I live in South Africa n the Daniel Smith paints are insanely expensive. But I love them. I pay 16 times more than what u would pay per tube in the US.
I am a re-beginner having side lined my sketching and watercolor after getting married 42 years ago. Now I have replaced my brushes, purchased some paper and sketch books and diving back in! I cannot pick just one favorite video. I find them all so very informative and I adore the way you present them. Keep up the good work and congrats on 15K!
My favorite video was when you talked about Vegan Watercolors, I especially liked how you talked about how animals are treated before they are used in the meat industry. I live in a rural area so I buy meat from a family friend who raises animals because I know that they are treated right there.
LOVE THAT! Thank you so much. That is what bothers me the most, how the animals are treated. I am vegan, so I don't eat meat anyways, and I don't have a problem really with people that eat meat, so long as the animal was treated nicely and not just mass produced, that is the part that makes me upset, and reading how you care about that and actually buy your meat from your friend who you know treats them nicely makes me so happy. Thank you so much!
Denise!! Congrats on these incredible milestones! I am so incredibly happy for you! It’s really difficult to choose my most favorite video of yours, but I do have sentimental attachment to the first video of yours I ever saw. It was your demo for Sennelier with the dryad painting. That one basically opened the floodgates for me to all of your other content. :]
Thank you Arleesha!! Your channel is booming as well, and you're going to catch up in no time! :) I'm so glad to hear that Lunara drew you into the channel. Drawing faces is something I struggle with so that one was pretty special to me too!
Your Swatch With Me: Daniel Smith 72 colors is my favorite, I watched the whole video - over 90 minutes and loved it! I'm a newbie to the watercolor world and have learned so much about the science of watercolors following you. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, talent, & skill with others.
Really love our videos overall, but if I were to point out WHY I think I enjoy them so much, I'd probably say that whatever you're talking about you know a lot about the given topic to then give your informed opinion, making it very easy to not only get an opinion but also learn something from watching your videos, not to mention your art is absolutely beautiful :)
My favorite video on your channel is your M. Graham watercolor review, because it's how I discovered your channel! Thank you so much for all of your reviews, demos, and educational videos, and for putting your wonderful animal art out for us to see.
Congrats on all the milestones!! :D That's really awesome! Very generous of Colors of Nature to offer a big set like that :) My favorites videos of yours are all of them, but I love when you show color mixes (like in the Color spotlight series) and we can see some beautiful swatches and how to use colors like PG7. I also love watching you paint animals, it's very calming :)
My all-time favorite video of yours, the one I keep going back to, is the one of you setting up your porcelain pallet. It's honestly just so satisfying seeing all the swatch cards lined around the pallet, and watching you fill them all with paint, and talking about the paints, I just. I also love the Top 5 Colors series because you show how each color mixes, and having a limited pallet, I like to see what I can get from one paint. I love all your videos, I learned almost everything I know about watercolor from you, so thank you for making them.
Yay, Daniel Smith! and as for my favorite video (for your giveaway), I have to give it up for the Top 5 Browns video because it got me to buy the Daniel Smith Permanent Brown and I love it so much! I love the Top 5 videos in general because there are mixes you show us I had never considered and they also taught me that some paints may look slightly different out of the tube, but they mix similarly so I don't NEED to buy every color that strikes my fancy. Congrats on the 15K!
I found your channel by the series of TOP 5 favorites of each color. I have to say since I found it that day I loved each video that talks about mixing, top 5 by color and of course the color spotlights. It is all so usefull when you are just passed experimenting with yr paint and you really want to know why colors and brands perform like they do. I also love all the pigment information. For what I know, you are the only one who has a channel that is so informative on all these topics. And that is the reason why I looooooove your channel. It doesn't stop with reviews, you go way further with it!!!! Congratulations!!!!
Thank you so much for this incredibly helpful list, Denise! :D there are so many wonderful paints to try!! Anyway, my favorite video of yours (that I have seen so far) is actually TWO videos. I have watched and re-watched part one and two of your Daniel Smith swatching videos. Because lately I have been obsessed with learning as much as I can about Daniel Smith paints.
I love your video exploring every single one of your palettes, and saying a little bit about what went into making them and the different brands of paint. It was so awesome to see all those gorgeous paints.
My favourite video... Hm... I'd say the White Nights review, because I was waiting for it for soooo long or the Rembrandt review because you taught me the existence of brightners, which was something completely new to me... But nah... I think my favourite one is your top 5 blues, not only because it is my favourite color, but because the blues from M. Graham magnetized me, just by watching them alone, and I blame you for my new addiction now... lol
My favorite video from your channel is actually when you tested all the watercolor paper because you made me save a lot of money with your tests. It was really informative and help me a lot !
