Daniel Smith New Watercolours 2017

April 6, 2017 | 6 Comments

LizSteel-New-DS-colours-photo
Two weeks ago I got a set of the Daniel Smith new colours for 2017. They have been around for a while but it takes a long time to get down under. A huge thanks to Daniel Smith for sending me the set to test and play with. So far it’s just playtime.

The colours are:

Rose Madder Permanent
Quinacridone Lilac
Wisteria
Lavender
Aussie Red Gold
Raw Sienna Light
Burnt Sienna Light
Payne’s Blue-Gray

LizSteel-Daniel-Smith-new-colours-2017
The first thing I did was to sketch them! I didn’t want to open the tubes straight away so I just used one of the dot cards – as a result the washes are a little pale. I am definitely not a pink person so working with this selection of colours is really out of character but it is nice to be playing with something different (BTW wearing a pink high school uniform for 6 years might have something to do with my avoidance of pink – a huge wave to anyone reading this who went to Cheltenham Girls!)

LizSteel-Vanburgh-and-new-DS-colours
And few days lately I decided to choose a few colours at random and do a crazy loose architecture sketch. Fun!

As I said earlier, I am just playing at this stage, but I will be looking at Jane Blundell’s comments when I get a bit more serious about them. Has anyone else tried any of the new colours? What do you think?

6 Comments

  • Emily DeArdo says:

    I’ve got Wisteria and Lavender in my palette right now, but I haven’t really tried anything with them yet. I’m actually doing a wisteria sketch today, so I imagine the Wisteria will get put through its paces! I’m very intrigued by the Aussie Red Gold and the Burnt Siena Light!

  • Kate Powell says:

    I was feverish (literally) when I bought them and did not check the side for the Munsell numbers. I would not have bought several if I had, including the Aussie Red Gold, which I think they did for you and Jane and the other down-under USkers! It is so not needed IF you have good Quin Gold or Quin Burnt Orange. Verona Gold is not too interesting though I love a transparent ochre, but it is not as complex as Monte Amiata.

    Burnt Sienna Light, however, I’ll but again because it has a transparent quality that would take a lot of mixing in a color I usually have to mix to get that transparency. I’ll keep the Paynes Blue Grey and ditch Paynes Grey eventually. Swap out. It can do much more of what I want.

    The rest are all easily mixable with Quins and Cobalts or Ultramarines. Even Rose Madder is really unnecessary. Too easy to mix. I set up a Painted Ladies travel tin for them — I do like to paint the Victorian homes in the areas and will use them up then probably not buy them again. Not a pink/lavender/girl except in spring!

    If you don’t get them for free or are not independently wealthy, I say pass unless you want to swap out one for another color, as I’ve suggested in my post. https://dkatiepowellart.me/2017/03/26/tools-daniel-smith-watercolors/ I’m not either, love DS, but was disappointed in this batch.

    • Emily DeArdo says:

      Thanks for your thoughts, Kate, as I’ve been eyeing the rest of the collection. 🙂 I used the Wisteria and Lavender yesterday in a flower sketch and I really liked combining them together to get the right shade for the flowers. I was surprised at how opaque the Wisteria shade is–that sort of disappointed me. I was hoping for a more translucent color. I’ll just have to be careful in how I use it and built up layers, I suppose.

  • Cathy Inzer says:

    Hi LIz, I have tried to sign up for your Edges notification, but the “hit return” isn’t working. Would you please add me to your notification list? Thanks!

  • Sharon says:

    I love these new colors. Especially the Aussie red gold.

  • Carole Jurack says:

    I like the fresh colors though I don’t have any yet. Liked the look of the wisteria in your sketch. Seemed to add a bit of bright light to the sketch. I liked the comment about painted ladies above … think the colors are perfect for painting Victorian homes! Sparingly I think the colors are all lovely. All together a sort of Easter Egg palette!

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