewed the American Journey, which are the same as DaVinci. What's your top 10 list Pete? ~marty
Sad to say I have not tried that many. I started off with W&N cotman set which is really good and somewhere between student and artist grade in my opinion. Then, moved on to Holbein but never really liked them because of the opaque qualities of many of the colors. Then, went to Lukas after watching you review them and while I do like them for sketching and appreciate their value I switched to DS for artwork that I wanted to sell for lightfast reasons. When I asked Mijello for a few samples they sent me their cerulean blue, which is a beautiful light phthalo blue, and permanent red which is the more lightfast version of naphthol red and I absolutely love the color. Other than that, I've stuck with what works but I am a gearhead at heart so I like to try everything I can get my hands on and I will try more as soon as I can. Right now I am hooked on Inktense and pastel pencils, but i'm sure my mood will change soon. :) Thanks Marty -Pete
A very interesting video Marty - thanks for posting it. I'm kinda a confirmed W&N chap (either Artist or Cotman depending on what I'm doing) probably because of my 50-something years growing up and living in England ... although I think I read somewhere recently that most W&N paints are actually now made in France. Having lived in Florida for 11 years now, though, I've seen the rise in popularity of the American Daniel Smith paints and a lot of people (including Sharon Cullen who has a rapidly growing channel) are singing their praises - and they seem to have about the largest range of colours of any manufacturer. By the way, now you've settled the question of the best watercolours, it's time to make a video of the best 5 rock albums of the 60s - should be an easy one after doing the paints! You're not likely to upset more than 98% of your viewers, I'd guess :-) But thanks again for a video that I'm sure have given us all something to think about. Regards, Brian.
I just got to add that if you love American Journey watercolor , you will love Da Vinci watercolor. It is mentioned on Cheap Joe's website that his American Journey watercolor's are from the Da Vinci paint company and Grumbacher.
I love your top five list (bonus top 10 really)! I've never tried the Sennelier, Holbein or WN Artist or markers. I do own the Schmincke and DS. But they are a little to precious for me to use in my daily art. (I need to get over that.) So my daily use paints are the Mijello Misson Gold and the Turners and also the QORs. I am a little curious, it looks like you have three different pans of white in your Schmincke palette. Are they different whites? Or different brands?
Hi Star - You are very observant. Those three whites are indeed useful. The first two are titanium white and the other is a zinc white. I use two titaniums because I mix it with my reds, browns and yellows to achieve flesh tones. I also use the zinc to knock down other colors when I want a more subdued color. I think you'll like the Senellier's, Holbeins and the WN Artists paints if you ever try them. ~Marty
So titanium white is good for skin tones and zinc white is good for muting colors? Great to know! XD Other watercolorists never really talk about the differences of the white watercolors. :) Learned something new! Thanks!
what are your thoughts on rembrandt? did you not include it on the list because of the value? where i lived, 15 ml of daniel smith cost around 12 - 30 usd, while 20 ml of rembrandt cost around 8 - 10 usd depending on the series.
I actually screwed this up. I meant to put Rembrandt in and leave Van Gogh out. I mixed them up on my cards and so that's why you see Van Gogh and not Rembrandt. Sorry about that. ~Marty
Can I ask why Daler Rowney Artist quality didn't get a mention but the cheaper student grade did? I'm genuinely interested to know....I'm trying to learn water colour painting and some of my best successes have been with Daler Rowney artists quality....though I know they don't have such a great range of variant colours. These were Turner's paints....and I guess I'd like to know what's happening that they fell so far behind. I do collect different makes and have got loads of W & N , my new favourite is a sennelier set...and I totally agree with you about sennelier. I must try to get to grips with the Schminke....for some reason I can't love them and I don't know why? I've just ordered a duo set of Daniel Smith with his dot card of 238 colours included....I'm super excited as I have heard nothing but great feedback on them.
Hi Suzi - To be very direct, I don't like the D&R Artists grade watercolors, found them to be pale and un-energetic. However I do really like the Aquafine paints, which is weird, I know. Also, it sometimes just comes down to an Artists preference. We both agree on the Sennelier watercolors so the universe is still intact. :-) Not everyone likes Schmincke's, but I find that the people who do NOT like like are usually concerned with the price, not the performance. I think you will very much enjoy the DS Dot charts. I reviewed them on my channel not long again. Thanks for the notes Suzi, keep painting. ~Marty
Owings Art Hi, thanks for responding, that's interesting. I wonder also reading down peoples comments whether there's a difference between tubes and pans....I've always bought pans because I could go for long times without having time to paint and didn't want issues with dried on caps or dried up paint. Recently in an art shop we were told W&N changed their formula and don't work so well if you squeeze tubes into pans ( I was looking to replace a colour and I they only had a tube in stock) The DS paints will be my first set of tubes apart from some QoR I tried recently. I just have a small set of schminke to try, only 7 colours disguarding the black, but didn't like that some of the pans were cracked. I've since read others found that too. I guess it's just part of the fun of painting trying different paints and seeing what works best for you. The small set of QoR got me over my fear of the mess and waste of tubes ...thank you for taking the time to make these videos and answer questions, Suzi 😀
Hi Suzi - I have never had much trouble filling my pans with tube paint, but I use them all the time so that might be a factor. I've never had a single problem with Schmincke pans and I've literally bought dozens and dozens of them. I wonder how old the ones you found cracked were? I'm sure that Schmincke would replace them, but I don't think a crack would actually impact their performance much. ~Marty
Owings Art Hi, yes it's a good point about contacting them. yes unfortunately with our careers it could be oceans of time before painting again and my husband found tubes sometimes dried up on him....I've just been catching up on the recording of the live feed you did with The Mind of Water Colour....really useful tips. I noticed he said W&N dried up and cracked...so the art shop were right about that. I loved art all my life but always struggled with watercolours and shied away from them when I was younger and worked with oils, pastels and inks. Now I'm fascinated by them and determined to crack it! The advice on the paper was good to know, Arches is expensive here, hardly ever a good discount on it and I'm scared to waste it practising, but I'll try the tip about 100% cotton paper, maybe this is where I'm failing.....once again thank you for your input and insights.
Just ordered Stephen Quiller watercolor. What do you think? Any heads up as to what to expect? Thank you for your input to everybody's body of knowledge.
Good list Marty! I agree with the inclusions. I might order them slightly different but when you get to the top 10 or so I don't think order is all that important. Its no secret that I'm an M. Graham guy. I suppose some of that comes from my knowledge of Art Graham the founder and his reputation for shopping around for the best pigments. I got to talk to him face to face last year and his passion for paint making was impressive. Just feel like its the best paint I've ever used. Love the honey formulation too! All that said I can't really argue with any of your picks. American Journey is an interesting group I thought about trying. I've read a few places that they are actually made by DaVinci which we both agree is top notch.
