The Spin Doctor likes spinning, crochet, knitting and weaving and drawing (charcoal, pen and ink), colouring (pen and ink, ProMarker, tinted charcoal), painting (acrylic, watercolour, gouache and very, very rarely oil), papercraft (dyes, inks, alcohol inks, die-cutting) and mixed-media. Through this website he shares projects, tips, product reviews and gives help where he can to those who need it.
Firstly, while I remember, follow me on Twitter! I did a breakdown of the pigments used to make this set a short time ago and my views on those, as I could not get hold of this set in the UK to be able to review it. One of my community - Paula from Florida - dropped me an email to tell me she'd seen it at a great price in a bigbox art store in her local area and had picked up a spare set for me, which is an incredibly kind thing to do - thanks Paula! As soon as it arrived, I set about reviewing it the same day! She also sent me some other goodies, which I will review very soon! If you want to get this set for yourself, your best bet is Jane Davenport's website (which has no affiliate scheme so I don't get any commission on sales through that link), but I have seen it on Amazon USA as well. Jane told me that she's hoping to have it on sale from a UK vendor in the next couple of weeks, so I hope that will make it easier for me to get the "Brights" set and that it will make life easier for those of you out there in Europe who want to get them and who don't want to pay the huge postage from Australia. My video review of this product is my first in my new format! I am now doing all reviews of watercolours, at least, in this new format of a Part A and Part B pair of videos. Part A will cover the unboxing, the background, the pigment information, the swatching etc, and then a few weeks later when I've really had time to play with a product, a Part B video will show what I've done with it, tips and tricks for getting the most out of it, how it plays with other supplies and so on. I'm hoping this new format will be more useful to you, and it will be two videos each of 30-60 minutes in length, so absolutely packed with even more information on getting the most from your new products!
I've finally uploaded my review of this set! As I say in the video, if you want to know the names for the colours in the whole series now that they all have a name and a number - you can find out here.
If you want to buy these sets in the USA, Canada or UK you can do so using these links and I'll get back a small fraction of Amazon's proceeds (but you don't pay a penny more than you would normally). All these proceeds get reinvested in my channel and I don't take a person profit at the moment. BUY SHIMMERING LIGHTS FROM AMAZON UKfor £25.98. BUY SHIMMERING LIGHTS FROM AMAZON USA for US$23.98 - this is where I got mine as they delivered to the UK. The raw price IS cheaper than from Amazon UK, BUT the delivery and customs fee could easily be $10 to the UK, but it was more economical for me as there were other items in the same order. BUY SHIMMERING LIGHTS FROM AMAZON CANADA for Can$45.54. If you're interested in the PASTEL DREAMS, TROPICALS or DECADENT PIES sets, you can find the information on the former in this post, which links to information on the latter two sets.
I've expanded on my reviews of the BRIGHTS and NEUTRALS sets with a video over on my youtube channel - this waxes lyrical a bit more and cross references other videos by myself and other youtubers that you may find useful if you're interested in these paint sets.
This is the second part of my analysis - Part One covers the "BRIGHTS" set, this covers the "NEUTRALS" set. It also explains the lightfastness ratings and so on that I am using here. NEUTRALS This set...