My favorite was your most recent one with the watercolor journals. I ended up buying the small pentel and loved it so much I bought the landscape version about a week later. It was very thorough and not bias like all of your videos! Even though you have your favs, you always give an honest opinion and review. Thank you.
My favorite video of yours is probably your watercolor collection. Maybe it appeals to my hoarder instincts, but it also really helped me set up my favorite few sets!
The reason I love these kind of videos is becauase it's interesting to see how popularity of certain brands changes in different countries :p I can't even remember if I've ever seen Grumbacher in any of the stores I frequent. Van Gogh is almost everywhere, sometimes in stores that don't even specialize in art supplies (good for me because I love them)
I really was inspired by your Top 10 Watercolor Brands because you were specific about each company’s color permanence, washes ,and layering abilities. As a retired Art Teacher I am just getting started back into painting watercolors and need to be reeducated on different brands before I spend any money.I love all your RU-vid shows but this one was to the point .Please keep helping artist to expand their creativity.Thanks AGAIN, Mary Hobby
Hi Denise, what another excellent video. :) I broadly agree with your assessment of the various brands and I think your rankings were extremely fair, thoughtful and considered. You're very fortunate to live on the west coast of the USA and have three wonderful brands right on your doorstep. I know we have spoken before about this but here in Europe, Daniel Smith is so expensive that it is difficult to justify choosing them over other, cheaper and more local brands, even though the Daniel Smith line is so wonderful. One of the reasons Daniel Smith is so expensive over here, aside from the shipping costs and import duties, is that their paints are distributed by just one distributor of paints in Europe, which sells to all the art shops. It is a great shame because this kind of monopoly restricts the choices of artists. I am also suspicious of certain artists telling everyone only to use Daniel Smith and fear they are either being paid or subsidised to promote the brand, even if it is a fantastic manufacturer of paint. My preference at the moment is for Schmincke watercolours, which, both in Ireland and Austria, are half the price of the likes of Daniel Smith. I had a problem with a pan of Schmincke Quinacridone Red Light and emailed head office in Germany about. They were a joy to deal with and sent me a replacement right away, along with a few other pans of paints. M. Graham is an incredibly good paint but they are very difficult to find here. One art shop in Hove in the UK stocks M. Graham at a premium price - £16 for the highest series - which I would also find hard to justify. I bought a few tubes of M. Graham from an art shop in Potsdam in Germany, which seems to be one of about three stockists of M. Graham paint in Europe. They are a joy to use and I preserve and treasure them as you do with your Schmincke paints. If I lived in the USA, I would use M. Graham or DS but I am not sure they are worth spending double on, when compared with Schmincke here in Europe. The quality of Winsor and Newton has decreased in recent years and, as we discussed before, they are a pain in the neck to reactivate when they dry on the palette. Winsor and Newton does state not to leave the paint on the palette to try and recommends that artists should only use tube colour fresh from the tube and pans for when cakes of paint are needed; this seems like a terrible underhanded rip-off, however. This, coupled with the prices you pay for W&N paints in the USA, means it is simply not worth it when you compare the quality of W&N with M. Graham or DS. Winsor and Newton has been sold twice in the last few years, first to a Swedish company and then to a German company, and it is no longer the traditional "British" brand it might once have been, with a royal seal of approval. Most paints are now made in China and the artists' watercolours are made in France. A great shame indeed. W&N are reasonable value here in Europe but there aspects of the brand and the quality of paint in recent years, which frustrate me very much. Sennelier makes beautiful paints, which are pretty good value in Ireland. They glaze well but are not as intense as the likes of DS. Many artists who use them love them but some have also reported that it takes time to get used to Sennelier paints. My preference would be as follows: 1. Schmincke 2. M. Graham 3. Daniel Smith 4. Sennelier 5. Winsor and Newton
I'd have to say my favorite video of yours would be the watercolor paper comparison video(s)! Most RU-vid videos only compared a few papers to each other, and they didn't actually paint on the paper and test it in every important aspect as you did, and it REALLY helped me to pick and choose a few new ones to try out, including a few I had never heard of before! Your videos are all really helpful, but I just loved this one! :)
Denise, your videos have been so helpful. It's your approach, very organized and logical - just the antidote to my hit and miss unmethod. I especially loved your "How to make simple swatch cards" tutorial because now I can find my way around my collection of around 80 colors that grew over a number of years. I actually never knew which colors to choose until I spent the time to make those swatch cards and arrange them in a folder. I also learned the importance of pigment numbers. With an added bonus of improving my technique wash after wash on those cards. That video was one of my top five tutorials ever. Thank you.
