Ultramarine Blue is a bright, bold, almost electric violet-blue that is almost always granulating. It typically comes in two flavors: regular and French. French Ultramarine (or sometimes “Ultramarine Deep”) is the more granulating and violet-toned, while the regular Ultramarine is moderately granulating and a bit more medium blue. Some brands also offer a Light Ultramarine or Ultramarine (Green Shade) on the other side of the spectrum.
Let’s start by looking at Da Vinci Ultramarine Blue, a balanced medium color, and then we’ll explore the French and Green shade options as well as other brands.
Experiment Results
Gradient: Deep, violet-toned blue through almost sky blue wash, with noticeable texture from large granulation. Gets a bit shiny in masstone; this is my only real problem with this particular color.
Opacity: I can see some slight color on the black line and would probably call this semi-transparent.
Glazing: Nice deep glaze to electric violet-blue.
Lifting: Lifts cleanly when wet (using a dry balled up paper towel) and also when dry (scrubbing with a wet paper towel on dry paint). I especially like the way the dry-paint lift came out, the combination with the granulating paint gives it a nice dimensionality on the edges.
Brand and Shade Comparison
As I mentioned in the intro, Ultramarine comes in various types:
- Light or “Green Shade” ultramarines are the greenest-toned; slightly more purple than, but barely distinguishable from, Cobalt Blue (PB28). They also tend to be the least granulating.
- Middle Ultramarines, typically just called “Ultramarine Blue,” are usually moderately purple-toned and moderately granulating.
- French, Deep, or “Red Shade” ultramarines are the purplest and usually the most granulating.
Here’s a big comparison of several I’ve tried, including some Cobalts for comparison:
Light Ultramarines (most green-toned; slightly more purple-toned than Cobalt):
- Winsor & Newton – Ultramarine (Green Shade) [not shown above]: low granulating
- Da Vinci – Ultramarine (Green Shade): low granulating
- Holbein – Ultramarine Light: low granulating
- Schmincke Horadam – Ultramarine Finest: not granulating
Middle Ultramarines:
- Daniel Smith – Ultramarine Blue [not shown above]: moderately granulating
- Da Vinci – Ultramarine Blue: moderately granulating
Deep purple-toned blues (but not as purple as PV15 Ultramarine Violet):
- Daniel Smith – French Ultramarine: very granulating
- Holbein – Ultramarine Deep: very granulating
- Winsor & Newton – Cobalt Blue Deep (PB74): very granulating
- Da Vinci – French Ultramarine Red Shade: very granulating
- Mission Gold – Ultramarine Light (PB29) – Actually quite a violet-toned and granulating version
- Mission Gold – Ultramarine Deep (PB29, PV15): very granulating; mix with Ultramarine Violet
Here are several brands shown together.
Here’s some more detail on specific brands’ offerings.
Da Vinci – Ultramarine (Green Shade) & French Ultramarine (Red Shade)
Da Vinci offers no fewer than 3 separate Ultramarines.
French is the most granulating and red-toned; Green Shade is the least granulating and theoretically most similar to Cobalt, although I don’t find it as green as Cobalt, or significantly different from middle Ultramarine Blue in hue. I think Ultramarine Blue (right), the one that I showcased above, is the best of this bunch.
Lightfastness Test for DV Ultramarine Blue Green Shade
These look the same to me. Great Job!
Daniel Smith – French Ultramarine
Daniel Smith offers 2 Ultramarines: Ultramarine and French Ultramarine. I have a lot more experience with French, as it is the ultramarine I started with – it’s in the Daniel Smith Essentials set that was my first artist-grade watercolor set.
I struggled with this color as a total newbie. As a French or Deep ultramarine, it is very granulating and violet-toned, and makes grayish colors with yellow (instead of the expected green). Now I like French ultramarine, when its unique qualities differentiate it from other colors I have like Cobalt, but at first I couldn’t appreciate it. I really think DS should consider putting the regular (non-French) ultramarine in the beginner set.
At any rate! As a French ultramarine, this is nice, but my problem with it is that it tends to flake out of the pan. I don’t have that problem with other brands.
Holbein – Ultramarine Deep & Ultramarine Light
Holbein has two Ultramarines: ‘Deep’ (more purple/more granulating, like French); and ‘Light’ called ‘Light’ (more green/less granulating).
Deep is very similar in hue and level of granulation to Daniel Smith’s French Ultramarine.
Light is much brighter, lighter, less purpley, and less granulating. Still slightly granulating especially in masstone. Similar hue to Cobalt (though Cobalt is still a bit more green).
I like that these ones don’t get shiny in masstone (a problem that the Da Vinci offerings can tend to have), but I find them slightly dull.
Schmincke Horadam – Ultramarine Finest
The least-granulating ultramarine I’m aware of. This is a ‘light’ shade, similar to Holbein’s Ultramarine Light.