The Mind of Watercolor I replied that M. Graham was your favorite before I read the comments. I agree with you. Great list. M. Graham are my favorite as well.
Hi Steve - Thanks for the note my friend. It's a little tough putting together any list like this, but I knew your M. Graham's would be on the list, but just where on that list was a tough choice. It was hard to edge them out of the top 5, because they are fantastic. So I looked up David Mitchell, no relation, and WOW. That guy is a Master, no doubt about that. I love his style and you're right it reminded me of Wyeth. Art Graham sounds like a guy with a passion and that's who I want making my paints. All the best Steve. Talk to you soon. ~Marty
I would love to try the m grahams, if only to see if they really are that "even" on paper. I like to controll my paints a bite more wich is why I Mix my schmincke often with yarka aka white nights. Pple call me nuts for not liking granulation that much. But yes well that's just me,lol. For that reason I like perusian over ultramarine with a hint of paynes grey in it etc,grin. That's what you get when you paint a full year with cotmans before updating I guess,hahaha. Unfortunately M Grahams doesn't sell in the netherlands. So if they read along here: Guys get that Contract with the dutch already. I have been drooling for months now :P :P
I agree. M. Graham is my top one as well!
I agree with liking only some slight granulation. I think with me, it's a matter of control. Maybe when I get more practice, I will like granulating paints more.
Ok, now you've done it! 😉
Since you begged the question and I don't really plan to do an episode like this myself, I'll chime in. My top 5:
M. Graham
Daniel Smith
DaVinci
Maimeri Blu
Sennelier
Honorable Mention: Holbein, Mission Gold, Schmincke, American Journey, Winsor & Newton Pro, Qor
For what its worth...
Fun episode Marty, thanks!
That's a pretty sweet list my friend. But dropping Schmicnke out of the top five... I don't know man. :-) I haven't tried the Maimeri Blu yet, I'm really looking forward to it, especially if it's in your top five. Thanks for weighing in Steve, I am thankful. ~Marty
Hahah! I knew that would get your attention. Honestly, I just don't have the experience with Schmincke you have and the high price I think is just due to distributor availability over in the US. I know they are good paints though. As I said once you get into the top 10 or so you're in pretty good company and its hard to go wrong.
I need to make a road trip to see you so we can hang out and film a few videos.
That'd be fun!
I second that collaboration! 👍💕🎨
When I have trouble sleeping or I'm feeling a little anxious, painting with my beautiful colors grounds me and excites me at same time. Color is magical. Thanks for all time and effort you put into helping everyone. I love your gentleness.
Thank you so much for this. I bought water mixable oil paints a year ago because I thought that oil was the way to go. I didn't want to deal with the strong fumes and clean up, so I decided on the water mixable. Well, I hated them so they are in my closet. I share this because I have never liked watercolor because I thought they were all wishy washy transparent. I like vibrant colors. I had no idea there was such variety, so I'm going to try one of these brands you recommended. Watercolor might be my answer after all. No fumes, easy clean-up I imagine. Thanks again!
Thank for this, Marty. Great to see so many paints! My top 5 would be (after 40 plus years painting in the watercolor medium) :
1) Winsor and Newton Artists 2) Daniel Smith 3) St. Petersburg 4) Sennelier 5) Maimeri Blu
Those are excellent choices and superb paints.
I love Sennelier! I got the Test Pack a while back (such a bargain, and I encourage anyone who wants to try Sennelier to get it), and I have just invested in a dozen more tubes. Waiting for all the beautiful new colours to arrive!
I am new but have purchased a set of Mission Gold watercolors and I'm very happy with them. Your review of them and the great price I got on Amazon made me feel good about it. I enjoy your videos and thanks for all the great information you share.
Thank you Linda - I hope they work well for you.
I'm sure that someone has mentioned here in the comments already about DaVinci paints made in the US. My experience with those has been really good. Holbein is my go to, so to speak, along with Windsor & Newton and DaVinc.
I've use several from the list and agree with you that many of the choices are absolutely fantastic to work with. The M. Graham's are truly amazing in quality, consistency, and just the experience of painting with them is an absolute joy.
Thanks for the video! Nicely done. And thanks for sharing your personal works! Beautiful stuff Marty!
ooh someone trying to start a fight!
*sips tea and sits down to watch
Marie Muzeizm LOL.
So happy your channel is growing! Thinking about starting water colours, so thank you! I know i can trust your channel!
Hi Ruby - Thank you for the kind note. I think you should start using them, they are awesome. :-)
What a fantastic review ! How courageous of you Marty to dare to list / rate such a personal (even subjective) medium as watercolor ! I follow a great many artists on youtube who avoid giving their own personal opinions on this topic like the plague . You'd think we were discussing religion or politics when we narrow down our personal likes and dislikes about watercolor paints , talk about passion.
I really value these types of perspectives because I value the individual minds of Watercolor and why they do prefer what they do . I think if we all opened our minds to each individuals perspective on their preferences , we'd all become better for it . Excellent job Marty , just outstanding !
Hi Tracy - Don't know how courageous I am, but I appreciate that you think so. :-), It was overdue to get this out there and I definitely think you are right about how divisive our art material preferences can be. I am trying to build bridges. ;-) Thanks for the support Tracy. ~Marty
Awesome video! Thank you very much. I'd always used DS and love them still, but after reading a Liz Steel post moved to Schmincke French Ultramarine to mix with my DS Hansa Yellow Medium to make sap green. It made all the difference in the intensity of color. M. Graham's version of Viridian is far superior to DS's version. It goes to show there are many wonderful watercolor companies out there but each company has colors that surpass other manufacturers. M. Graham stays so sticky in my very humid climate because of the honey binder they use but you have to balance all things out in the end.
Thank you again!
Mr. Owings, that was so fun! My cousin is on a European tour and headed to Germany with a goal of bringing back some Schminkes for me to try!! I'll be excited to compare and test. Thank you for your video period I always give you a thumbs up before I even start watching !
I looooove those markers. I have them and working on building up a Daniel Smith set alongside them. The markers are really good for travel.
