I think it's rather unfair towards the White Nights to just dab them randomly and with no control from the pan when the others were applied much more controlled and watered down from a palette. Don't blame the paints for poor performance if the handling is flawed and different from the other paints.
I suppose you're right, thats something i found difficult about them was getting it watered down enough but if its more budget friendly the little extra effort is worth it. They seem to be going up in price lately though.
White Nights blend, but you have to pre mix them with water first. They are made with honey, so you can't use them straight from the pan. They don't flow that way.
Alison B has hit the nail on the head in her comments. I'd only add that I especially appreciate that your comparison was an actual sketch and not just swatching which so many other reviews on uTube seem to do. Side by side comparisons, regardless of inability to truly control all variables (water p/u, exact same pigments & pigment p/u amount etc) are very valuable. I too vote to see how the Schminke perform (with the same sketch) on the rough Kilmanjaro paper. We need a part deux -lol!
colours you like. that can be a problem. because often one likes so many colours (it has something to do with a kind of addictive effect that layed out colours or swatched colours can have. but for people like me, very frustrating to have too many colours laying around and not needing them, because some you can't really mix and others one can mix easily with others one already has. and interestingly those don't look that exciting on their own. that is why it is good, to find colours that are sort of workhorses. and it is helpful to understand, what makes the differences and what to look for. I am still a beginner. but as absolute beginner several month ago, I wish I wouldn't have fallen into this trap of the hype around white nights and got my self a set of 28 colous. that I now never use. maybe except as a tiny colourful accent. and that I only do, because I have them and none of the opaque colours by schminke. but one day, I will get rid of the white nights all together. I guess, other type of hobby-painters would enjoy them more than I.)
You can get a dot sample chart for Daniel Smith, then you can pick your colors more easily. You'll KNOW what you are looking at, rather than looking on a computer screen and guessing.
What a valuable lesson in the scope and complexity of watercolor, not to mention how much beauty it can lend to very simple subjects. Each new video becomes my favorite. Amazing. Thank you. Don
Hi Dennis. Yes, you can't beat the price for White Nights and because the color is so dense, they last a long time. I want to point out however, that when I refer to White Nights, I am referring to White Nights Extra Fine. I tried a set of the Sonnet (checking them out to see if I could recommend them to my students), and they are much inferior to the Extra Fine. Thanks for watching and for your comments!
INTUITIVE & INSPIRED ART I am selling my 1/2 pans only because I have to narrow my color companies down. Yarker/ White Night is incredibly fine and saturated. Yummy. I am going to Holbein small set, and mailed my Windsor and Newman travel set to my grandaughter- she will love the happily perfect colors.
I really enjoyed watching the paintings unfold, and I personally have paints from each of these brands. It's kind of interesting seeing you use them and making it look just fun and simple and easy to use. Seeing the Schmincke and the Daniel Smith (My favorites) back to back kind of reinforce my "Something just doesn't feel quite right about Schmincke" feeling. They seem so much more opaque (Especially in the yellows) and flat and thick than my loves, Daniel Smith. I also must be consistently doing something crazy with them or what, because they just don't give me the joy or results that I'm looking for. Your white nights paints are so pretty! Those are the paints that I have the least of, and I really do love them, I just haven't gotten many!
Thank you for your comment Meow Meow Kapow. I'm glad that the video helped. It's such a struggle when we learn on our own, and most of us tend to blame ourselves instead of looking with a critical eye at our materials. Happy painting!
Sandra, thank you. I enjoyed your company very much. Turner did not have a wide selection of paint. Painting was his main interest, not consumerism. I am a beginner, using Schmincke, but I do not like the outrageous price. I think White Nights is good enough paint for me. It is a set of mind, the need to have ´the best paint`. And who knows, really, what´s the best paint? I did colour charts with my schmincke and white nights. Really, white nights looked better, objectively. Schmincke looked pale.
