Swatch Your Watercolors: All My Reds

Let's talk Color! I love it. Sometimes I've felt like eating it and this year, I'm delving deeper into color theory and the science behind it. I've been swatching, learning some history and generally geeking out on color. Check out today's video (below). 

First, I want to swatch out all of my watercolors. I started with small coin pocket sized swatches but after seeing Inliquid Color's channel, switched to 3.5" x 2.5" swatches, stored in a pocket protector (linked below). I'm sharing with you because maybe it will help you make informed choices about your own palette. I hope it's interesting at least. 

Note that the PR = Pigment Red. PV = Pigment Violet, etc. Sometimes there are more than one pigment/tube. I try to stick to single pigments. The others are nice though. They are "convenience" colors that save you the time of mixing.

These two cool Quin Magentas (above), for instance are incredibly close. But do you see that the Daniel Smith (on the right) is ever-so-slightly gray? Maybe not. Interesting to see that two different companies each have a Quin Mag with a different PR#. A cool red will lean toward violet. These will mix well with warm blues, such as Ultramarine to create purples. 

These two Reds are also incredible close. I think the Perm Red from Smith is just the tiniest bit warmer. These will mix well with yellows and other warm colors to create oranges and corals. They are a good foil for greens for neutrals (grays and browns). 

Quite a variation in these colors above! I love the Quin Rose the best. It will make vibrant purples and beautiful grays when neutralized with yellows and yellow greens.

Terra Rosa is an earthy red from M Graham. A beautiful color, really. I think it would be nice bumped up a bit with one of those Perm Reds for painting houses. It could also be used for ground colors. I'm thinking of Italy. 

Watch the video here on YouTube (like, subscribe, comment, share)

Here are some links for today's video. Choose wisely! I'm compiling a list of additional colors to add to my palette based on what I have.

Affiliate Links (I get a percent of the sale with no cost to you).

Dick Blick

QoR http://shrsl.com/rcs6

Daniel Smith http://shrsl.com/rcs9

DS Split Primary Set (I'll be swatching this out soon) http://shrsl.com/rcsc

M Graham http://shrsl.com/rcsg

Canson XL Watercolor Paper http://shrsl.com/rcsj

Arches Paper Pads http://shrsl.com/rcsm

Princeton Synthetic Sable Brushes http://shrsl.com/rcso

Princeton Neptune Syn Squirrel http://shrsl.com/rcst

Ultra Pro 25/9 Pocket Pages (for swatches) Amazon http://amzn.to/2BDHh3W

Daniel Smith 238 Color Dot Chart, Amazon http://amzn.to/2FvPZnx

Comments

[Glenda Barber Hoagland]

Hi, the first thing I thought of when I saw your swatches was how great using ATC size would be and then you showed them. I may give this a try. Your videos are always so thought provoking.

[Diana Trout]

Thanks Glenda! (I think ? :) I’m glad I went with the bigger size too. I’m always trying to preserve supplies but it’s worth it.