Hi Marty...........Just saw today's Schmencke new colors., and wanted to pop over here to check out your top 5. Not long ago I had a chance to learn a bit about DaVinci watercolor paints. They are American made in a small factory devoted to excellence, in California. There are only 7 people who make and distribute their paint. It is a third generation family company. They are meticulous about each step of the manufacturing process. I know this because I have spoken with them on more than one occasion and am always impressed with what I learn. A while ago, I was gifted a set of DaVinci watercolors. They were striking but I had ordered specialty colors, not the traditional colors. So, after hearing you share your thoughts about getting dot card samplers, I ordered a set from them. 24 colors $6.95.. These arrived Saturday and blew me away with their vibrancy and clarity. I am a big fan of Sennelier and the luminosity of honey humectant paint. These seemed to glow even more than my Sennelier or M. Graham paints........So, I spoke with Laura, at DaVinci today. I asked her about the honey content. There isn't any. I have no idea how they make these so incredibly vibrant without it. However, I did ask about the rumor that American Journey is made by DaVinci. They are. Interesting side note. I did a price comparison and buying the straight DaVinci brand is less expensive than buying the American Journey version of several colors. Because they are such a small company you can order directly from them and shipping is free if your cart is $49....at least in the continental USA. No tax unless you live in California. Win/Win for us all. Great Paint, Great Company, Great Price and free shipping. Cant beat that combo! As you know, I am an enthusiastic fan of your reviews and so I thought I'd share a bit of my experience. I haven't move to Nicaragua yet, but it's still on the schedule. Thanks for all you do for me and all the invisible "us!"
WOW! This is great info Judith. You really did your homework. I love the Da Vinci brand and have for a long time. I rated them (American Journey) in my top ten all-time best. I need to revisit them soon and check out the DaVinci brand itself. I love the story of this company and the fact they are producing really great watercolors. I will ask if they use brighteners and about the pigments when I get a chance to talk to them. Alas, I have a long, long list of things to do. Nicaragua and adventures await you my friend. Can't wait to hear about them both. Thank you Judith for all of your support. ~Marty
I couldn't agree more! I love Da Vinci WC Great earth tones, best price for artist grade paint! I also was using American Journey. I thought they were the most economical till I compared them to Da Vinci. Wow! Did not know Da Vinci made American Journey.
Hi Marty! Sorry haven't been posting. My Mom died a month ago and you are my first post. I really enjoyed this. I've seen every one of your reviews and I really love the thoroughness and your kindness! Have missed watching and look forward to more. You are awesome! Take care and keep on painting! All the best to you and your family! 😀
teresa b I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family Teresa. Lost my Mom so I know how it feels. Time will ease the pain and replace it with loving memories.
Thank you Marty. Thank you so very much.
I love that you include Van Gogh paints in your list because I think they are pretty awesome and good value for the price.
Hi Elga - That was actually a mistake and I meant to put Rembrandt's in that spot. I like Van Gogh, but they weren't in my original top ten. I am sorry about the confusion and hope you'll forgive me. ~Marty
Very usefull video. I use the Van Gogh I got as a student so yeah.. student grade probably. I also have some Sakura koi and one Danie smith which was dissapointing. The sennelier looks interesting and I’m curious about the W&N marker! I use an eco line marker and I live to replace it with a better one. You are not the only one to favour Schmincke! Thank you for this video..
YAY! My 3 favorites are in the top 3: Sennelier, Daniel Smith, and Schmincke! Thanks, Marty!
:-)
Thank you! I am currently fascinated with watercolors and this was very helpful.
For sure and thanks for watching Becky. ~Marty
My #1 & #2 WC keep switching places (Schmincke & Sennelier), but the rest of MY list is pretty much even with your (Daniel Smith at #3). Good list!
I agree with you Marty, I havent used the W&N markers but your top 4 are all I use every day. I may even put the Daniel Smith in the number one spot only because I find their selection more interesting and more lightfast on the purples and pinks. That was a disappointment by Schmincke that I had bought a few with 1 star. I paint illumination on animal parchment so I like opacity also so it was good to hear which companies have higher opacity. And they must be light fast especially because I live in a very sunny country. I so much appreciate the trouble you go to to buy these paints and review them for us.
Hi YB - Thank you for the notes. Yes, a lot of people will have DS at the top and I couldn't argue too much about that. I just happen to prefer Schmincke. I hear that Schmincke is releasing some new colors very soon. I think they've seen a dent in sales due to DS. ~Marty
Wow. Those American Journey really jump off the page! I've never seen a review on them. Thank you. I just found your channel today.
Thank you so much for watching Annette. Very much appreciated.
I am a newbie and limited in my knowledge and money to just go out and buy a lot of paints. I was given a few colors but the palette was limited so not really knowing anything went into an art store and they directed me to the St Petersburg Yarka. I loved them but for some reason I felt I wanted to customize my palette choices even though I had 36 options in the Yarka. So I filled in and created a great selection of Daniel Smith and really love them. But every once in a while I go back and you know I think I like the Yarka better. Perhaps its the honey and smoothness. I think they are like the experience you speak of with Sennelier. Smooth, beautifully transparent, and rich, and rewet instantly with full pigment on the brush. And way less granulated then DS. But there are times the granulation is preferred. So both are awesome. Thanks for you review. I hope to try other brands in time. But really have such great options now, I kind of feel, "why?"
Hi Len - Thanks for the comments and sharing your thoughts on Yarka. I've heard some people complain that the Russian paints are too opaque for their liking. I've tested most of them and yes they are more opaque, but you can add a bit more water and overcome that. ~Marty
Fantastic review and comparison, Marty! Those Winsor and Newton watercolour markers keep playing on my mind, I think they'd be such a fantastic set (paired with a water brush) to take along for a short break somewhere... They are so tempting!
Thanks Claudia. I think you'd really enjoy the W&N markers and yes, paired up with a water brush, they are delightful. ~Marty
I'm a Sennelier person and, believe it or not, Prima (I know but they're cheap and pretty... nice palettes too) and Academy (single pigment, transparent) quite often for journaling. Okay, with this list you've convinced me to try a couple of oft used pigments in Schminke. I'm used to the more delicate look of watercolor loving the light for ... you know... the "glow" so DS vibrancy has always scared me. Maybe if I see it on super sale I'll try a tube. Thanks so much for this. You've answered what I've wondered a long time... which ones you like best and why.
Hi Pat - Thanks for the note. I think you're going to like DS if you try them. I didn't find them overly vibrant, just right. As for Schmincke, once you try them, there really is no going back. ~Marty
Super fun seeing the top picks of a practicing artist! As a relative newbie to watercolor I only have a top 3 brands I buy, but I've never tried Schminke. I may have to spring for a couple of tubes :)
I hope you use that paint Rebecca. ~Marty
Oh wow, yes I love Daniel smith and Schmincke because of the variety of mixes, some Rembrandt and Holbein, but I havent tried that many .
I was using Talens Rembrandt for many years n' sometimes Talens Van Gogh ones for sketching etc. Both were nice; Rembrandt ones were too durable with good colors and Van Gogh ones were really fast with brush. But 2 weeks before i've decided to try Schmincke Horadam tablets; omg! Still cannot believe the difference! That lightfastness is more than amazing and no need to mention the vibrant colors! If u r a professional artist or serious on your watercolor art; go for Horadam, believe me u won't be disappointed! (btw great list!)
I totally agree with you sir. :-)
I gotta say my top favorite is Schmincke too. Then Winser & Newton, Holbein, M Graham, and 5 is Daniel Smith. I would put Sennelier down to number 6 for me. I have QoR also and those are behind Sennelier. I actually like using my M Graham with the Sennelier because they are both made with honey. I have tried several brands. Looks like you have tried more than I have. Thanks for sharing!