"MANGO" PY83 Diarylide Yellow HR - this pigment has several subforms which can be of varying degrees of opacity but a lightfastness of II to III (poor). It's a very warm yellow but can darken in bright light, especially when applied thickly. It's most commonly found in mid-range watercolours, in "Cadmium Yellow" hues, and in Old Holland paints as Scheveningen Yellow Deep. "APPLE" PR112 Naphthol Red AS-D - this is found in various hues of Cadmium Red used in student paints, and in various Naphthol Red paints. It is fairly opaque and a very intense, very warm red with a strong yellow tinge. Whilst it has a lightfastness of "I" (Excellent), it can dull with age, which is why, presumably, it doesn't appear in that many professional watercolours. PR170 Naphthol Red AS - this is very similarly named to the above and not as lightfast - a rating of II or III (moderate to poor), with it darkening on exposure to light, longer term. There are a few subforms, ranging from yellow-ish reds to blue-ish reds and looking at the warm tone of "APPLE", I would suspect this is one of the former. It is moderately opaque and found in Cadmium Red hues in student watercolours and in Naphthol Red acrylic paints. It's not that commonly found in watercolours of the professional manner. "BLUEBERRY" PB29 Ultramarine - ah, old faithful. You know where you are with this lightfast ("I", excellent), granulating, opaque blue pigment, found in everything from student to professional paints. This paint is quite simply the same as Ultramarine Blue in any other line really - but from the limited use I've seen of "BLUEBERRY", it may have extenders as it looks a bit impure - they are added to bulk it out and make it go further - very common practice in student watercolours. "DOVE" This is a convenience mix of a white (the same white as in "UNICORN", below), a black (the same black as in "RAVEN", below) and a blue (the same blue as in "BLUEBERRY", above) - so a redundant convenience mix. If you're new to watercolour you should really avoid such mixes and learn to mix for yourself until you really feel confident, but this paint is probably really intended for art journallers and so on who don't want to mix paints, they want to slap them on the page directly, and for that, this is probably going to give a beautiful soft grey with an interesting granulation. PW6 Titanium White - this is a strongly opaque, lightfast (Rated "I", Excellent) and pure white, which will cover most surfaces well. You will find a Titanium White in pretty much every professional paint line on the market, it's such a standard colour, especially in oils and acrylics - obviously in watercolour we don't tend to use white paint. PBk9 Bone Black - this is one of several blacks found in all professional paint lines (along with Lamp Black and Mars Black), each of which is a little bit different. Bone Black is opaque and has a lightfastness of "I" (Excellent) and has a useful brown undertone. The pigment particles are quite heavy and it will granulate which can make it useful in mixtures. PB29 Ultramarine - ah, old faithful. You know where you are with this lightfast ("I", excellent), granulating, opaque blue pigment, found in everything from student to professional paints. This paint is quite simply the same as Ultramarine Blue in any other line really - but from the limited use I've seen of "BLUEBERRY", it may have extenders as it looks a bit impure - they are added to bulk it out and make it go further - very common practice in student watercolours. "UNICORN" PW6 Titanium White - this is a strongly opaque, lightfast (Rated "I", Excellent) and pure white, which will cover most surfaces well. You will find a Titanium White in pretty much every professional paint line on the market, it's such a standard colour, especially in oils and acrylics - obviously in watercolour we don't tend to use white paint. "RAVEN" PBk9 Bone Black - this is one of several blacks found in all professional paint lines (along with Lamp Black and Mars Black), each of which is a little bit different. Bone Black is opaque and has a lightfastness of "I" (Excellent) and has a useful brown undertone. The pigment particles are quite heavy and it will granulate which can make it useful in mixtures. "VITAMIN C" PO13 Benzidine Orange - ok this one is a slightly more unusual pigment used mostly in gouaches, not watercolours etc. The lightfastness is "II" (ok to moderate), but more like "III" if used very thinly, which is common in watercolour painting, hence why it is not found in professional watercolour paints. The opacity is pretty low. It is a bright and vivid reddish orange. Mostly used to tint plastics and rubbers rather than in art media. Sometimes used as a fabric dye or for printing on fabrics, more exactly. "SAND" This is duel pigment colour that is kind of a "poor man's Naples Yellow" in terms of how it looks. PY6 Hansa Yellow 3G - this is a really, really