I love your individual color series 👍🏼 congrats on hitting two milestones and shout out to DS and PO49 I hoarded 4 tubes that should last me the rest of my life. 😉
my favorite videos are your color mixing videos because they inspire me to get creative and paint more ! thanks for being awesome 💛 c: your color spotlights and suggested supplies ( brushes, etc ) are videos i AlWAYS come back to
My favorite of your video is definitely the color spotlight. I learned so much from that series and am glad it will be returning. Thanks D., love your channel
My favorite videos on your channel have to be the swatches you did recently, But prior to those I love that you are able to take your love and compassion and amazing knowledge for animals AND watercolor and smoosh it all into your awesome channel. We are all so much wiser on both subjects because of you. In the beginning when you were an awesome mixologist (is that a word?) teaching us all about our pigments and how they behave together to your wealth of knowledge in all things endangered animals- what is not to love? I cannot possibly pick just one video. Please never stop doing this :) You are one of my favorite channels
I love the favorites series. My favorite video is the watercolor paper comparison video. That's how I found your channel and it has SO many papers and it's a very useful video.
I wander if winsor& newton professional watercolor fits in your top 10? despite they are really expensive in America. thank you,I really love your reviews.
Your Top 5s (-ish? Lol) have taught me so much. I learned more from your Top 5 color series than you could imagine and use it as a reference in my shopping now. Thank you for sharing!
i personally think the grumbacher academy paints are a huge downgrade from cotman. i've found my experience with cotman rather pleasant, since i think their only issue is the vibrancy. the grumbachers are too chalky for my taste.
After seeing the new Cotman formulation, I'd probably agree. Mine were SO hard and difficult to use, but my sister just got a set and her Cotmans are lovely. Not sure when the change happened, but I'd be more willing to try the new set out!
Being new to watercolors my fav video so far has been your top 5 watercolor journals and your top 10 watercolor brushes. Thank you for providing your honest reviews. I love to watch your videos. 😊
you were so lucky！ i live in hong kong we just hv w&n,holbein, Da Vinci and some of the Asian brand.Is really expensive to buy Daniel smith and m.graham online
I appreciate the watercolour demo where you painted an animal while discussing aspects of the paint brands. It was helpful in my choosing a few brands to test. Thank you.
@@eggfish1085 Yep, point is we all have those blind spots. Don't worry about it, lol. I get your frustration, though! I agree it's better for people to let people know about faux pas, though. I am fine with a short, awkward conversation if it means I'll stop looking silly into the indefinite future!
I’d like to thank you for being honest in your reviews. Also, for giving your reasons as to why you prefer or don’t prefer a particular brand. I’d also like to applaud the companies who choose to allow you to review their products, knowing that you are not afraid to say what is good or not so good about their paint.. it shows me that the company has a great deal of integrity and that they may actually care about the customers wishes and needs. Thank you
I have several Holbein videos, and my reason for not including W&N or Holbein is that they're both unreasonably expensive where I live. The paints themselves are fine.
In Liquid Color really i have surbrised your channel for a long time ( i think so) but i haven’t seen it yeah Holbein is also expensive in my country but WN is quite normal
My favorite all time video/es of yours is the color spotlight!! I'm kind of new to watercolor, I took a class back in college and used Reeves watercolor and didn't have much knowledge with colors and pigments. So when I stumbled on your color spotlight I was hooked! you're a wealth of information and I am very thankful that you decided to share that with us. ❤
This is just the video I needed right now! I've been delving deep into so many watercolorists on RU-vid while getting back into these beautiful paints... I dusted off my Cotmans while still learning the ropes, but it's so interesting to learn about people's different opinions on various professional grade paints! My personal favourite video (for the giveaway entry) is your 12 colours for travel palettes - as someone who is learning the medium with experience in other areas of art & has a background of colour theory etc, it's really interesting to know which exact colours you find the most useful & versatile!
My favorite video is your Hanamule review!!! You showed me that the bamboo mixed media paper is exaaaaactly what I am looking for in water color paper. Smooth, but handles layers/glazing and wet on wet. You are one of the first people I have seen review it properly.
I’m a fairly recent subscriber, but I was drawn in by your swatch videos (I just started my own binder!) and I loved your color showcase series so I’m glad that’s coming back for another round!