Goof list and I like your top ten.
I really do want to purchase Schmincke water colors next! I know they have a great reputation and regarded highly amongst artist. Thanks for your opinion.
I don't think you'll be disappointed Tammy.
Very good list Marty. I am also a huge Daniel Smith fan with Sennelier being my 2nd favorite....i just love the glow of those. I have not yet tried M. Graham but would like to. Thanks for posting this!
Hi Alicia - Hard to go wrong with any of those. ~Marty
I've been using watercolors since my freshman year of college -- 1970, as of yet I have not found a single manufacturer who's complete line does not have it's faults... notice I said "complete line"... I've also limited my palette to 15 colors and never use them all in a single painting. Permanent and absolute light fastness colors are of extreme importance to me because I sell my work so it must be archival... when I worked as a commercial illustrator it didn't matter that much because once my work went to a printer for repo if the original faded who cares ?
Also watercolor paints are about the biggest rip off there is... if your paying $30 for a half ounce of paint that comes to around $4,000 a gallon... even NASA doesn't pay that much for a gallon of paint... my advice is to spend your money wisely... many student grade and 2nd range colors are every bit as good (especially the earth tones) as their "professional grade" counter parts for one tenth the cost.
PS - even though I have a couple of "traveling pan sets" I only buy watercolors in tubes.
So, whats your preference sir? Id like to know.
Thanks for your professional advice.
The Windsor newton watercolor markers look very similar to peerless watercolors. I'm not sure if you have heard of them, but I highly recommend them. They are definitely a unique experience and quite affordable too. The are probably the most portable watercolor. They are vibrant and transparent.
Hi Saralyn - I've never heard of them you're right. Do you have a link?
Owings Art here is a link www.peerlesscolor.com/ here is a link to the Christmas cards I made with my kids using peerless. luvleel8dbug.deviantart.com/art/Christmas-cards-with-the-kids-650060358
Thanks for sharing your list Marty! It was nice to hear from you again. Feels like it's been a while. I as well have my own list:
1. M. Graham
2. Daniel smith
3. QoR
4. Schmincke
5. Sennelier
6. Old holland
7. Mission gold
8. Holbein
9. Turner
10. Dr. PH martins hydrus
Great list. Hard to argue with this. :-)
I have tried 2 out of the top 5 on your list - the Schmincke Horadam and Holbein, and also the Mijello Mission Gold. I'm not so sure if I have a favorite, but in terms of which watercolor I use most - it's the Mijello . I'm a total amateur and I think I tend to use the Mijello's more is because of 2 main reasons. The first reason is the palette that it comes with (I bought the 36 color set - 7ml each, with the plastic palette from a local online store in Malaysia for about 55USD). It's really large and gives me a lot of mixing space, versus having to use additional palettes. Of course, I could transfer my other paints into palettes but I did not buy any spare ones so far, lol. Second reason is there are a lot of colors. I don't really know how to mix colors much. I do mix colors, for example, I would mix purple and pink if I want a purpleish-pink color, but I don't really know how to mix that same color with the 12 colors that I have from Schmincke (which costs... so much >.
Greetings - Thanks for your comments. Perhaps someday in the distant future you'll find use for your Schmincke's, but in the meantime, enjoy the Missions and enjoy having fun, that's what it's all about in the end. :-)
Hi Marty, as always your suggestions are top notch. Thanks for doing all the hard work and research.
Thank you for watching Carole.
Thanks great review, I enjoy your down to earth open approach and no waffle. I like holbein and w+n paints. I'm in Australia and the others are too expensive for me.
I am in Perth, Australia and find Buying Daniel Smith, White Nights incredibly expensive. I am currently using some Winsor & Newton and Kor-I-Nor
Marty you are right! I bought the Sennelier 12 tube set and I love them!
Great to hear. They are excellent.
A great top 5. From what I've tried I agree that Schmincke is number 1. Holbein is 2nd place for me. Sadly, I've never been able to try Daniel Smith (I can't get it sent here for some reason). Very brave of you to try and make a video like this, and hopefully your feedback and comments are kind!
Hopefully you get to try the DS soon.
I like the Schmincke too... like buttah... but I also Like W&N - both in my opinion are great for transparency... these both seem to react to certain papers very nicely and can be very vibrant depending on the paper ... so smooth. Also Daniel Smith... is great in a different intense way... Looking forward to trying out Da Vinci and Sennilier (your enthusiasm) - thanks for the video!
Thank you Santos. So many great paints to choose from.
I'm an addict for water colour s .. I love testing all the different brands too I haven't tried all the different brands but I'm getting there ha .. Nice review!
I use the Schmincke pans. Do you see a difference between the tubes and pans? They are excellent paints no doubt. I also use the sennelier pans but havent tried their tubes. My holbein and DS are tubes that I squeezed into pans. Maybe thats why I prefer them. I should note that my selection of Schmincke colors I bought are mostly colors that are classic old masters and medieval colors. Cads, cobalts, lakes, and earths. Just the lakes werent lightfast. My holbeins are really vibrant and tranparent. I actually got a set of 48 colors directly from Japan by mail. Anyway I go on...
Hi YB - I see no noticeable difference between the pan and the tubes of Schmincke. They are great in either format. Holbein are also great and I agree with you about the vibrancy. I don't know if they are adding brighteners, but I do know that a lot of their paint is single pigment. ~Marty
I live in the netherlands. I and am proud. We make some pretty good paint!
Hiya Marty, thanks for a great video on your top watercolours. I currently have three out of your top five; Sennelier, W&N watercolour markers and my latest favourite addition, Daniel Smith. I especially love their Primatek set with Jadeite being my favourite. I will get round to trying your favourite Schminke when I can stretch to it. By the by, I loved how you described painting with the Sennelier. Hope you're having a fab week my friend. Best as always, Jane 😊
Hi Jane - Thanks for the note and for watching as always. Ha! Yes the lovely Sennelier's. Some of the worlds best art supplies are made in France. I think you'd like the Schmincke's, but they are very technical paints. They are consistent and even and well, very German. ;-)
You've done a tremendous amount of work for us. Thank you. I will help us on many different levels. No more expensive experimenting unless we wish to and can afford to. We can also spend more time painting than trying paints.
Thank you very much for the kind comments. ~Marty
I totally guessed 4(sort of) of your top 5. No Holbein just because I'd never tried, and I had Winser and Newton but not the markers. I've tried W&N but was not a big fan because the dry so hard in my opinion, I prefer easy to rewet paint. I also hadn't tried their markers because I had a horrible time working with the Letraset markers which is their previous name. I was blown away when you showed them on paper in the video. They worked nothing like the old ones which were dye based.