cheap yellow dye that is a bright and clean yellow. It has a lightfastness of "III" (poor) and is not very opaque. Found in some gouaches as Permanent Yellow Deep but rarely used as the opacity is so low and the lightfastness not good, which means it's not suitable for gouache (for the former reason) and watercolour for the latter reason. PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide - this is an old friend to all painters and colourists of any kind - this is Yellow Ochre and you will have seen it many times. It is an opaque and lightfast (rating "I", Excellent) pigment that gives good coverage and is cheap to produce so is not usually "cut" with too much of an extender. "BUFF" PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide - this is an old friend to all painters and colourists of any kind - this is Yellow Ochre and you will have seen it many times. It is an opaque and lightfast (rating "I", Excellent) pigment that gives good coverage and is cheap to produce so is not usually "cut" with too much of an extender. PO13 Benzidine Orange - ok this one is a slightly more unusual pigment used mostly in gouaches, not watercolours etc. The lightfastness is "II" (ok to moderate), but more like "III" if used very thinly, which is common in watercolour painting, hence why it is not found in professional watercolour paints. The opacity is pretty low. It is a bright and vivid reddish orange. Mostly used to tint plastics and rubbers rather than in art media. Sometimes used as a fabric dye or for printing on fabrics, more exactly. PW6 Titanium White - this is a strongly opaque, lightfast (Rated "I", Excellent) and pure white, which will cover most surfaces well. You will find a Titanium White in pretty much every professional paint line on the market, it's such a standard colour, especially in oils and acrylics - obviously in watercolour we don't tend to use white paint. "SPICE" PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide - this is an old friend to all painters and colourists of any kind - this is Yellow Ochre and you will have seen it many times. It is an opaque and lightfast (rating "I", Excellent) pigment that gives good coverage and is cheap to produce so is not usually "cut" with too much of an extender. PB27 Prussian Blue - this is often thought to be fugitive but technically isn't - it will go brown in bright light but restores in the dark. It is a cool blue with a green undertone and granulates beautifully if a course grind. Very opaque. Lightfastness is usually rated I-III but note it does restore in the dark! Very commonly used in paints with names like Prussian Blue or mixed with alumina in Antwerp Blue. PR101 Synthetic Red Iron Oxide - this is a very common pigment found in all manner of watercolour paints from cheap to professional and you will know it from paints like English Red, Indian Red, Venetian Red, Caput Mortuum, Burnt Sienna and so on (which differ in purity and grain size). It is fairly opaque and not fugitive at all - lightfastness rating is "I". Very common and low cost iron oxide pigment, nothing wrong with this being here. "KISS KISS" PR101 Synthetic Red Iron Oxide - this is a very common pigment found in all manner of watercolour paints from cheap to professional and you will know it from paints like English Red, Indian Red, Venetian Red, Caput Mortuum, Burnt Sienna and so on (which differ in purity and grain size). It is fairly opaque and not fugitive at all - lightfastness rating is "I". Very common and low cost iron oxide pigment, nothing wrong with this being here. This particular paint is probably most like Indian Red or Venetian Red from the small amounts of use I have seen thus far. "COCOA" PBk9 Bone Black - this is one of several blacks found in all professional paint lines (along with Lamp Black and Mars Black), each of which is a little bit different. Bone Black is opaque and has a lightfastness of "I" (Excellent) and has a useful brown undertone. The pigment particles are quite heavy and it will granulate which can make it useful in mixtures. PR101 Synthetic Red Iron Oxide - this is a very common pigment found in all manner of watercolour paints from cheap to professional and you will know it from paints like English Red, Indian Red, Venetian Red, Caput Mortuum, Burnt Sienna and so on (which differ in purity and grain size). It is fairly opaque and not fugitive at all - lightfastness rating is "I". Very common and low cost iron oxide pigment, nothing wrong with this being here. PY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOT - this is a quite greenish yellow with a moderate to low lightfastness (II - III) and low opacity, most commonly used in inks rather than in paints. Holbein is the only major paint line I can see that uses it, in their Transparent Yellow oil paint - not in watercolour. I would expect dyes similar to this are the ones used in Copic and other alcohol markers.