This one is interesting. It’s listed as non-granulating by Schmincke. As you paint it down, it looks like it has a typical amount of granulation for a light ultramarine, but it dries less textured (though not as smooth as, say, Phthalo Blue).
Like most Schmincke watercolors, I found this one a bit finicky; hard to rewet or mix without overdiluting. I think I just dislike the binder that Schmincke uses. It’s also relatively weak in tinting strength, so I find it hard to mix effectively.
Schmincke also offers two more standard ultramarines, which I have only tried in dot cards; the French appears to be extremely granulating.
Winsor & Newton – Ultramarine (Green Shade)
WN offers two ultramarines – French and Green Shade – of which I’ve only tried the Green Shade.
On the bottom, I compared Holbein Ultramarine Deep to this color to Da Vinci Cobalt Blue (PB28) to show where it falls on the spectrum from most purpley-and-granulating to least. To my eye, it looks more similar to the Cobalt Blue, only very slightly purpler, with very slightly more granulation.
Color mixes here are basically the same as other Light Ultramarines. I found it interesting what a pale sky color it made with Phthalo Blue (third from the bottom on the second column). The granulation floats and the Phthalo Blue becomes pale behind it, but it’s so fine that it’s hard to even tell that it’s granulating; it just makes the Phthalo Blue look pastel, almost. Very cool.
Shinhan PWC – Cobalt Blue Hue
I tried this because it is listed as containing only PB29 but looked quite cool (green-toned) from the swatches, so I thought it might be a really nice Cobalt replacement. When I painted it out, I did find that it was quite green-toned, but it also doesn’t look or handle like a single-pigment PB29, like, at all. In fact it looks and handles just like a mix of PB29 and Phthalo Blue GS. I think the label is a lie.
Similar Colors
Winsor & Newton – Cobalt Blue Deep
WN also offers a PB74 Cobalt Blue Deep, which is not an ultramarine but which I think looks a lot like a French ultramarine, with a purpley tone and lots of granulation.
I may make another post all about this color, but I thought it was worth keeping in the mix as a potential French Ultramarine alternative. It’s more expensive though, so you’d have to like it better.
Color Mixes
I have done these with a ‘deep’ or ‘French’ ultramarine; light ultramarines may mix differently. (See below for a detailed discussion.)
Lemon Yellow
You can sort of get pale greens with a lot of mixing, but mostly the blue floats above the yellow giving the impression of simultaneous blue and yellow (but not green). Great for skies.
Monte Amiata Natural Sienna
The violet-toned deep Ultramarine acts more purple than blue with the yellow-toned sienna, going grayish-khaki hues rather than green. Textured, high-granulation mixes that never get very dark.
Transparent Pyrrol Orange
TPO has a muting effect on the Ultramarine, while Ultramarine turns TPO into a bright brown. Very near neutral gray in the middle.
(Personally, I didn’t find the Ultramarine very “magical” on this smooth paper, though I know that Liz Steel gets great results with Ultramarine on this sketchbook.)
Transparent Red Oxide
A wide range of granulating grays, browns, and blue-gray shadow colors. These ones can be made quite dark.
Perylene Maroon
The orange-toned earthy red of the DR Perylene Maroon both dulls the Ultramarine and makes it purpler, for very dull purples. With more Perylene Maroon, it creates a reddish-brown.
Potter’s Pink
Potter’s Pink is the only pigment I know that consistently floats over a deep Ultramarine! The combination looks like a muted purple.
Quinacridone Rose
A lovely bold range of purples from two purple-toned shades.
Purple Magenta
What’s that? Even bolder purples? PR122 magenta is similar to PV19 rose but slightly more purple-toned, so its purple mixes are even more vivid. This is the best combo I know of for really bright purples.
Phthalo Blue (Green Shade)
These colors look similar (especially in the photo), and they are indeed similar values and both blue… the Phthalo is just a lot greener and the Ultramarine is purpler (and granulating). The mix is a medium blue with light granulation, similar in hue to Cobalt Blue (but with a staining background that Cobalt Blue doesn’t have.) A nice sky mix.
Phthalo Turquoise
Another nice sky mix if you get the balance right, with more capacity to be greenish.
Cobalt Turquoise
A bold sky or tropical ocean gradient, mixing to a middle blue or separating into ultramarine flecks on a backdrop of turquoise. Very granulating when diluted or on the right paper.
Horizon Blue
Reasonable nontoxic alternative to Cobalt Turquoise, though the opaque white ingredient smooths the granulation and can create some chalkiness in the mix.
Viridian
Series of granulating teals with ultramarine floating above viridian.
What Others Say
This is a very strong, warm, rich blue. I hardly ever use it straight, as it can look crude, but tempered with other colours it’s delightful. For example, mixed with light red it makes lovely warm, mauvish cloud shadows.