With the DS leaves, on the second pass you should have just put a azo yellow wash over the whole leaf. Would have made it pop so much more. Just my .02
Hey years ago I was doing watercolors with Winsor Newton and loved them and they are still good. However read about Daniel Smith and the ground gemstones paint. Got a free dot chart and began to freak out over the granulation and colors. Went hog wild and ordered a bunch (still need Shugalite genuine). And went nuts and ordered more. I love them and the granulation. I am just beginning to play with DS and Wn together. I feel a toothy paper is best to enhance the granulation affects. Frankly I can't remember when I have been this excited over a product. It is good to break out of your pen now and then and try something new. However I will say DS are a tricky bunch to use (in the granulation gems) successfully and the genuines are more for experienced people than just beginning. That is because some of them can get a bit sludgy and heavy and hard to move around on the paper. But videos like yours are firing me up to resume painting as I have time now to get into it. Years ago there were not that many choices but today there are so many brands.....Thanks for the comparisons. I also think the paper with DS makes a big diff but not so much with WN.
Interesting point on Schmincke drying noticeably lighter - I went from WN Cotman to Schmincke Horadam and I've found myself frustrated with the Schmincke i.e. colours not coming out as I would expect and not understanding why.
Ok since the other paints were in tubes don't you think a little ox gall in the water would get them or the White Nights dispersing and mixing fine?It helped mine. Worth a try.
Thank you for this informative video. The comparison you did produced interesting results! I'm fond of my Daniel Smith paints - they are my go to paints. Looking forward to more of your videos!
While swatches are good, it's always best to see a paint used in a painting in progress like this. And it shows that you can get wonderful results with any variety of paint. Windsor & Newton will probably be the gold standard forever, but Schminke, Daniel Smith, QoR, Grumbacher, those wonderful Asian paint makers... take your pick, they will all give you a wonderful painting when you get to know them. The White Knights do seem a little strong and stark, and they mix differently, but I'm a tube guy anyway. I think they would be better for more illustration type work.
Hello stryker1999. I have never used W&N, but I do hear great things about them. I am anxious to try some. Through my testing, some of it in videos here, and most just in my studio, I am starting to come to the conclusion that the variety of paper an artist chooses can have a greater effect than the brand of paints, so yes, I agree with you. You can learn to work with the paints you have, but the characteristics of the paper are what they are. I never thought about it, but I think you are right about White Knights. I think they would be great for illustrators. Thanks for watching and for your comment. Sandy
I am curious is you have ever tried Sennelier watercolor paints and if so what you liked or disliked about them. Any chance of an upcoming video on them?
Hi Alexis. No I haven't tried Sennelier paints. In response to this request, I wrote to the company and asked them to send some samples so I could review them. I haven't heard back yet, but if I do get my hands on some I will certainly review them. Thanks for the request!
you need to have some papertissue with white nights cause they release quite fast leaving you with to much paint on the brush and yes, dry inbetween and i combine them with my schmincke quite often.
I think it isn't quite fair to compare white nights to the other two in this way... If u wanted a more accurate comparison, u should have used the tube ones for white nights, as u obviously prefer to work with tubes
Great video, Sandra! I've used Daniel Smith and Sennelier up until now but recently purchased some Winsor and Newton half pan paints and I'm crazy about them! I've also been trying out botanicals lately and have found that they suit my way of painting very much. I never could really get a grip on the looser styles and am enjoying reigning in my painting and working on all the fiddly little details required in the botanicals.
Thank you Lana, You make me smile. You sound like a mirror of me. I have been painting for such a short time though, that I have not "found" myself yet. I am allowing myself to bounce until I find a comfortable place to land. Happy Painting!!