It's only been days since people started getting hellishly excited about Jane Davenport's new watercolour paints and I've already been asked over and over if I'm going to review them and what I think the pigments are like and so on. The incomparable Mrs Weirich, The Frugal Crafter, has done a lovely and thorough review of these paints and I honestly could not top it in terms of the amount of information and detail she has provided already, but, as soon as I can get them in the UK without paying through the nose for shipping, I will be reviewing them I promise! What I will do now though is talk about the pigments for each paint and tell you options for the exact same pigment in other lines so you can make a better and more informed choice as to whether these have enough "new" to warrant investing in more supplies. There are two sets called BRIGHTS and NEUTRALS and I'll tackle them in that order. The pigment information I've provided is for the raw, naked pigments NOT the finished paint - I just find that a more convenient way of comparing different lines. Every brand uses different ingredients in their binders etc, some of which afford photoprotection, some don't - so the finished paint can be more or less photostable than the pigments themselves. I will tackle the NEUTRALS set in another post tomorrow! Lightfastness I have used I = amazing to IV = fugitive as my scale. BRIGHTS This is a set of 12 half-pans. The first thing you'll notice is that there are really 8 unique things and 4 you can mix from the other 8 or by diluting one of them. Nothing wrong with having 4 convenience-mixes in the set but worth thinking about if those 8 add much new to your suite of supplies - e.g. if you have all 8 already - particularly in a professional fine-art line, you might want to spend a bit more time weighing up the pros and cons with yourself. I ain't gonna tell you not to buy something (have you SEEN my haul videos?!) but I do think you should always make an informed choice. Oh to Hell with it - the packaging is just too cute - BUY IT! REMEMBER the point of these (and any!) paints is to have fun! They are aimed at the mixed media market for art journaling, not for fin art. They are going to be used in paintings kept shut away in art journals or used in ephemeral items like cards - thus their lightfastness doesn't really matter all that much to many users. "Buzzy" PY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOT - this is a cool yellow (greenish) oftentimes found in inks rather than paints. No professional watercolours use this pigment that I can find. Lightfastness is II to III, so pretty fugitive. It is fairly transparent. "Ladybug" PR57:1 Lithol Rubine - this is a common dye used in lipsticks and in foodstuffs and thus appears in paints intended to be childsafe - it's not common in fine art supplies, however. Maimeri Red Devil (oil) is one of few paints to use it that is widely available. It is a magenta-ish mid-red with a violet undertone - so a very cool red overall, and fairly transparent. It has a lightfastness rating of III, so pretty fugitive. No mainstream professional watercolours use this pigment. "Butterfly" PB15:3 Phthalocyanine Blue BGS - this is a cool blue with a greenish tone that is more obvious when applied more dilute. Very common in blue paints of all grades. Very transparent and lightfastness rating of I (Excellent). You will know it from professional paints with names like Phthalo Blue Green Shade or Winsor Blue (Green Shade). Strongly staining. "70s Eye Shadow" A duel-pigment paint you could get by mixing "Butterfly" and "Mermaid" together: PB15:3 Phthalocyanine Blue BGS - this is a cool blue with a greenish tone that is more obvious when applied more dilute. Very common in blue paints of all grades. Very transparent and lightfastness rating of I (Excellent). You will know it from professional paints with names like Phthalo Blue Green Shade or Winsor Blue (Green Shade). Strongly staining. PG7 Phthalocyanine Green BS - a very standard blueish green that is very strongly tinting. Strongly staining. Very common in green paints of all grades. Very transparent and lightfastness rating of I (Excellent). You will know it from professional paints with names like Phthalo Green Blue Shade or Winsor Green (Blue Shade). Strongly staining. "Mermaid" PG7 Phthalocyanine Green BS - a very standard blueish green that is very strongly tinting. Strongly staining. Very common in green paints of all grades. Very transparent and lightfastness rating of