The Top Five Artists' Watercolour Paints in 2013

Personal preferences were expressed in the product review poll "Which are the best artist-quality watercolour paints? (2012 / 13)" on my website Which is the best brand of watercolour paint for artists?

The chart below records the results of 360 responses.

Derived from
Which are the best artist-quality
watercolour paints? (2012 / 13)

The TOP FIVE WATERCOLOUR PAINTS IN 2013 are:

1. Winsor & Newton - 27%
2. M. Graham Watercolour Paints - 11%
3. Daniel Smith Watercolor Paints - 10%
4. Fine Schminke Horadam Aquarell - 9%
5. Sennelier Aquarelle Extra - 8%

It's basically Winsor & Newton way out in front and then four brands - two American and two European - bringing in the next significant group of artist grade paints.

Those who are unfamiliar with M. Graham Watercolor Paints may be surprised they came second. However you should note:

• Reviews of these paints generally provide high praise for the quality, saturation and lightfastness
• 95% of those buying this paint from Dick Blicks would recommend them to a friend.
• The Wilcox Guide to the Finest Watercolours gave high ratings to these paints across the watercolour range.

Below that most paints got little or no support of significance - although there is a good spread of those that did get votes

The chart below reflects the paints in the poll in alphabetical order - and indicates the percentage of the vote each attracted.

The ranking of different brands of paint - in percentage order - follows the chart

Ranking of Watercolour Paints

This is the final ranking for the 2012-13 Poll to identify

• 27% - Winsor and Newton Artists Watercolours 
• 11% - M. Graham Watercolor Paints
• 10% - Daniel Smith Watercolor Paints 
• 9% - Fine Schminke Horadam Aquarell
• 8% - Sennelier Aquarelle Extra
• 6% - Holbein Artists Watercolor
• 3% - Royal Talens
• Rembrandt
• St. Petersburg Watercolors
• 2%
• Daler Rowney Artists Watercolours 
• Kremer Pigmente Watercolors
• 1% 
• Da Vinci
• Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor Paints
• Grumbacher Watercolor - Finest
• Lukas Aquarell
• Maimeri Blu
• Mijello Mission Gold Watercolors
• Royal Talens - Van Gogh
• Shin Han Premium Watercolors

The following paints failed to get a vote:

• Art Spectrum Artists Watercolours
• Blockx Extra Fine Watercolors
• Holbein Irodori Antique Watercolor
• Old Holland Classic Watercolours
• Pebeo Fragonard Extra-Fine Artists' Watercolors
• Robert Doak's Concentrated Watercolors
• Stephen Quiller Watercolors
• Utrecht Artists' Watercolors

I'll be posting a new Poll for 2014 in the next few days.

Daniel Smith's Watercolor 66 Try-It Color Sheet

Sometimes a manufacturer comes up with a new idea for how artists can try out their products which just make you nod your head and say "Yes!"

This is one of those - and it comes to you courtesy of DANIEL SMITH.  This Try-It Sheet contains 66 paint-able "dots" of pure DANIEL SMITH Watercolor.

DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Watercolor 66 Try-It Color Sheet

I particularly like the fact that each colour is listed with information about:

• its ASTM Lightfastness rating 
• whether it is staining or non-staining
• information about the extent to which it granulates
• whether it is transparent, semi transparent/opaque or opaque

You can either use the sheet as a reference for when you are choosing which watercolour paints you want to use from the DANIEL SMITH watercolor palette.  Or you can just wet the dot with a brush and try out the paint.  Or both!

I've no idea how long this Try-It Sheet has been around, but I think Daniel Smith has just ramped up the "information for watercolour artists" stakes - in a very good way.

Thanks to Billie Crain on Facebook for drawing this to my attention.

UPDATE

DANIEL SMITH sent me a message to (1) thank me for this blog post and (2) tell me that they have posted two useful videos relating to this product on YouTube - so here they are:

• DANIEL SMITH 66 Try-It Color Sheet - Tip for using as a Reference
• how to use DANIEL SMITH 66 Try-It Color Sheet of Extra Fine Watercolors