artist tools - Weyakin Designs

An Artist’s Toolbox: Exploring Watercolor Brands

Posted on September 23, 2022.

There are a lot of materials for artists to choose from in the world. How do you settle on one medium, let alone specific brands of that medium? One of my favorite ways is to explore and play with mediums, especially my favorite—watercolors. Every year, my family will find various art supplies that I probably don’t need but want to try on my holiday gift list. And sometimes they surprise me too!

I fell in love with watercolors early on when I was a kid, and even more so when I discovered watercolors outside of the standard kids’ paints. My first set of “real” watercolors was gifted to me by my parents—an extensive full-pan set of the Winsor & Newton Cotman paints (their student-grade line). It was my go-to set for many years, which I added on to with liquid tube colors here and there. When I could afford it later on, I upgraded to their professional line, which offers more vibrant and longer-lasting pigment, though with an extra price tag. I was a Winsor & Newton gal for many years.

But, like many artists, I like to play and try out new things. I love it when other people introduce me to new materials to try. One year, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me several tubes of M. Graham and Co. honey-based watercolors. As stocking stuffers, my husband gave me several Daniel Smith gemstone pigment watercolors from their PrimaTek line. I gifted myself some handmade pan watercolors from Artistic Isle after watching the amazing illustrator Stephanie Law create breathtaking shimmering pieces with them. I just had to try those out. I’ve purchased a tube of this or a tube of that when I’m looking for a particular pigment. I’ve built up a nice collection of watercolors that I like to mix and match. But, I’m always looking for other things to try.

To give you a sense of just a handful of the watercolor brands out there, I wrote a little bit about my experience with four different brands: Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, M. Graham & Co., and Artistic Isle.

Winsor & Newton

Winsor & Newton is a standard in the art world because their products are reliable and high-quality in both student-grade to professional. They have a variety of styles and colors to choose from and they’re relatively easy to find. You can find both liquid tube style and pan style in both the student and professional grade. Beginners find Winsor & Newton nice to start with because they have a lot of sets with a variety of basic colors that make it so you don’t have to think too hard about what colors you need to get. And the Cotman student line is a lot more affordable. But, professionals will also find their choice of over 100 colors for their needs with a vibrancy that’s consistent and mixes well.

What I like about them:

^{Winsor & Newton Sample Card}

Winsor & Newton has a consistent quality and range of colors to choose from—108 colors in their professional line to be exact. When I buy a tube of Winsor & Newton, I know what I’m getting and I know it’s easy to find at most art stores. I also appreciate that many of their colors come in more than one size. So, if I want just a little bit of one color, I can get a smaller 5ml tube. If I know I’m going to use a lot of a certain color, I can get the larger 14ml tube.

They also have cadmium-based colors in real cadmium (brighter color) or cadmium hues (not as bright, but overall safer and nice for student classroom situations). It’s nice to have choices. They also have a lot of mediums to use with watercolors to change up how the paint acts and what you can do with it, which can be fun to explore. I particularly love their iridescent medium.

Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith also has a wide range of watercolors to choose from, including several specialty lines. I have the most experience with the PrimaTek gemstone pigments, but I also have tried out the Extra Fine line of paints. One quality that Daniel Smith watercolors are known for is the granulation. Granulation is when the pigment separates in water, forming clumps of deeper color in some areas, which creates some of the interesting textures watercolor is known for. If you’re an artist who likes to play with texture and variations in pigment, granulation is something you’ll want.

What I like about them:

^{Daniel Smith Sample Card}

One thing I like about Daniel Smith is the consistency of quality. When you buy Daniel Smith, you know it’s high-quality and will last a long time. The Extra Fine line has a nice range of colors, which as mentioned before, granulate really nicely. This is great if you want texture and a natural flow to your color.

I really enjoy Daniel Smith’s PrimaTek line in particular. PrimaTek watercolors are made with actual gemstone pigments, including things like amethyst, bronzite, amazonite, sodalite, and garnet. Because they use actual gemstones in the pigment, many of them have a slight shimmer to them, which is a fun bonus. But, the color is also more of a muted and soft tone. Sometimes, that’s what you’re going for, so it’s nice for projects that have a softer color palette.

M. Graham & Co.

M. Graham & Co. uses a different approach for their paint production than some of the other art supply companies. One unique quality of their watercolors is that they use blackberry honey as a main ingredient. This creates a different consistency in the paint than standard watercolors both in how it spreads on the page and how it sits in your pan. This paint always remains tacky, even when exposed to air. This can be great if you prefer working with watercolors while they’re soft out of the tube. But, not so great if you want it to dry to pack it up, for example, in a travel pan.

What I like about them:

^{M. Graham & Co. Sample Card}

One of the things I really appreciate about M. Graham & Co. is that they use ingredients from nature as part of their commitment to preserving the environment. They also adhere to eco-friendly practices when running their business, including purchasing carbon off-sets and using renewable energy options. This is a big win for me as a consumer, knowing I’m buying from a company that cares about the Earth!

I also enjoy how M. Graham & Co.’s watercolors flow on the page. Because of the use of honey, the color spreads on the page in a very quick and smooth manner. It makes it really great for creating large washes, because it spreads so well before it dries. Their colors are also super vibrant and bright. If you want colors that pop off the page, you’ll find them in these paints. One of my favorite colors is their cobalt teal, because it’s a fantastic sky blue for children’s book illustrations that spreads on the page easily.

