Vine Black- PBk8
Peach black or Vine black is a black color obtained from charred plant parts. The origin varies, some prefer to use old vines that were charred, others prefer stone fruit seeds such as peach…
Category: Colors and pigments
Quinacridone Purple PV55
The color commonly referred to as Quinacridone Purple is a relatively new watercolor paint. The first one on the market was introduced by Daniel Smith in 2011. Following the initial introduction of this color,…
Granulating paints
For most beginners, granulating paints are an unfamiliar concept. They are hardly colors that you are looking for and they are almost never included in ready-made watercolor boxes. In addition, they are often more…
Transparent Yellow Oxide – PY42
The third and final color in Daniel Smith’s series of transparent and granulating mars browns discussed here is the yellow color. The other two are Transparent Red Oxide and Transparent Brown Oxide. Transparent Yellow…
Perylene Maroon (PR179)
The pigment PR179 was created in 1957, it is a very intense, very durable, fairly staining and transparent red-brown dye. It is common as a watercolor paint, usually with the name Perylene Maroon. As…
Mayan blue
People have long wondered how the Mayan people, thousands of years ago, could produce a blue color so resistant to light, moisture and other degrading factors that after a thousand years, or more, the…
Ocher, the oldest color
Ocher is a truly ancient pigment. Already during the early Stone Age in Africa it has been used. Archaeologists have found evidence of the use of red ocher before humans were homo sapiens 300,000…
Transparent red oxide
There are many manufacturers of the paint called Red Oxide or Red Iron Oxide, sometimes with the addition of transparent to the name. Common to all of them, and even more with other names,…
Transparent Brown Oxide PR101
Brown Oxide or Brown Iron Oxide is a color that several different manufacturers have in their respective ranges. This text is mainly about the paint from Daniel Smith which has the name Transparent Brown…
Is green paint unnecessary
In many of my students’ paint boxes, green colors are overrepresented. Personally, I probably have more green colors than others. Still, I almost never use green paint to paint green, preferring to mix my…