Thanks for doing this comparison! I just got my 36 White nights yesterday and have not stopped painting except to sleep, and did I EVER sleep! This is my first full set of artist grade, I started with Talen's Van Gogh, a very good student paint, but I quickly outgrew some of it's limitations. Then I bought Shinhan student grade-worse! All are good for illustrative type painting, which is what I do as a beginner. I have one comment that I gave give with absolute surety, no matter, even the same brand, will behave somewhat differently from the tube,and from the pan. I notice with with Shinhan and White nights, some of the colors get a snakeskinny sort of texture, particularly if I lay them down thickly. Is that the paint, or my error? If you could help me with this I would appreciate it very much. I have 1 pan of Schmincke, Helio Turquoise, and a tube of WnN Opera Rose in artist grade I tried, and am sold forever on Holbein gouache! Thanks for your help on the jelly consistency=snakeskin in the White Nights and Shinhan. ShinhaN areTubes IN A PALETTE, and of course full pans of White Nights. The Sky Blue and Meh-green, lol have a very jelly quality...
Hi TerrieJDimestoreDivaTV! I'm glad you are trying White Nights Extra Fine! They are great paints! The "snakeskinnny" texture may be granulation. Granulation is a characteristic of some colors of paint and it is due to the ingredients in the paint (some minerals just do that). If it is granulation, it certainly isn't something you are doing. I LOVE the colors that granulate, but I do keep in mind that they are going to do that and use them accordingly. Like a granulating blue can be beautiful when you paint a sky, or a painterly flower in the method I used in my delphinium videos. White nights are not great for every purpose, and you will see that soon, but they will be in my studio for the forseeable future! Happy painting - and remember to get some rest!
This is a great video. I have a couple of comments/questions: 1) I notice you don't mix much on the palette - you tend to mix right on the paper and your brush is loaded with pure color. 2) Did you have some actual leaves that you were working from, or did you paint from a photo or from memory? 3) I assume these are autumn eucalyptus leaves? Keep the videos coming!
Hello Roald! Thanks for your questions. Yes, I do much more mixing on the paper than on my palette. I love the spontaneous color mixing that happens when color meets color on paper. For these leaves, I relied completely on memory of shape and shading. Eucalyptus leaves stay green year round, so these would be leaves from a broken branch or dead for some reason.
Thank you for this demo. I would suggest you put the pallette on your right because it’s quite distracting each time you obscure the painting with your hand as you reach across. But very good altogether !
I want to get a daniel smith palette, but they don't seem to have any higher count half pan palettes. 24, 36,48 etc. It's exhausting building sets. But I'll get their dot card I suppose.
I find I like allot of sets because like you have pointed out they all have their strengths. I do not mind the white knights the boldness but artist are like the paints everyone is different! LOL. Loved this video!
I think, the motives are a factor as well. not only the artists preferene per se. it depends on, what you want in the end. by the way, I had seen a demonstration, where somebody wanted to test, if it is true, that schmicke isn't the best joy for detailed and live-like flower painting. because they are too smooth on the paper. white nights was too bold. and the 'winner' for flowers', I forgot. (as I wasn't going to buy new colour anyway, I forgot). the testing person didn't expect that outcome, but had heard that before from others, and wanted to test it. so, I really think, it depends on, what motive you want to paint and in which style.
Hi Sandra. I recently got a rembrandt 48 half pan set it wasn't cheap and it came with a 6 round Sable brush. I'd rather get better paints than to pay for a duplicate brush I already own. I've only ever used pans, but online people tend to suggest tubes over pans. Im completely torn on getting a Schmincke 24 or 48 pan, or piecing together a Daniel smith pallette of tubes. I love the convenience of having g a full set from Schmincke but if Daniel smith are that much better I would find a way to work it out. I'd love your advice on what I should do. Also is it your opinion that when getting a pan set, that 24 is plenty or is 48 worth the extra money. Im new to watercolor and mixing isn't my strongest skill so I like having 48 colors. Anyways assuming funds were of no concern, what would you do? Get a 24 or 48 pan Schmincke, an 18 tube Schmincke, piece together a Daniel smith pallette of tubes, or would you just keep the rembrandt. Thanks in advance I've been agonizing over this decision
Just curious, have you ever had problems mixing your Schmincke and Daniel Smith paints? I use Schmincke pans but want to move to tubes, an opportunity to try out DS and WN as well but controlling for granulation, I wonder if there will be problems mixing...