Ron Ranson, On Skies (1996)
Ultramarine blue is probably included in artist’s palettes more often than any other blue, the modern replacement and color match for the historical pigment lapis lazuli that appears in the most precious medieval art. (It’s a triumph of modern chemistry that even the cheapest student paint box today contains the same pigment that medieval artists bought at many times its weight in gold.) And ultramarine is perhaps the most beautiful of all blue pigments…
[U]ltramarine mixes vibrant and moderately lightfast violets with magentas such as quinacridone magenta (PR122) or quinacridone rose (PV19). In almost any palette ultramarine is an invaluable red blue. If ultramarine is the only blue you use, then one of the middle shades [as opposed to French] might be a more effective choice.
Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com (2010)
Ultramarine Blue is my fist choice for a blue in any medium. It is a warm blue, i.e. it has a purple bias rather than a green bias, so will mix to make lovely purples. It will also make great greens, though not as bright as a cool blue would produce. It works as a single blue in a limited palette as it can be cooled with a touch of a cool yellow or phthalo green to create a cool blue.
Jane Blundell, Watercolour Comparisons: Ultramarine Blue
This is probably the blue I used the most [in the Petrified Forest], as it granulates and also separates when mixed with other colors, which made a lot of amazing and unpredictable patterns.
Claire Giordano, Petrified Forest Residency: Favorite Colors
Ultramarine pb29 is a stunning warm blue that is a granulating pigment, creating beautiful textural effects on the surface of the paper naturally. Sensational for mountains, hills, foliage and shrubbery. I love to add it into my ocean scenes, as it gives a nice touch of warmth to the waters. I usually prefer the French Ultramarine, its a bit finer and warmer, but its also more expensive. So, I have both.
Debi Riley, Dive Into the Mysteries of Blue Paint (2015)
My Review of Ultramarine Blue
I initially didn’t like Ultramarine Blue, and found it perplexing that so many other artists and palette-building advisers seemed to consider it a staple color. At one point I felt almost triumphant in building palettes without it. Over time, I’ve come around to liking it (although I still don’t consider it a staple color for me personally).
Cons of Ultramarine Blue:
- It wants to be the star of the show. The color-separation to me always looks showy and “ultramarine blue-y” no matter what you mix it with.
- It is highly granulating (especially the French variety), which can be difficult to control especially for a beginner.
- It is too textured & too violet to be a good sky color.
- It mixes really dull greens. Nearly gray. I don’t understand people who have this as their only blue. Do you not like green???
Pros of Ultramarine Blue:
- It is a gorgeous, intense hue unmixed.
- I’ve grown much less intimidated by / more interested in the unexpected effects of granulation.
- Skies are more than one shade of blue, and Ultramarine Blue is great for the more violet tones of the zenith. Mixed with Phthalo Blue GS or Phthalo Turquoise, it makes an ideal sky mix. (Dioxazine Violet is an alternative in this use case if you prefer smooth paints.)
- I’ve gotten better at color mixing, so I’m no longer alarmed when Ultramarine Blue doesn’t mix vibrant greens. Sometimes, you want a dull green. (Indanthrone also mixes dull greens.)
- It makes vivid purples (though I actually like the purples with Cobalt Blue better!)
- It makes wonderfully balanced, earthy, granulating grays with an earth orange, like Burnt Sienna or Transparent Red Oxide (note: so do Indanthrone and Cobalt Blues.)
- It’s at home in a wide variety of color palettes and art styles. It’s great for everything from realistic landscapes to wildly bold palettes.
I realized I actually loved Ultramarine Blue when I did a series of three iterations on the same sunset in different color palettes, and somehow, Ultramarine Blue was the only color that made it into all three!
You could argue that a person doesn’t need all three of Ultramarine Blue, Indanthrone Blue, and Cobalt Blue since they overlap in various ways. Personally I struggle to choose, so they often all end up on my palette! But if you have only room for one, Ultramarine Blue may just be the most versatile.
If you have to choose between the three flavors of Ultramarine Blue, I think the medium one – usually just called Ultramarine Blue – is the most versatile. French is the only way to go if you’re a diehard granulation fan – you’ll know if you are. The green shade is a good pick if your aim is to get a close to Cobalt Blue as possible in a cheaper nontoxic paint; but I personally feel that green shade is not quite Cobalt and not quite Ultramarine in a way that doesn’t generally satisfy me.
On my palette: Typically, yes!
Favorite Version: After trying various versions, I’m selecting Da Vinci Ultramarine Blue as my overall pick! It’s the middle of their three offerings, and I think it offers the best of all worlds. It’s easy to rewet, and I love the rich, bright, violet-toned color it gets in masstone – that’s classic Ultramarine Blue to me. (I avoid all ultramarines by DS as they flake out of the pan and WN as they dry hard as rocks.)