Artistic Isle

Artist Isle is a different kind of art supply company than the others listed here. They are a family business, run by just a small handful of people. And unlike larger art supply operations, their paints are usually limited edition. This can be both a great thing and a not-so-great thing. You know that the colors you’re getting are unique in the way that only hand-made paint can be. But, if you fall in love with a color, chances are, if you run out, you won’t find it again. Artist Isle’s watercolor paints only come in pan style, so if you prefer tubes, you’re out of luck. That said, the unique quality may make you want to try them out anyway.

What I like about them:

^{Artistic Isle Sample Card}

One of the watercolor products Artist Isle is known for is their metallic and shimmery paints. They create colors that have a lovely fairy-like shimmer and shine that adds a really magical touch to original art. They also make some colors that have two tones depending on which way the piece is facing. This can be really fun for original art in-person, but perhaps less-so for reproduced art. They do have regular watercolors that aren’t metallic or shimmery as well, and those colors are also wonderful to work with.

I love that you can find colors they create by hand that nobody else has. I just wish I could get my favorites again if I run out! As a bonus, they often give you a freebie pan when you order a certain amount and a lovely hand-written note. If you enjoy process videos, they also have some interesting reels on Instagram of the process of making their paints. I also love that their pans come with magnets adhered to the bottom so they easily fit into their watercolor tins, which makes it easy to arrange them how you want and take them with you.

I hope you found this review of watercolors helpful. No matter what brand of paint you try, it’s always fun to explore and play. As professionals, sometimes we can forget about the art of play, but it’s also one of the most important parts of our creative process. If you want to break out of a creative rut, maybe try something new just for fun!

Morning Sketches—An Artist’s Survival Tool

Posted on January 14, 2021.

At the end of July, 2020, I was let go from my job as a web developer. I spent many years in the web design and development field, all the while a nagging feeling tugging in the back of my mind and heart that I was in the wrong place. Right when the straw almost broke the camel’s back so to speak, fate would have it that I was freed from my position. It was frightening from a financial security perspective, but ultimately, a blessing. I decided to use this as my opportunity to shift gears and return to my artist roots, this time full-time.

*A pencil sketch of my two-year-old son.*

I was burned out and tired. I spent the previous two years almost completely abandoning my art to raise my baby who I was blessed with in 2018. My son is beautiful and lovely, but young children take a lot of time and energy. The demands of a high-pressure job and a small child were making it difficult for me to pursue my creative dreams and it almost felt like that part of me was drowning. Add to it a global pandemic with my small child and two older children in school at home all the time, I was beginning to lose all hope. When I left my job, it felt almost like a veil was lifted and a light was starting to shine through the dark clouds. I was finally coming out of the dark. But, I needed some reviving. That’s when I turned to The Artist’s Way.

The Artist’s Way is a book and 12-week program to help blocked creative people find their way back to their art, designed and written by Julia Cameron. I first did The Artist’s Way back in 2010 when I was laid off from another job. My friend and fellow artist, Christopher (of ArtMuffin) introduced me to it the year before. I took the free time I had as an opportunity to try it out. The revival was refreshing, but more than 10 years later, I felt like I needed resuscitating again. One of the key components to The Artist’s Way is the “morning pages”. Each morning, first thing when you wake up, before doing anything else, you write three pages of stream-of-consciousness journaling. It doesn’t matter what you write—just write. It’s a great way to get your brain working and thinking. Some interesting things can come out of the morning pages. New ideas, insights, and revelations sometimes trickle out between the stream of brain junk.

I completed my 12 weeks of The Artist’s Way morning pages, activities, and artist’s dates (where you take yourself on a date by yourself every week). But, I felt I should continue the morning pages as part of my continued course toward a creative career. Since the beginning of August, I have nearly filled up three journals and gone through numerous pens. I just ordered myself a lovely handmade refillable pen so I can lower my impact of pen trash and support a fellow artist as I continue my journaling journey.

A few months into morning pages, I realized I needed another component to help me as a visual artist. I needed to be drawing something for myself every day. But, I needed a schedule to make this work. So, I added “morning sketches” to part of my routine. I wake up by 6am or earlier most mornings now. I start with morning pages and then continue on with morning sketches. The sketches can be anything. Sometimes I’m trying out a new tool, like the new Pentel brush pens my husband recently gave me for Christmas. Sometimes, I’m just drawing my hand or my dog curled up in bed because it’s a subject that’s there next to me. Other times, I may work on an idea that came to me while I was writing, or on a sketch toward one of my many projects. Either way, it gives me dedicated quiet time for me to just draw. And it is so important to me to do this now.

A morning sketchbook pencil drawing of a Bodhi Tree, or Sacred Fig Tree.

A morning pencil sketch of a young girl playing with a ball. — A morning sketchbook pencil drawing of a Bodhi Tree, or Sacred Fig Tree.

If you’re a creative person feeling blocked or lost, consider making yourself a routine and time just for you and your artist self. If you’re a visual artist, you can make time for morning sketches like I have. If you’re a musician, you could make time to play music, without expectations or a plan—just play. If you’re a writer, spend time doing morning pages, and then perhaps move on to some other composition just for fun. Do what feels right for your own creative self. Morning pages and morning sketches have helped me immensely. So many creative people discount the time they need for themselves, but it is in-fact, a crucial part of the creative process. This hour of time for writing and drawing has been vital to my revival as an artist—and I suspect will continue to be important to my creative process in many ways. Perhaps it could be for you, too.

To buy your own copy of The Artist’s Way, ask at your local book shop, or order online and help support local book shops on Bookshop.org.