"Mayan" watercolors: Daniel Smith / Greenleaf & Blueberry

[Debra “Kate” Powell]

Glad to have helped!

[Sandra Strait]

I think one of the Greenleaf & Blueberry team has been very ill so they haven’t been able to make up their paints of late.  I’ve never tried them, but always wondered what they were like.

[Lisa Spangler]

Hi and happy Saturday! This is my first post here on Doodlewash and the timing couldn’t be better because I just started working with Mayan colors! 🙂

I have Mayan red, blue and yellow by Daniel Smith and the monarch butterfly dot sampler from Greenleaf & Blueberry.

Here’s the G&B dot sampler painted out on the big global arts materials sketchbook for size (the 8 1/4″ square one)

Here are the G&B dot card colors painted out on the warm up exercise in the G&B Monarch digital file:

The Mayan yellow is a very light lemon yellow and was hard to get variations. It has this glow, tho! The Mayan red IS kinda streaky — here’s a closeup of the wing so you can see it better

BUT then! I painted out some swatches on Fabriano paper and the streakyness goes away!

Then, here are Daniel Smith Mayan swatches for comparison in my Canson XL sketchbook — I have Mayan yellow, red and blue and mixed the others:

That DS Mayan red is such a pretty, warm red. I don’t really have anything else to compare it to. I thought this would make a great mini travel palette so made some full pans and whoa they really shrunk…

I’ve found that adding a drop or 2 of water to the pans a few minutes before I start painting really helps them. Next time I think I’ll try mixing in some glycerin.

Anyhow…here are my findings in no particular order! 🙂

• G&B Mayan rewets better than DS — even from the dot card! There was no cracking or shrinking and the dots were really generous
• DS shrinks a ton in pans, but I still like this little mini palette!
• In both cases I like to mix the color with water on a palette to get the color even instead of using it straight from the pan
• I’ve found that there’s less streaking in the G&B Mayan red when using fabriano artistico paper in comparison to the Canson XL
• I’ve also found that wetting the area to be painted first helps with the streaking too
• The DS Mayan colors that I have are less streaky/easier to control on lower quality paper
• The Mayan colors in general are growing on me — I like the earthiness of them and the colors are so rich

Also wanted to share this mini Greenleaf & Blueberry sketch palette for comparison that I scored back in spring — even tho they’re not Mayan colors they are really opaque. I’ve taken it on a few trips and love it! It has graphite and magnetite full pans and it’s great for quick sketches with a brush instead of a pencil. They are really generous with filling the pans too and after about 6 months of Texas heat they haven’t cracked yet

Okay sorry for the long post but I had a ton to share! Hope you all have a great weekend with time to watercolor!

[Sandra Strait]

Thank you, Lisa, for the great information on the Mayans.  Did you see that there is also a thread on DIY Palettes? I know I won’t be alone in wondering what tin you are using for the palette in your post.

[Debra “Kate” Powell]

Thanks for that review!  I didn’t cotton to them, but am always interested to see how people use them.  I think good paper is essential —

And I LOVE my Greenleaf and Blueberry charcoal-y colors — I have three. note to everyone who may try to check them out, rumor has it that they are dealing with family/medical issues and so not making paints well.

[Tom Cunliffe]

Great review Lisa – I love your Daniel Smith Mayan swatches – a work of art in itself.  So useful to see the transparency too.

I love the mayan red colour.  My go-to earth red is Winsor and Newton Light Red but I also have M Graham Terra Rosa – a very powerful colour I find but so useful.  Also W&N Perylene Maroon and Indian Red.  Its nice to have these variations isn’t it.

 

 

[Lisa Spangler]

Hi Sandra! Ooooo off to check out the thread on DIY palettes! I have been working on palettes to take lightweight backpacking for a while now but still haven’t settled on one!

[Lisa Spangler]

Hi Kate — yes I think you’re so right on the paper and it’s always interesting to me to see how other people think about supplies!

I heard the same thing about medial issues a while back, hoping for the best for them.

[Sandra Strait]

Jennifer and I kind of hi-jacked that thread about half-way through, but there is a lot of good information down towards the bottom.  I wish there was a way we could delete the discussion we got into, because we wandered far afield of the subject.

[Lisa Spangler]

Hi Tom — thank you! I haven’t tried the Winsor & Newton light red yet or MG terra rosa. I have DS perylene maroon and find it really useful. I also have W&N Indian Red and it’s another one that dries super hard in the pans but it’s such a lovely color. I mostly use it at home at my desk. We’re all so lucky to have all these colors to play with!

[Lisa Sandboge]

This thread is very helpful! I’m looking into getting some of the DS mayans, but still not sure I will like them. I have some Greenleaf and Blueberry mayans, and they are nice but a bit weird and streaky on some paper.

[Lisa Sandboge]

Oh by the way! I have some Matteo Grilli paints, and they are the very best handmade paints I’ve tried. Very very bright, smooth, and overall lovely. I would recommend these any day.

[Debra “Kate” Powell]

I adore Matteo’s paints also!  You should post this under the handmade paints category — He says he won’t ship to Canada but I’d go ahead and beg — his paints really are wonderful!

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