Ha! Good guesses Dionne. Yeah the new W&N markers are outstanding. You need to try them Dionne, they are excellent. ~marty
The Sennelier paints truly sing, that's the most apt description of them I've ever heard :)
Great top 10! Are the watercolor markers refillable?
Eve Bolt - Bolt's Vault the Sennilier are gorgeous paints he?
Eve Bolt - Bolt's Vault , Eve The Windsor and Newton are officially not refillable, but i tried and I could refill one 😊 je les adore, j'ai les Tombow, les Zig clean Brush, ils sont tous excellents mais les W&N, on dirait qu'ils sortent du tube directement !
Allo Chrissie! :D
Bon à savoir, merci! Je préfère les trucs qui ne finissent pas à la poubelle quand ils sont terminés, alors c'est génial s'il y a une façon de les remplir quand même! :D
Oh, veuillez partager en anglais comment recharger ces.
I like Sennelier a lot too. But I have no idea exactly why, because I can not honestly claim they top in any technical way (other than that their pigment selection is very modern and competent). Sennelier are just enjoyable to paint with for me. I'm fine with being personally biased :) .
Very good list ! I am sooooo happy that you put W&N watercolor markers on the list, I find these that I bought after watching your review (thank yoy) to be out standing. I am still waiting for more than a month to get my Sennelier at Jackson's Art, they are still backorder. I have around 26 D.Smith in tubes that I have choosen one by one and I combined them with my Holbein (great ! Great ! Great !) and the Pure color set of Mission Gold (thanks tomSteve's review). I was surprise that you did not mention St-Petersburg White Nights, I love them.
I am happy because I never tried any Rembrandt, Lukas 1862 or VanGogh, and you are tempting me to try them on.
Thank you so much for this final review, it is just "formidable" 😊😊
Thank you Chrissie. I left the White Knights off my list because I wasn't overly happy with them. They were too opaque for me and ended up chalky on my work. Still they weren't terrible. I think DS and Holbein would make a decent combination. ~marty
The Holbein paints are my first paints that I bought, and they're nice. But there's a single problem, atleast at my case.
Living in a tropical country, where moisture is high. My holbein paints tend to absorb surrounding moisture, thus getting a bit sticky to the touch, but no paint transfer. But the paints of Rembrandt and Winsor & Newton that I put in the same palette doesn't do that.
Great list btw.
I really love Holbein, but maybe the reason is I did not use schmincke. I will try it later!
Hey Marty, great video. Looks like you're a fellow Minnesotan. Really appreciate your this video on great water colors. I'm just starting to paint a bit with Daniel Smith water colors and I'm pretty impressed by them though the cost of some of them hurts my wallet a bit so I have to go easy on what to purchase.
Reminded I got a pal of mine to send me a Holbein set that was sold as part of a sketching set sold at the Ghibli Musuem shortly ago! I have yet to break into it myself, but I hope to use it soon!
Hi Christopher - I'd be interested in your thoughts on them. ~Marty
I agree with your list Marty , Schmincke is my favorite too . Second , close second Daniel Smith . I have W&N artist grade too , in fact I started water coloring with Windsor & Newton in 2016 but there just not quite bright enough for my eyes , I really like the “pop “ of color to excite my process . Great second or third time watching this video 🙋🏻♀️ .
We live in an awesome time Tracy. So many great choices.
Owings Art you are so right , especially concerning synthetic brushes . Princeton Aqua Elite are a magical alternative to natural Sable .
Marty! What about the White Nights/ Sonnet,?Russian made paints?!?
Same question came to my mind too👀
They didn't make the cut. They tend to be too opaque for my liking, but that said, they aren't bad paints, and this is just my opinion. :-)
@@owingsart I've watched several videos on the White Nights, only very few of their colours seem to be slightly opaque.
Thank you, excellent video presentation. I value highly your ethics and objectivity. I am a beginner (this stage has lasted years) and I value quality. Have Schincke (perhaps wrong spellin. However, I do not want to pay that much for a button of colour, it seems vanity. Turner, and other passionate, devoted masters, their painting was the main focus, and the money for paint, perhaps not such high quality. I decided, White Nights are of reasonable price and very good paint. It is really the consumerism which is driving people.
Have you ever tried the White Knight water colors? I heard good things about them before for their price ($60 for 36 colors) I was looking for a good watercolor but all the best one are too expensive for me right now
Very nice list. My top 5 favorites are-
5.) Kuretake Gansai Tambi
4.) Van Gogh
3.) SakuraKoi
2.) Winsor&Newton (both professional and Cotman)
1.) M Graham.
Mind you, I haven't tried watercolors to the extent of some people. I still have Schmincke and Daniel Smith on my "To try" list. But so far, those that I have work quite well in my mish-mash palettes. Have you thought of trying the Kuretake starry colors set? Metallics might not be your thing, but these are certainly worth a try. I love them for adding shimmering effects and so on in my works sometimes 😊
Have not tried the starry colors, but that sounds interesting. You have a very good list, although the Van Gogh's are a little high on your list for me. :-)
Owings Art technically it's low on my list with MGraham being my favorite 😅I did it from 'least favorite' to 'most favorite'. Forgot to say that in my original post, sorry! Amazon has the Starry Colors for about $13-14 last time I checked so at least it's not super expensive.
I have drawn since I was a little kid but only pencil ....now I want to use watercolor bcs it's very interesting . Which watercolors should I buy ??
Just about every art store I've ever been to has carried W&N artist grade tube paints. I think availability is a concern for many people. Both Michael's and Hobby Lobby carry them and you can get a tube with 40% off coupon (can print out and use one coupon daily) so you can build up a set of the best colors affordably and have plenty of paint to fill up your pans.
Those coupons help a lot. That's how I built up a nice selection of quality brushes, and I even bought a couple of easels with them.
Schminke is my favorite brand of watercolors though. I like Van Gogh paints also.
Great tips. Thank you~
Guess American Journey are really Da Vinci? Know this post is older but the Renesans available on Etsy (Mind of Watercolor has talked about them), from Poland, inexpensive and honey-based, look interesting.
Awesome research Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for watching Jeff and taking the time to comment.
Not a lot of people know about russian White Nights watercolors (from what I know) but they are fantastically good watercolor paints, probably best in Russia. Highly recommend to try these.
Hi Daria - I did a review on them. They are okay in my opinion. They are opaque when compared to other western watercolors. I found them to be a little chalky and the pigments were not always consistent. Still I thought they were overall good watercolors.
I!m too much of a beginner to appreciate the differences in the different brands just yet but I do have a few Schmincke pan colours and they do rewet beautifully. Their customer services is also excellent. I contacted them in Germany recently about a small matter and they were brilliant. Would definitely like to try more of their stuff and also e Sennelier as I have never used honey paints.
