True pure PB33 is more vibrant than any other color in its spectrum so it's impossible to substitute for. It is also HEAVILY granulating, one of the most heavily granulating paints out there. The DaVinci paint is essentially a PB15. It is still possible to get PB33 paints, Dan Barret of the Penholder channel here on YT makes them for sale. I have seen him send paints to other RU-vidrs before, I can't imagine that not being the case if you reached out to him.
Sadly DaVinci's mixture has too little PB33, possibly also too fine of a particle size to have much texture. I was just looking at my remaining Old Holland pure PB33 and it was much more vibrant in hue and intensely granulating. Daniel Smith's Manganese Blue Hue is the closest match I've ever seen. Winsor & Newton as well as Turner both also make very vibrant light blue versions of PB15 for their MBHues, but they don't have the convincing texture or easy lifting of the Daniel Smith version. Some cerulean blues come really close, but where they don't compare as well is opacity (PB33 and MBHues are more transparent than cobalt/ceruleans). Got to love all the variants of sky blues we have to play with though!
The manganese blue color is the most beautiful blue I've ever seen. Its just the best hue possible for any blue shade. I like the pigment too it's very pretty
I'm lucky enough to have a tube of Winsor and Newton true Manganese blue. But I use it very sparingly since no substitute comes close to its colour and granulation.
Thank you so much for this video! I am working through an instructional watercolour book right now and the author is very partial to Manganese blue. Her book was published almost 10 years ago so my guess is that at that time it wasn’t a hard colour to find.
It was interesting to see the real manganese blue pigment in action. I’m always curious about how an original pigment behaved versus the new options. I like the cerulean chromium as well. My DS manganese blue hue seems very granulating, although I confess I haven’t used it much. Thanks for your wonderful channel!
This is always very interesting to see how substitutes compare to older original pigments. Even if hue/vibrancy is close it is never the same, and other aspects (opacity, liftability, granulation) almost never fully 'translates' into the new paint.
I have a bunch of different genuine Manganese blues, handmade from Dan, Blockx, Old Holland and a few old pans of Winsor & Newton. They are all granulating more heavily than any other paint I've seen, and much more than the Da Vinci you have. I think they have too much of the PB15 unfortunately. The true Manganese blue are my absolute favourite paint, both when it comes to color and granulation. It's simply amazing! I hope one day it will be back in production. Unfortunately there is no good alternative in my eyes. No other hue comes close.
I purchased a genuine PB33 Manganese Blue half pan from Penholder Art a few months ago; before that I had Manganese Blue Hue from Turner made with PB15, I think it is similar to the real thing when it comes to hue, although it is way less granulating, but is still fine for the price IMO.
I bought some PB33 a few weeks ago & mulled it this weekend. On video, it looks most similar to DS’s hue..but even more vibrant. 😂 it didn’t make as much as I’d hoped (this was my first time mulling it myself); so, as much as I want to play with mixes…still, gotta try a few!
I still have a couple of tubes of Blockx Manganese Blue I purchased when production ceased. It's hue and granulation is far superior to the DV tube someone was kind enough to send to you.
There's a watercolourist in the UK (Dan) who makes and sells real Manganese watercolour. I have the DS Manganese Blue hue and I don't like it. It's hard to lift out of the pan and very weak (which doesn't happen to the other DS colours when squeezed into a pan and let to dry). Maybe I got a bad batch? It's really bad.
Manganese Blue Genuine is one of those color that I wish we can still get since it's pretty much the only high chroma granulating cyan that we has... many manganese blue hue doesnt granulate and the only other granulating cyan that we has which is Cerulean Blue isnt as vibrant as Manganese Blue.
This is so interesting! I've definitely seen Cerulean Blue PB35 that's formulated to be much closer in hue to the manganese blue than either of the two Daniel Smith swatches. Might've been the Jackson's watercolour range. I read an interview a while back with David Coles, of the excellent Australian oil paint maker Langridge, who said a goal of his was to bring back a run of manganese blue in oils because he'd secured a supply. No sign of it yet though!
Great post. I just subbed since I love all the posts on the characteristics of watercolors. (Staining vs non-staining, granulation, glazing, etc.). Great work, just what I needed. I got some of the Davinci color and I like it ok for skies, but don't see it as good for mixing. I want the pure pigment. Thanks for the great info.
I have tried so many of these because apparently I don't "see" cerulean like everyone else. To me it always seems rather greyed or dull. Best option I've found is cerulean blue genuine by da Vinci which is PB36.
This 5eems to be more workable than Old Holland version that is more dispersed in in a super heavely gum. That sorts to be cooler than this DaVinci one.
