Watercolor Painting & Sketching Group, Community, and Blog › Forums › Art Supplies You Use › Qor – Love them or Leave them?
Tagged: cobalt green, Qor, quin violet, raw umber
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When Golden’s Qor watercolors first came out, I bought a couple of the introductory tins. I was impressed with the intensity of the colors, but taken aback when I discovered the tubes were only 11 ml and prices were high. I bought a few of the colors I like most, like the Transparent Pyrrole Orange and Quinacridone Gold (which I’ve been told is very like the Quinacridone Gold of old).
The other day I found some Qor colors on sale at 60% off, and eagerly bought several. While I do like some of the new colors I was disappointed in the greens I purchased. The Viridian and Terre Verte are very weak. I know they are in other brands as well, but I hoped for more from Qor, given the intensity of other colors.
The worst, though, is the Cobalt Green. I squeezed a little out, and it was almost pure glycerin. I put the lid back on and massaged the tube for about 10 minutes. I still got mostly glycerin. Deciding I’d squeeze more and try to mix once it was out of the tube, I squeezed out about half. I truly expected to get something besides Glycerin by then, but nope. I’m going to have to squeeze the rest into another palette, and then try to transfer the glycerin so I can mix it. Not happy.
Did I just get a bad batch? I’m wondering if they were on sale because of problems. What has your experience been with these paints?
I doubt they were on sale because of a known problem with a batch. Golden would have wanted them back … not sold. What you are probably seeing though is their Aquazol binder.
If the store will not help you I would contact Golden directly. I would think they would send you some replacements if you showed them some photos and explained what you experienced.
Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
188 Bell Road
New Berlin, NY 13411-9527 USA
607-847-6154
800-959-6543
Fax: 607-847-6767
help@goldenpaints.comThank you for the mailing information Thomas. I remembered that Qor used Aquazol about the time I hit send on that post, but I haven’t been able to figure out how you can edit a post.
It was interesting in a way. I don’t know exactly how Aquazol differs from the more common binders in watercolor, but it looks, smells and feels like glycerin.
I an dedicated to Golden Acrylics in art and in my conservation work, but I am disappointed in QoR. Some of the colors don’t move me when I compare them to the Sennelier or Danial Smith… The price is very high compared to several other brands, and I don’t find them more intense which is their argument for the pricing. I have two colors I buy because I like the color but when I find a replacement I will move on from those too. (Before anyone asks, their Green Gold and Bohemian.)
Green Gold is one of the few I really like of their line as well. I think I might be sold on Mars Orange Deep, which is one of the colors I just bought. It’s a bit more opaque, so it isn’t a color I’d use a lot but I think it will be just right for certain applications.
Overall, I don’t think they are worth the extra expense. I agree with you on their acrylics though.
Yes, I totally agree. I have a boat load of Golden acrylics and think they’re the best but Qor aren’t dinging my bell. I haven’t taken much time to learn with thm mostly because thy don’t move as much as daniel smith and Schmincke.
I seriously dislike green gold in any palette, but that’s just me. I do, however like they’re transparent Pyrrole orange. :o) I’ll use it when I run out of the transparent orange from Schmincke.
I don’t usually like Green Gold, but I do like this one. I use it as my yellow in a lot of landscapes.
I get you about the color, I love, absolutely love quin gold of any brand but the green gold doesn’t speak to me. I know my friend in australia cannot get enough of it, I guess they’re plants have this tint strongly. Pine trees, so many pine trees here, lol. Still have trouble finding a good forest green that’s transparent and not too black and not too olive. SIGH. Greens are the bain of my existence. I’m just glad to have burnt sienna off my back. Hopefully i’ll start liking the DS after loving the W*N for a while ( I have two tubes! bsienna and qborange!)
I’m getting more and more to where I just mix my own greens. I think a lot of artists go that route. For some reason, I keep buying greens though. Hope springs eternal!
me too! I hope eternally that I’ll finally find single pigment transparent green that’s just perfect, not too olive, not too “spring green”. I want a new green now, lol.
Have you used any of the Daler-Rowney professional? All their supplies that I see here are not what I consider professional. The artists, Ian Pethers, that did the Bluebell tutorial that I posted about earlier, uses them. He’s British, though so they may market something better in Europe. He uses a Transparent Turquoise that I’m curious about.
no never tried them. I know that being in another country, especially Europe totally changes the brands you have to use. God forbid you fall in love with a brand you can’t have. In the US you’re so lucky to have access to so much. In Canada, we pay so much more, much more usually than the 30% dollar exchange. And don’t get me talking about shipping! I’m interested in the primatek turquoises. as I said though, I gotta check their transparency. I went to your site, your cat is awesome, it looks like it’s sitting, keeping your blog safe. Have you ever done a coloring book?
I haven’t and I know the market is flooded at the moment. But if my book and FB group take off, I’ll probably ask people in the group to submit pages and curate them to produce as a coloring book. Author copies are usually only a few dollars, so you can give the contributors a free copy. People like being included in books, and you have a built in market within the group. But that all depends on how people respond. I’ll probably start the FB group sometime next month. I was hoping to have the book ready soon after, but the way it’s going… or not going, rather.
I’d totally contribute to that coloring book. I have’t Zentangled for years but used to love it. Here’s the link to my flickr album. So much simpler than yours but then it was the beginning of Zentngling, in my defense, lol. I loved the exactness. it would be fun to participate, you’re right, great way to get “reader” enthusiasm, because those people tell people, etc.
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