Great to hear you had good experiences with Schmincke. Hope you won't be a stranger. ~Marty
No, definitely not. I really love your videos.
What you primarily experience with an artist grade watercolor is the individual properties of the pigment. Not so much the brand. Brand differences tend to be rather subtle.
That's why single pigment colors are important. The only reason. The mixed colors fill some rather uncritical functions, such as replacements for pigments commonly used by artists for a long time, Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson,.. or just simply convenience colors.
Also, the fundamental property of Artist paints is precisely *permanence*, including lightfastness. That's really the entire raison etre.
So what I'm saying, is that with your criteria you'd be most happy with a set of colors made from very common printing ink pigments, super intense, strong, bright and brilliant. Do you have any idea how cheap and easy such paints could be made? And maybe you should check out Prima Marketing's sets? And I can certainly see why you'd think Mijello Mission or Aquafine are any good.
I do see your point that you think hobby/amateur painters shouldn't be so fixated on the lightfastness issue. I understand how you think. But I don't agree with it. I think you're wrong. I mean, lightfastness shouldn't be an obsession or you wouldn't get anything painted. I get that. But watercolors are vulnerable and some hues are notoriously susceptible to fading if the pigment doesn't belong to the very small top pick. Typical cases in point are red and violet.
I also don't agree because I don't feel you gain anything by courting less permanent pigments. Artist paints are intense, transparent and bright enough. And affordable colors which are just as permanent as the best artist grade are actually available. I'm speaking of Cotman and Van Gogh. I also don't think they give up anything else to, for instance, Aquafine (which are less permanent). So you can just as well paint permanently.
There's one more reason why you should. It affects the market of watercolors. If people support inferior watercolors it's going to influence the market situation, and at some time we're going to see good artists produce fugitive art, while preferring some not so serious brand because they've become used to them or the "colors pops" or whatever. It has happened before. And is still happening. With oils even, because some enthusiast manufacturer figured it would be cool to reintroduce obsolete pigments like Chrome Yellow and Madder Lake. And dispersion can be controlled by using wetting agents and gum rather than through brands.
I'm going to stop being argumentative here, and just finish with my own lists. There are two of them.
How I rate them:
1 Daniel Smith
2 M Graham (only suffers because the range is smaller than Daniel Smith and I feel they are too hygroscopic, otherwise superb)
3 Winsor & Newton Professional
4 Schmincke Horadam
5 Talens Rembrandt
How I like them (because of various personal reasons, such as mainly being pan user, local pricing&availability and the irrational, such that while I think Horadam are "better", I simply enjoy Sennelier more)
1 Winsor & Newton Professional
2 Sennelier
3 Schmincke Horadam
4 Daniel Smith (suffers because of pricing and availability in Europe)
5 M Graham
P.S. and finally I'll have the opinion that there isn't much difference between the top 10 or so brands.
You make some interesting points and I appreciate the effort you put into explaining your positions. Many people will agree with you regarding lightfastness. I don't want that to be keep people from painting, that's my main point.
You have some great lists there and I can't argue with either of them, I might just order them slightly differently as I have. Thank you very much for sharing your experiences and your insights. ~Marty
I'm watchingggg againnn beforee buying my watercolorrrr❤❤
I think I'll be buying holbein for my birthdayyy❤😭 Again thank you so muchhhh
Thank you!
Thanks so much! " Use them like you just don't care". Love that!
It is true, the WN markers are so unique if you know how to take advantage of their highly controllable features. I simply use them like a marker I am able to gradually blend from very dark to very light and in different shades and as I said with high precision and control, from there it is easy to duplicate to different areas or to a new painting. I buy different colors from each of these companies because some colors are so unique like you said, the mineral paint from D. Smith and Schminke's 95 one pigment colors and colors from other companies whom I have a hard time to duplicate myself. Talking about watercolors It is a jungle out there so I owe you big thanks, Marty Owings, for your take on watercolors it has helped me to decide on specific colors and brands.
Hi Aviaja - Thank you for the kind words. Yes, the W&N markers are great just as markers. You make some great points on how to use them. And of course you mentioned the best paints in the world, Schmincke and DS. :-)
winsor & newton professional and daler & rowney aquafine is about the best i can afford as Daniel Smith is around £25 to £30 a tube as for the others there beyond my price range i would love to spend more but just dont have the cash :(
Can you get Schmincke over there for a bit less money?
most imported stuff is very expensive
Looks like you're in the UK. Go to Jackson's art and check out their own brand. I've a feeling they may be made by Sennelier.
There's a UK website where they sell Daniel Smith and the 15ml tubes go from £11 to £25 (the most expensive are the genuine ones made with precious stones) but the average is in £15. It's this one : saa.co.uk
how about White Nights? I do have a few tubes od Winsor and Newton and schmincke, but for some reason, I prefer the Russian ones. They do the same job or better at a much lower cost.
Great to see what you guys say about the paints ... I'm rather new to watercolor so it's nice to see reviews of paints I've never tried yet. Those French paints sound interesting.... I want to paint love (-:
Can you tell me about my Da Vinci paints ?? Have you tried them? What Ya think? For me they seem too have fine pigments and are very ... sort of creamy and nice too paint with. The best on my small list that I've used so far.
Hi Todd - Yes, I have tried the DaVinci paints and they are the same as American Journey (made by the same place) They are excellent. I rated them in my top 10 all-time.
i love the horadam-paints. amazing quality. 🎨💕 cool video!
Thank you so much for your great reviews! I love how unassuming and honest you are with all of the products, and it's been really helpful for someone like me who didn't know much but sort of just jumped in head first.
This video (and your original Holbein review) convinced me to buy Holbein as my first artist grade set, and I've been in love with it ever since. Eventually, I hope to be able to try the other brands as well. :)
That's great to hear and thank you for taking the time to drop me a kind note.
Interesting to see your top ten list. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on them. I haven't used many of them(namely M Graham and American Journey) due to the region I am in. I feel that though the principle of watercolour production is somewhat uniform, every brand makes them for different uses. For example, I find Schmincke and Sennelier's great for glazing, and Daniel Smith and Mission more for their paints' vibrancy and unique colours(e.g. Primatek colours from DS and the controversial Burnt Sienna from Mission Gold). Lukas and Rembrandt, I find they are great for expressionist arts.
Among some of the brands you haven't mentioned, I like Maimeriblu - I only have their student grade colours(Venezia), but they're wonderful! Quite comparable to Van Gogh - I like them both, but I prefer Maimeri a wee bit more. Oh, and Old Holland makes great ones, too. Although I find them a bit too pricey.
I need to try the Maimeriblu. I still haven't tried them.
always heard positive reviews of the schmincke horadam but theyre a bit expensive! i personally love the st petersburg white nights and M graham
Great video!
