Supplies

What’s the difference between Lavender and Smalt?

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In this post, I’ll be comparing Winsor & Newton’s Smalt (Dumont’s Blue), which is made from Ultramarine Violet pigment (PV15), with Daniel Smith’s Lavender – a mix of white, Ultramarine Blue, and Ultramarine Violet.

Note that the color WN calls “Smalt” is not traditional Smalt pigment, which is made from finely ground glass containing cobalt. Instead, it’s a version of Ultramarine Violet that leans heavily toward blue, somewhere between a typical Ultramarine Violet and Ultramarine Blue hue.

Because of that, I found it to be a good hue match to Lavender, which is made from a mix of Ultramarine Violet and Ultramarine Blue. The main difference is that Lavender also contains white, so it’s opaque and can have a pastel (“chalky”) appearance. Smalt has no white, so it can get darker, and is more transparent.

Both colors are granulating blue-purples with similar use cases: the violet tones in sky mixes, clouds, hazy distant mountains. I don’t think I need both, so which should I choose?

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What’s the difference between Titanium White and Zinc White?

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White is a really important color in gouache, and I defaulted to Titanium White until I started reading some interesting opinions online about Zinc White. It seems that Titanium White is more opaque and better for highlights and stars and things, but Zinc White is supposed to be a better mixing colors – to make nicer pastels.

So I got myself a tube of Zinc White gouache and tested out pastels made from Titanium vs Zinc with all my gouache colors.

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Miscellaneous Watercolor Paper Reviews

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While working on my projects of reviewing all the colors in the Jackson’s and St Cuthbert samplers, I also occasionally used other paper. Here are some loose reviews of random other papers I’ve tried in the past year, not in the context of a sampler or set. Fluid Easy Block These are about the cheapest … Read more

Every Paper in the St. Cuthbert’s Paper Mill Sample Pack

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The Jackson’s sample pack wasn’t the only one I got in my Jackson’s order back in 2021. I also tried a super-cheap St. Cuthbert Paper Mill sampler, cheap mainly because the size of the paper is really small (7 unequally-sized cuts measuring roughly 5.5″ by 7″ or 8″.) Since this is a size I often paint in anyway, the smallness didn’t bother me, but I did get fewer chances to form an opinion than I would from my own cuts off a larger page. Still, here are my quick thoughts on each paper.

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My Favorite Watercolor Paints by Brand

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It’s all very well for me to do Color Spotlights identifying my favorite version of each color, but it can be hard to collate and use information when you’re standing in the watercolor aisle at the art store. Every shop seems to carry different brands. I’ll find myself with a rare chance to stock up on, say, Holbein open stock on sale, unable to remember which colors I actually preferred from Holbein. So I’ve made a list of my favorites by brand; and I thought I’d share it with you! Revised October 27, 2024.

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Every Paper in Jackson’s Cold Press Paper Sampler

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In April 2022, I purchased Jackson’s Cold Press Watercolor Sample Pack of 12, which contains 12 11″x15″ quarter-sheets of cold-pressed watercolor paper in a variety of brands and weights. It took me this long to sample them all, but I’m finally able to share my thoughts on every paper in the sample pack! Since I … Read more

Neon Palette III

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Here’s one more run at improving the Neon Palette. This is fairy similar to my previous, Drawn to High Places-inspired Mark II, but this time I’ve divided the palette into two categories: The Colors Top Row – flat matte brights: Bottom Row – glowing transparent glazes: The Future of the Neon Palette…? Okay. Here’s where … Read more

Lessons from Ruth Wilshaw’s Classes

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I recently took a pair of classes by Ruth Wilshaw on Domestika: Atmospheric Landscapes in Gouache and Fantasy Landscapes in Watercolor & Gouache. Without spoiling everything in the classes, I wanted to keep my notes on what was personally meaningful to me.

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