Thank you and the Color of Nature for this give-away. I was surprised and happy to see that your top 2 brands match my start-up collection now that I'm into watercolor again after 25 years.
My favorite video currently is your 2018 watercolor palette tour. Watercolor collections are just so mesmerizing and I aim to have as diverse as a collection as you some day! Right now I use Grumbacher Academy, and I'm so happy to see them in your top list. But I'm currently saving for a small set of Daniel Smith to try out!
My favorite video would have to be your swatch videos. I would pay to have copies of your swatch collection. There is beauty in knowing what color range each company offers and what paints you have tried over the years. Thank you for sharing your journey with us!
Another outstanding video! I had the most "fun" with the video "Swatch with Me" Daniel Smiths 72 colors (I had a few more to play with). I have enjoyed many of your tutorials but all the color mixing tutorials were of great benefit and added improvement in my enjoyment of what I was attempting to accomplish, but the "biggie" was the cataract surgery, wow, talk about color enhancement! It has taken most of my life (retired) to have the leisure to enjoy watercolors without interruption. My greatest fear is that I will not have the longevity to become an accomplished artist. But knowing I have had that "Ah Ha" moment when I realized that I am already enjoying the watercolor journey and worrying less about the destination. Thank you Denise for all you do, share, teach and encourage.
I'm a fairly new subscriber and watercolor painter, but I especially love your Niffler timelapse! I love all things nerdy and have a special spot in my heart for Harry Potter. Thanks for the awesome content, keep it up!!!
I love all of your videos, but my favorites are the paint reviews and the Swatch With Mes. And the color spotlights. And I love the ones that feature your own art. This isn’t narrowing it down much huh. I love the way you communicate both your knowledge and your passion, without ever getting stodgy or preachy. Your videos are so much fun to listen to and watch.
Hard to choose only one favorite video. I think any of your color spotlight video could be a favorite. I enjoy the way you show us what the color can do, what colors you can mix with them and all their other secrets. I also really enjoy your scientific approach to paints and that huge amount of card swatches you use to compare the paints of different companies.
I have only recently found this channel but I am in love with your swatch videos. I not only find them mesmerizing but so interesting and the information you provide is extensive. On the whole though it's your enthusiasm and love for the topic that makes all the videos lovely to watch.
My favorite video of yours was probably "My 2018 Watercolor Palette Tour | What Works for Me, What Doesn't, and What Might Work for You" - but I also liked this video and your top five watercolor journals too (basically any that are reviews listing favorites!). I was just wondering the other day if there were any good Canadian watercolors (I have German, Russian, Japanese, and US), and then I saw that not only have you mentioned some, you have a giveaway for them! So exciting. I must check them out right away :)
My favourite video was definitely the jaguar painting. The expression of the animal was just amazing. I love all your watercolour painting videos though as I'm just starting out and love picking up tips! :) Congrats on 15k!
Like you, it is too hard to pick just one favorite video, so as my favorite, I pick your series of "My favorite Top 5 Colors". There is sooooo much information in these videos, they are more like a series of classes. I can't wait to start my on swatches. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with all of us. Happy painting, Marilyn Shavor
Congrats on hitting 15k that is awesome! I am delighted. I can't pick a favorite video. I am not an artist, I am a craft so I really appreciate the thorough way in which you discuss and test different art supplies. If I had to pick one, I would say your testing of different papers was really amazing. While I don't actually paint, I do use a lot of paper in crafts and that helped me to understand why some paper does weird things when I work with it. I also find it very relaxing to watch you painting. I love love love love love watching the animals come to life on the page. It's especially fun when I think something can't possibly work the way you have it and watch it transform into a work of art.
I love seeing all the beautiful colors in all of your swatching videos. You go into such depth for all your videos. Your channel is a vital resource to any watercolor artist.
This videos a favorite for sure! You're very thorough with your explanations if each paints and it'll help many of us decide what paints we should buy based on our style if painting.
The three color challenge, your tiger watercolor painting was the video that made me subscribe. So excited that you keep on growing on this platform and that you keep posting all sorts of videos!
Awesome review! I love watching your videos for ideas for which brands/colors to try next, plus they are so colorful and relaxing that they always put me in a good mood. It's hard to choose a favorite, but I really enjoyed the video about Schminkes' Academy line. I didn't realize it was such a good quality paint for student grade, and I'm really excited to (hopefully) try them out one day.