They are a bit expensive, but well worth it. :-)
I would like to see you compare St Petersburg Yarka, Sonnet and St Petersburg White Knights that is suppose to be the same as Yarkia. I think you need to compare the pan sets.
Maybe someday. I am backed up so far with review requests that it might be some time before I get to comparisons for these three.
Thank you for noting where the paints are manufactured.
Thanks Marty. Good list and beautiful illustrations/demos
Thank you David, much appreciated.
Where would you rank Maimeri Blu?
Thank you very much!
Well let’s see, I have tested them a few times, but don’t regularly paint with them. I just have a few others I think are a bit better, but I think these are great paints overall. I definitely recommend Maimari Blu because they have lots of single pigment colors, they are very well made and consistent. Also they aren’t as expensive as some of their competitors. A lot of it comes down to preference for a painter. They are very good paints though.
Kremer Pigments, Old Holland, & Daniel Smith are my top picks...
Nice list. :-)
I'm really surprised that you didn't include Lukas in your lists since you ranked it so high in your review and compared its quality to Schmincke and Sennelier. What was your thinking?
hi marty, great video and a fab list. going to treat myself soon, but which out of daniel smith, schmincke or sennelier, or perhaps a bit of all 3! lol. we,ll see . cheers.
I Love both the Schmincke ( Husband would say I'm a bit of a schmincke addict,lol) and the white nights. In the us I believe they sell under the Yarka brand name and White Nights I love for mixing practices cause they are so ehh cheap. But I live on the German border so I often hop over to buy my schmincke per pan. The half pans sell crazy cheap here from schmincke, for around 3 euro. The only downside from schmincke is their ridiculous price for their tins, so I just use empty traveler rembrand tins for them for storing :) once my half pan is empty I refill that with 5 ml schmincke tubes. I think tube paints are more vibrant than the pre made pans but the downside with schmincke is that you need to cover tube poured pans,cause it may take weeks to harden and some actually stay moist. If you have a pet you need to store schmincke in a closet cause it is a magnet for cat hairs :) :)
Greetings - You are a smart shopper. Makes sense to use your empty Rembrandt tins for your Schmincke. Yes they are very steep here. Like $5 to $15 for half pans depending on the series number. Cat hairs...LOL.
Is it bad that I have 5 out of your top 6.... as well as a holbein dot card.....? not sure what my favourite is... I think it would have to be schmincke or sennelier. I do love the markers but I find the paper makes a bigger difference for them. For me the cheapest are schmincke and MGraham....... although the QOR sets are even cheaper right now so I have just picked up one to try - but the individual tubes are really expensive.
Hi Lisa - LOL, I guess you have the disease like me. I'd love to hear what you think of the QOR and M. Graham.
Hey Marty,
the QOR only arrived today, I ordered the introductory set from a place that I knew had the original set in the large tin because I wanted the cerulean blue and preferred Indian yellow colour (even if it is a mix) - I am really glad that I ordered this older style tin because I really like the cerulean blue, it is my favourite in the set, as for the tin, I think it is big enough to store all my tube paints! The main thing I don't like about the QOR so far is that a few of my tubes are not full with the Indian yellow being the worst offender which is pretty much half full - perhaps this is because I ordered one of the original style sets. Haven't had much time to play but so far I do really like the way they react with water and the colours. As for MGrahams, I haven't made up my mind -, they are beautiful to use and mix but don't dry well where I live (or really at all - even viridian which i bought hoping it would dry, some colours were so just so wet that I had to move them out of my general pan palette with other watercolours and into a holbein pallet which has shallow wells this seems to be better and a couple of colours are now just starting to be touch dry (as long as you touch them lightly.) I love the vibrancy although I have a weird mix of colours since with the exception of my favourites i bought colours i didn't have in other brands.
Thank you so much for the summary review of your best watercolor paint! I have choose to use Sennelier after see your review last year and it's don't make me disappoint since there. And Holbein also great too! Schmincke and Daniel need time to got familiar with.
Just a little questions, is Lukas worth to top 10 in your choose? I have seen them sale in incredible price at Jerry and refer to a friend but he still hesitate to invest large sum in them.
Thank again for all!
Hi Han - Thanks for the notes. I think Lukas are worth that for sure. IF you can find them cheap you should buy them. ~Marty
I would value your opinion on the St. Petersburg "White Nights" watercolors. As I own them myself along with Koi and Peerless watercolors. I really like the variety of brands I've purchased over the passed years because of their differences in color range and styles. I do love the intensity of the White Nights paints, but I consider myself a mixed media artist and enjoy new experiments with brands. Just would love to hear your thoughts on the White Nights, coming from a pro ! Thank you, I really enjoy your channel.
Hi Tammy - Check this out ua-cam.com/video/AuqKwsLfdzc/v-deo.html
Thank you! Great review!
finally you made this video because i've been wondering, after watching most of your product reviews, what brand is your favorite. I agree about the ''lightfastness'' opinion. thank you for the great video as always ;)
Thank you Kristal and thanks for watching.
I love my St Petersburg White Nights! What nice paints for a nice price. I will do further research as I replace pans though and try not to choose any 3 pigment colors, but even still, no blending issues with them at all. They didn't make a mention. They are just good value, probably the best value at 36 for 60.. on Ama! Have a great day Marty!
Excellent value. I agree the price is right, especially if you aren't doing work that you want to last 100 years. :-)
Yo those are my faves as well, I literally gasped at how beautiful the colors appeared. Definitely my top pick for affordability/quality.
I like them too :-)
I did not see a mention of Old Holland. Does this mean you have not tried it because even though i would put Daniel Smith and Holbein above it its still one of my favorites. You should give it a try if you haven't yet.
That's one brand I don't have much experience with Arya. They tend to be very very expensive, even more than Schmincke. Someday though.
Thanks Marty for sharing your list and thoughts. You better watch out Steve is high on M.Graham. LOL By the way he is having a live show tomorrow maybe you could stop in and ask him. I am glad you included Holbein paints on the list. It is great that so many such as yourself share info.
Hi Essie - Thank you for the comments. I already heard from Steve and I knew his list would differ slightly from mine...lol. That's what's awesome though, because they artists are so unique in their choice of art materials. :-) ~Marty
We may tease but most of we want you a l l to keep sharing all this wonderful information with us. Even we that are land locked in West Texas. LOL. We all need to laugh more not less in life.
Hola... What about Kuratake I love them really rich pygments😄😄
What a great list. Loved this video. Your paintings are amazing! Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Thank you Anita.