I (Excellent). You will know it from professional paints with names like Phthalo Green Blue Shade or Winsor Green (Blue Shade). Strongly staining. "Jimminy" A duel-pigment paint you could get from mixing "Buzzy" and "Mermaid" together: PY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOT - this is a cool yellow (greenish) oftentimes found in inks rather than paints. No professional watercolours use this pigment that I can find. Lightfastness is II to III, so pretty fugitive. It is fairly transparent. PG7 Phthalocyanine Green BS - a very standard blueish green that is very strongly tinting. Strongly staining. Very common in green paints of all grades. Very transparent and lightfastness rating of I (Excellent). You will know it from professional paints with names like Phthalo Green Blue Shade or Winsor Green (Blue Shade). Strongly staining. "Best Friend" PR81 Rhodamine 6G - this is a fluorescent cool red that is part of the Rhodamine dye family, one of which - Rhodamine B aka BV10 - is added to Opera Rose to give it the neon pink undertone. Rhodamine 6G is not commonly used in paints and has a lightfastness of III so pretty fugitive and it is also pretty transparent too. No mainstream professional watercolours use this pigment. "Fairytale" PR81 Rhodamine 6G - this is a fluorescent cool red that is part of the Rhodamine dye family, one of which - Rhodamine B aka BV10 - is added to Opera Rose to give it the neon pink undertone. Rhodamine 6G is not commonly used in paints and has a lightfastness of III so pretty fugitive and it is also pretty transparent too. No mainstream professional watercolours use this pigment. "Frida" PR170 Naphthol Red AS - this is a warm red that fades to a cool red with exposure to light. It has a lightfastness of III so pretty fugitive. It is most commonly found in student paints as a "Cadmium Red (Hue)" but mostly in acrylic and not that common in watercolours. You won't find any mainstream professional watercolours that uses this pigment. It is moderately opaque when applied in an acrylic base - I suspect it would be more transparent in watercolour which is why it is not used widely.
"Mystic" PB81 Cobalt Tin Alumina Blue Spinel - this is similar but not the same as Cobalt Blue (PB28). It is rarely used and not found in any professional watercolour that I can find. It is probably intended as a cheaper alternative to PB28. There is no information on lightfastness but I would estimate II based on the chemistry of it and would suspect strong opacity. PV23 Dioxazine Violet - this is a very common deep purple pigment found in many watercolours like Dioxazine Violet or Winsor Purple for example. It is not a cheap pigment to produce so in cheaper paints is often "cut" with cheaper pigments like quinacridones (which would be declared, if present). Lightfastness is III or IV - it does fade in strong light. It is moderately transparent and very strongly staining. "Royal" PV23 Dioxazine Violet - this is a very common deep purple pigment found in many watercolours like Dioxazine Violet or Winsor Purple for example. It is not a cheap pigment to produce so in cheaper paints is often "cut" with cheaper pigments like quinacridones (which would be declared, if present). Lightfastness is III or IV - it does fade in strong light. It is moderately transparent and very strongly staining. "Ink" This is a triple pigment paint and many Indigo paints have similar compositions. PB27 Prussian Blue - this is often thought to be fugitive but technically isn't - it will go brown in bright light but restores in the dark. It is a cool blue with a green undertone and granulates beautifully if a course grind. Very opaque. Lightfastness is usually rated I-III but note it does restore in the dark! Very commonly used in paints with names like Prussian Blue or mixed with alumina in Antwerp Blue. PBk9 Bone Black - this is a fairly transparent, lightfastness "I" (Excellent) black pigment found in all manner of black paints, usually named Bone Black or Ivory Black (Hue). Granulates beautifully and has often got a brown undertone. PR101 Synthetic Red Iron Oxide - this is a very common pigment found in all manner of watercolour paints from cheap to professional and you will know it from paints like English Red, Indian Red, Venetian Red, Caput Mortuum, Burnt Sienna and so on (which differ in purity and grain size). It is fairly opaque and not fugitive at all - lightfastness rating is "I". Very common and low cost iron oxide pigment, nothing wrong with this being here.
