Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolours

Dan Smith started his business in 1976, dedicated to bringing the highest quality inks to the print-artist community. In 1993, Dan set out to create a line of watercolours with one goal in mind: to bring the watercolour artist the very best product available. His dream came to fruition with the introduction of a hugely innovative collection of 27 paints that just happened to change the world of watercolours forever. Our pigments may come from every continent except Antarctica but our paints are manufactured in Seattle, Washington.

The DANIEL SMITH paint making lab is neither big nor impersonal. It is a world of machinery and colour, where the air smells of linseed oil, and everyone’s clothes are splattered with paint. The manufacturing R&D lab is the soul of the company, a place where ideas are shared, artist’s voices are heard, and new DANIEL SMITH colours are brought to life by a talented and dedicated production team. Artisans making paint for artists, they have your complete satisfaction in mind.

Each year more of the Daniel Smith chemist’s inventive creations are introduced. Early on, DANIEL SMITH Inc. was the first to offer Quinacridone pigments in artists’ paints. These fantastic, powerful colours, originally created for the auto industry, gave artists new and vibrant choices perfect for glazing. A buying frenzy ensued, and since then, these colours have been copied by other paint manufacturers. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

DANIEL SMITH currently offers 249 different watercolours, with more in the works every year. The sheer range of possibility they offer is endless and unparalleled in the industry. Their amazing selection spans the spectrum from the historical, to our natural earth and PrimaTek colours, to their Quinacridones, the brightest and boldest colours modern technology has to offer.

 

Primatek Colours

Certain colours have captured the imagination of artists for hundreds or even thousands of years. Daniel Smith's exclusive PrimaTek® Colours are made from naturally occouring pigments, reviving a tradition of making paints the way the ancient Egyptions, Mayans and other early cultures did. to find these rare pigments, Daniel Smith's mineralogist circles the globe, going to some of the most remote areas of the world. their diversity is amazing, from the subtle earth tones of Hermatite, Zoisite, Tiger's Eye and Sedona to the exquisite jewel shades of Rhodonite, Amazonite and Lapis Lazuli Geniune. As you Paint with these colours, we know you'll experience something new in your watercolour mixtures and paintings.

Click here for detailed information on the Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolour colours including several videos of the colours baing painted out.

 

Luminescent Colours

Used alone or mixed into standard colours, they create striking effects of light and colour. Miniscule particles of titanium-coated mica are the secret. Different size particles and thicknesses of coating provide the dazzling array of choices only DANIEL SMITH offers.

Interference and Pearlescent colours appear almost colourless, but when applied over a dark colour the bounce back gleaming colour. The Interference colours actually take on different hues according to where the viewer stands and how the light is striking them. Viewed from one angle, Interference Green is exactly that - a shimmering, pearly green. Viewed from another angle, it reflects a redish hue.

Daniel Smith's Duochrome colours, the newest in the Luminescent line, bounce between two distinct colours depending on the reflective light. Pure visual excitement!

The Iridescent colours reflect light directly and provide a fascinating sense of depth, along with intense colour and a distinctive sheen.

Click here for detailed information on the Daniel Smith Luminescent Watercolour colours including several videos of the colours baing painted out.