Great job Marty! I'm a Daniel Smith guy but I use a few Mijello colors and I enjoy my Lukas set quite a lot for sketching. I didn't really like the Holbein watercolors because of the opaque quality but I love their gouache and when I use them together with their watercolors I like them a lot more. The next on my list to try are DaVinci and Sennelier. Have a great day and thanks for the video. -Pete
Hi Pete - Good to hear from you. I know that many, many people will have DS at the top and I don't blame them, they are an excellent choice for a top pick. I agree about the Holbein gouache. I reviewed the American Journey, which are the same as DaVinci. What's your top 10 list Pete? ~marty
Sad to say I have not tried that many. I started off with W&N cotman set which is really good and somewhere between student and artist grade in my opinion. Then, moved on to Holbein but never really liked them because of the opaque qualities of many of the colors. Then, went to Lukas after watching you review them and while I do like them for sketching and appreciate their value I switched to DS for artwork that I wanted to sell for lightfast reasons. When I asked Mijello for a few samples they sent me their cerulean blue, which is a beautiful light phthalo blue, and permanent red which is the more lightfast version of naphthol red and I absolutely love the color. Other than that, I've stuck with what works but I am a gearhead at heart so I like to try everything I can get my hands on and I will try more as soon as I can. Right now I am hooked on Inktense and pastel pencils, but i'm sure my mood will change soon. :) Thanks Marty -Pete
A very interesting video Marty - thanks for posting it.
I'm kinda a confirmed W&N chap (either Artist or Cotman depending on what I'm doing) probably because of my 50-something years growing up and living in England ... although I think I read somewhere recently that most W&N paints are actually now made in France.
Having lived in Florida for 11 years now, though, I've seen the rise in popularity of the American Daniel Smith paints and a lot of people (including Sharon Cullen who has a rapidly growing channel) are singing their praises - and they seem to have about the largest range of colours of any manufacturer.
By the way, now you've settled the question of the best watercolours, it's time to make a video of the best 5 rock albums of the 60s - should be an easy one after doing the paints! You're not likely to upset more than 98% of your viewers, I'd guess :-)
But thanks again for a video that I'm sure have given us all something to think about. Regards, Brian.
Ha! Top five best 60's albums would have to have a few of your countrymen on it. :-)
I just got to add that if you love American Journey watercolor , you will love Da Vinci watercolor. It is mentioned on Cheap Joe's website that his American Journey watercolor's are from the Da Vinci paint company and Grumbacher.
I love your top five list (bonus top 10 really)! I've never tried the Sennelier, Holbein or WN Artist or markers. I do own the Schmincke and DS. But they are a little to precious for me to use in my daily art. (I need to get over that.) So my daily use paints are the Mijello Misson Gold and the Turners and also the QORs. I am a little curious, it looks like you have three different pans of white in your Schmincke palette. Are they different whites? Or different brands?
Hi Star - You are very observant. Those three whites are indeed useful. The first two are titanium white and the other is a zinc white. I use two titaniums because I mix it with my reds, browns and yellows to achieve flesh tones. I also use the zinc to knock down other colors when I want a more subdued color. I think you'll like the Senellier's, Holbeins and the WN Artists paints if you ever try them. ~Marty
So titanium white is good for skin tones and zinc white is good for muting colors? Great to know! XD Other watercolorists never really talk about the differences of the white watercolors. :) Learned something new! Thanks!
what are your thoughts on rembrandt? did you not include it on the list because of the value?
where i lived, 15 ml of daniel smith cost around 12 - 30 usd, while 20 ml of rembrandt cost around 8 - 10 usd depending on the series.
I actually screwed this up. I meant to put Rembrandt in and leave Van Gogh out. I mixed them up on my cards and so that's why you see Van Gogh and not Rembrandt. Sorry about that. ~Marty
I personally like davinci better than Rembrandt.
Have you tried White Nights, Karminsky or Ecoline may be? How do you feel them?
I have and I've reviewed them all Paulina. Search my videos and you can find reviews on them all. :-)
Can I ask why Daler Rowney Artist quality didn't get a mention but the cheaper student grade did? I'm genuinely interested to know....I'm trying to learn water colour painting and some of my best successes have been with Daler Rowney artists quality....though I know they don't have such a great range of variant colours. These were Turner's paints....and I guess I'd like to know what's happening that they fell so far behind. I do collect different makes and have got loads of W & N , my new favourite is a sennelier set...and I totally agree with you about sennelier. I must try to get to grips with the Schminke....for some reason I can't love them and I don't know why? I've just ordered a duo set of Daniel Smith with his dot card of 238 colours included....I'm super excited as I have heard nothing but great feedback on them.
Hi Suzi - To be very direct, I don't like the D&R Artists grade watercolors, found them to be pale and un-energetic. However I do really like the Aquafine paints, which is weird, I know. Also, it sometimes just comes down to an Artists preference. We both agree on the Sennelier watercolors so the universe is still intact. :-) Not everyone likes Schmincke's, but I find that the people who do NOT like like are usually concerned with the price, not the performance. I think you will very much enjoy the DS Dot charts. I reviewed them on my channel not long again. Thanks for the notes Suzi, keep painting. ~Marty
Owings Art Hi, thanks for responding, that's interesting. I wonder also reading down peoples comments whether there's a difference between tubes and pans....I've always bought pans because I could go for long times without having time to paint and didn't want issues with dried on caps or dried up paint. Recently in an art shop we were told W&N changed their formula and don't work so well if you squeeze tubes into pans ( I was looking to replace a colour and I they only had a tube in stock) The DS paints will be my first set of tubes apart from some QoR I tried recently. I just have a small set of schminke to try, only 7 colours disguarding the black, but didn't like that some of the pans were cracked. I've since read others found that too. I guess it's just part of the fun of painting trying different paints and seeing what works best for you. The small set of QoR got me over my fear of the mess and waste of tubes ...thank you for taking the time to make these videos and answer questions, Suzi 😀
Hi Suzi - I have never had much trouble filling my pans with tube paint, but I use them all the time so that might be a factor. I've never had a single problem with Schmincke pans and I've literally bought dozens and dozens of them. I wonder how old the ones you found cracked were? I'm sure that Schmincke would replace them, but I don't think a crack would actually impact their performance much. ~Marty
Owings Art Hi, yes it's a good point about contacting them. yes unfortunately with our careers it could be oceans of time before painting again and my husband found tubes sometimes dried up on him....I've just been catching up on the recording of the live feed you did with The Mind of Water Colour....really useful tips. I noticed he said W&N dried up and cracked...so the art shop were right about that. I loved art all my life but always struggled with watercolours and shied away from them when I was younger and worked with oils, pastels and inks. Now I'm fascinated by them and determined to crack it! The advice on the paper was good to know, Arches is expensive here, hardly ever a good discount on it and I'm scared to waste it practising, but I'll try the tip about 100% cotton paper, maybe this is where I'm failing.....once again thank you for your input and insights.
Sure Suzi, anytime.
i liked your top ten .my no 1 is siennelier i realy love these paints 😊
Hard to go wrong with Sennelier. :-)
Just ordered Stephen Quiller watercolor. What do you think? Any heads up as to what to expect? Thank you for your input to everybody's body of knowledge.