Review-Da Vinci Watercolor 12-Full Pan Travel Tin

[Debra “Kate” Powell]

Plus now we can do swaps….

[Sandra Strait]

Truth!

[Jennifer McLean]

I’m sure hoping one appears again as I’d absolutely give up all my points for one. That said, I have to build 2000 more points to get it. But I loved the dot card paint, I see why Charlie likes them so much. Crossing my fingers.

[Yvonne Reeder]

This is a brilliant review and I loved your exploration pieces – beautiful!! ❤️😍  Thank you Sandra!

[Sandra Strait]

I’ve been eyeing that flower set, but I think, even if I get my points that high again, that I’ll pass and leave it for someone else, since I was able to get this set.  Chances are other good stuff will come up too.  I don’t feel as greedy going for the stuff when there is more than one available.

[Sandra Strait]

Thank you, Yvonne!

[Tonya L]

Great overview, Sandra. Greatly appreciate your perspective! The more I use DV, the more I love them. Along with American Journey, DV is quickly becoming my go-to brand. DV seems a bit softer and flows more than AJ, which I really like. They may slip up to my #1 spot!

You mentioned that some colors handled a bit differently than you’re accustomed to… like ultra. I think DV paints have very little granulation overall and I actually prefer this. You also mentioned DV Phthalo being rather different. Can you explain more on this one and any other colors that reacted differently? Thanks! I’ll slip over to your blog. You may go into more detail there.

[Sandra Strait]

In most brands that I’ve used Phthalo Blue (and other Phthalos) and Quinacridone Rose (some other Quins), both tend to really explode in the water and move wildly, especially as opposed to a color like Cobalt Blue.

If you lay down a trail of water on the paper, most pigments will follow the water and not go outside of it.  I’ve had the Phthalos spread outside the water line and go all over the page.

With the Da Vinci paints, the Phthalo Blue and Quin Rose moved easily, but not as wildly, while the Cobalt Blue moved more easily.  In essence, the both were somewhere in the middle of what I’m used to.  I suspect most people will prefer this.  Sometimes, I do as well.  The only other brand I’ve come across that was like this is the Mijello Mission Gold.

Since I like to switch up my techniques, there are times when I’ll want a color that really granulates or really explodes when I’m doing wet-into-wet, so I’ll keep certain pigments for that, but the Da Vinci is going to the head of my list too.

[Tonya L]

Yes, I do notice that movement more in certain transparent, staining colors like quins & phthalos. That’s interesting that you noticed a difference with the cobalt. I hadn’t picked up on that, but I switched from M Graham to DV. Compared to MG, DV has much less movement. I like a fair amount of flow and blooming (but maybe not as much as Rembrandt which I found difficult to control on a page) so it took me a few paintings to grow accustomed to DV, but they grew on me very quickly. I don’t get any hard edges with them like I do some less flow-ey paints. They strike a nice balance, and I love how bold they are! I was worried when I had to give up MG that I would lose boldness, but DV lays down a nice color load with minimal drying shift on most papers. We Americans like our color big and bold. 🙂

[Sandra Strait]

I started paying attention to that after reading one of Karlyn Holman’s books.  Her palette choices are centered around transparency and less reactiveness, so that she has more control of the paint.  It was an eye-opener for me.  One of those things I had noticed without really noticing.

[Tonya L]

Sandra, I’m a very science-ish person (aka nerd) so I’m always reading about why paints/papers/etc do what they do, and I just ran across this on Handprint & thought of our conversation…

“Paints made with softer pigments (such as ultramarine blue or the cadmiums) or finely divided pigments (such as alizarin crimson, iron blue and the phthalocyanines) tend to cake or clump during storage or milling, and sometimes manufacturers use more dispersant to accelerate the mixing of pigment and vehicle; this causes the paint to diffuse more aggressively when used wet in wet.”

It makes perfect sense to me and explains why certain colors have more movement. Last night, I was playing around with Schmincke’s 653 Transparent Sienna (PR101) which was in Wet Paint’s limited edition palette. That pigment is one of my favorites and a staple in my palette, so I have a lot of experience with it. PR101 has a tendency toward opaqueness, and even when milled finer to be “translucent,” it still paints rather dry. I love it in grasses and other landscape elements that need some pop and detail. But Schmincke’s PR101 exploded on the page and I had a hard time controlling it. Constant blossoming!

Reason solved. 😀

[Tonya L]

Oops I’m wrong… that color wasn’t in the October set. Sorry for any confusion!

[Sandra Strait]

Tonya,  thank you, that’s interesting information – both the explanation why some colors are more explosive and about the Transparent Burnt Sienna.  I was looking at buying it, and decided I needed something like the Green Umber more.  I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet.

[Sandra Strait]

Well, if you can’t get the set with points maybe you can win one eventually!

[Tonya L]

Have you tried the Green Umber yet? I was rather disappointed in it. It doesn’t showcase the greenish cast that Schmincke claims that it has… or at least I can’t see it and I think I have a fairly sharp eye for color. Also, my initial swatches painted out very light and transparent – rather washy. I paint a lot of landscapes and nature scenes and really need a good, strong brown in my palette.

On the other hand, Mahogany Brown was one I thought I wouldn’t like since I don’t tend to care for opaque, granulating pigments, but it dilutes beautifully and is a very nice performer. That’s it in the lower mountain/tree range in the attached landscape. I used only Schmincke: Transparent Ochre, Mahogany Brown, Perylene Violet, Perylene Green, Transparent Bt Sienna, Cobalt Light & Phthalo Sapphire.