Hi Jennifer K. I mix paint brands all the time and I have never noticed any problems. However, different colors will behave differently, so mixing on a spare piece of paper might be a good idea if you are going for a particular look. Thanks for watching!~
mixing with these brands should not be a problem. but with schmincke own mixes you need to stir the brush every dip in the mix as the colors seperate a bit when they rest. but every brand might have this as well, not sure as I only used schmincke for mixing. I agree on swatch them on a normal piece of paper before applying the mix on your painting. personally I think you can't do wrong in choosing for schmincke horadem or daniel smith or winsor newton professional, they are all great. maybe a tip buy from several brands a swatch dot card. cheapest way to figure out what works best for you
Hi Zaferia. I buy most of my art supplies from Cheap Joes and some from Dick Blick. They are both American companies and I don't know about overseas shipping (in case you are in another country). Both companies have free shipping to the US over a certain amount plus no tax in many states.
Lovely video demo. Thanks for that .. a small suggestion, plz don't touch the paints with bare fingers since some of the paints as mentioned at the back the tube could cause allergy due to some chemicals in it . And some have mentioned could cause cancer. So plz use a ventilated area and avoid touching the paints directly.
The way you pronounce 'Schmincke' reminds me of 'dinkey'. :^> In a German word or name, an 'e' at the end is pronounced like the vowel in 'foot', or 'put'.
tSVN: Think of the way a German says thank you - "Bitte". The 'e' is almost exactly a... er, what linguists call a 'schwa': That natural vowel sound you make when you non-verbally sigh. I wouldn't represent it with 'eh' - we Canadians pronounce that to rhyme with 'pay'! :^D The closest English vowel sound is in words like 'good', but a fraction more open. More closed down than the second 'a' in 'java', though.
tSVN: I'm _not_ German, so I'll stop telling you how to speak your language! LOL! I'm wondering if we're simply disagreeing on how to represent that vowel sound? I listened to 3 different videos of Germans saying 'Bitte', and to my ear their 'e's all sounded somewhere between the 'oo' in 'good' or 'would' and the 'e' in 'the'. (I mean the American pronunciation, not UK.) What English word has that sound that you mean by 'eh'? Do you mean like 'get'?
I personally can't hear the "oo" sound anywhere in any pronunciation of Bitte nor Shcmincke. It would sound like "Bittoo" or "schminkoo" and that it's weird. To me both sound like an "eh" sound but not so open. Like a muted "eh" I would say. I dunno, but definitely not the "oo" in Good sound. Also I'm from Spain so even though we don't have as many ways of pronouncing vowels as english and german I think some of ours sound more like Germans like "E" "I" "A"
Folks, I think all the commenters about pronunciation have heard what an 'e' at the end of a German word sounds like; or you wouldn't be commenting, right? Our disagreement is only in how we _describe_ that sound. I chose 'oo', but I see that was a mistake because there are two ways to pronounce that in English. If English is not your first language, you may not have noticed. 1) Not 'oo' as in boot or shoot. We all agree, that's _not_ the sound! I was comparing it to 2) 'oo' as in good or foot (same as 'would', 'put' etc.). If you discard the last consonant, those vowels sound just a little more closed than a 'schwa' sound (look it up, it's the natural vowel a mouth makes when it's at rest). The 'e' at the end of 'bitte' is about halfway between 'oo' as in good, and 'a' as in how we say 'pizza' in English. In fact, the German final 'e', is pretty close to a 'schwa'. I won't comment anymore, we can all describe that sound in the way we want to!
Having lived in Germany for a year, each time I hear you say Schmincke, I am reminded of how I was corrected several times. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YbtHwDkQGb0.html