Congratulations! And well deserved! I have referenced so many of your videos so often it's nearly impossible for me to select a favorite. And I must tell you that before watching your videos I paid no attention to pigment numbers. What a revelation that has been! All of your color spotlight and color mixing videos are top on my list. And I love your product reviews. I ordered the Da Vinci dot pallet and I'm loving it. But, if I must pick a favorite, it would be this video. My top 3 paints are Daniel Smith, M. Graham, and, now, Da Vinci. Schmincke is priced too high to be viable to me, but I do have a few colors.Thank you for all your fabulous, informative content. If I had to pick just one channel on RU-vid, it would be yours.
My favorite video of yours was the top 5 favorite watercolors video for blues. I love blues and that video actually helped me find some really interesting color mixes.
I can't believe you're making us choose ONE FAV video! Argggg! Ok, I'm gonna say my fav MOST recent is your DS swatching video! It was fun having a laid back session with you and seeing all the pretty colors! 😚 So fun!!
Fantastic video! Thanks that really helped a lot. :) this is my favorite video so far, I just found you, and am trying to find some paints to purchase. Keep up the amazing videos, I'll check out your past videos.
Congrats!! Loved the video, so informative!! My favorite video so far was the bee creative journal review with the chameleon painting. He was adorable! And I loved watching your layering process.
I loved both your swatch with me videos on Daniel Smith as well as your review of White Knights. I appreciated that you acknowledged that White Knights is a professional quality watercolor and is so very affordable. I think that right now it’s really the best value for someone serious about watercolor, but simply can’t afford the other price points. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations on your achievement. I think I was one of your first thousand subscribers. You’ve definitely abetted many watercolor purchases of mine this year. I think my favorite video was Purple.
This video went up when I was actually considering buying a watercolor set. Thanks! My favorite video is the top 12 perfect travel palette colors. I really like how the diluted form looks like pastel. I was actually swatching some paints while watching that video!
You do such great work in presenting information, I love watching & listening to you. My favorite episodes so far are the wonderfully detailed demos showing the different qualities of watercolor papers & sketch books. It's one thing to be told that papers differ, quite another to actually *see* the differences with different painting techniques demonstrated in multiple different types of paper. Brava!
I have so enjoyed watching your channel over the past several months. My favorite was the holiday gift guide because it was so much fun, but really, I like them all.
My favorite video was Goodbye Quin Gold. I love that color too. And I went on Amazon and quickly order 3 tubes while they still had the original formula. I do love all your videos as I am new to watercolor. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and skills.
Just an fyi, the pigment itself is still available... just not the paint. If you want to learn how to make your own watercolors, you can still have that beautiful, single pigment quin gold! ... but that's a lot of work, so it's understandable if you're not a fan of that idea, haha. I'm currently working on a line of homemade watercolor paints to sell, which will include that pure quin gold, myself. I need to really get on that, as there's a clear hole in the artist's world, and it's just no good. Such a great mixing color can't be impossible to obtain, dang it! Will do my best to perfect my line and get it out there asap. I loved that color so much - can't let it die while there's still pigment available! :P~
Found you because of your December Plan With Me video and immediately subscribed. When I saw your top five blue watercolors--I was absolutely hooked! I am a novice watercolorist and I have learned so much from you already. I am excited to see any new video and love your reviews, swatches, favorites, planner videos--all of them. I would have to say your five favorite blues will be my favorite because it was really the first I saw this whole side of your expertise and talent. :)
I've really liked all your top 5 videos and found them all helpful. My favorite, and it helped me make some choices, was the top 5 watercolor sketchbooks video. Thanks for all you do and thanks for the 15k contest!
Just found your channel thru a Facebook post. This video is my favorite so far, as I'm just beginning to learn about watercolors. Rankings by others are very helpful for me to understand the differences and being able to figure out what I'd like.
Watercolor spotlight light series has been my favorite along with the videos about DS Quin gold, considering we will never see that color again....Congrats on 15k, never doubted it and its only gaining momentum!
Enjoy all your reviews. My favorite is the Winsor Newton review as it is the brand that I use and I would like to branch out to other brands. Also like you Endangered series, on the Elephant. It was really good. Thanks, Denise for your info on so many products.
Great list! And WOW at Colors of Nature for doing this! Or is it Colours of nature seeing they are from Canada :) What a GREAT gift. I know I have been wanting to try out their pastels as well. Ok, my favorite video was the mixing blacks, that taught me so much, I haven't used black since! I have to vote for the lupine flower one too, as that was actually my first painting ever...it made me feel like I really can paint
