I’ve been using Daniel Smith watercolors exclusively for 9 months, during which time I’ve been painting with them outside a lot. I thought it might be useful to share my experiences with certain colors, especially since I’ve added a couple of new colors recently.

What’s in this Blog Post

All my Daniel Smith Watercolors & How I Use Them

First I want to share all my colors and give some insights about each one and how I use them. Then I’ll dive into my current favorites.

Let’s start with my mixing reds and yellows. I discovered Deep Scarlet (buy) by accident, and have totally fallen in love with it. It’s a more transparent but intense red, leaning towards slightly more muted mixes. I love mixing it with phthalos for deep shadows. I also add it to greens to make them more earthy.

Quinacridone Magenta (buy) is a bit more red-violet than it’s newer partner Quinacridone Lilac (buy). They are very similar except the lilac will give you more pink as it’s diluted whereas the magenta leans towards red wine. I love both and use them interchangeably. They both create vivid oranges and purples. With a warm yellow they create a rich red making them perfect for a limited CMYK palette.

Bizmuth Vanadate Yellow (buy) is opaque and extremely powerful. It creates intense bright (almost neon) greens when mixed with a phthalo blue. Lemon yellow (buy) is also a strong mixer but it’s transparent, which I prefer. However it’s a little gummy in consistency and doesn’t rewet as easily after being dried a long time. So I like to combine them. I mix about 80% lemon yellow and 20% bizmuth mixed together for my dried pans. It’s the perfect combination and rewets easily.

Buff Titanium (buy) is now a staple for me. Adding it to any mix will create a muted/pastel version of the color. It’s excellent for painting sand, rock, distant landscape elements. Add it to clouds or waves for instant softness. It’s opaque, so when mixed with a granulating color you can get some really interesting results.

Enviromentally-friendly Brown Iron Oxide (buy) is a rich chocolaty brown that resembles burnt umber but with more granulation. It’s created from the process of purifying water during mining. It’s great for forest floors, rocks, or mix with phthalo blue for a deep green. I add a touch of this to my clouds when I’m trying to create a warm grey.

Burgundy Yellow Ochre (buy) is a lovely earthy, warm, yellow, similar to yellow ochre but it’s transparent. It has a fair bit of granulation but the consistency is a little gummy – so it requires extra mixing before use to get it smooth. It dries a bit hard so add extra water to soften in the palette.

Quinacridone Gold (buy) is new to me, but came highly recommended. It’s a transparent vibrant orange-yellow that is quite versatile. It can be used heavily to create rich turmeric orange or diluted for a bright sunny yellow. So far it seems extremely versatile as a mixer.

New Gamboge (buy) is an opaque orange that turns more yellow as it’s diluted. I love it for painting sunny foliage or fields. It’s quite intense though, so a little on the brush goes a long way!

Quinacridone Burnt Orange (buy) is a deep transparent orange (I call it ‘rusty’) that mixes beautifully with every color. It is very intense, so I use it sparingly. Mix it with any blue for a natural green. But it is excellent for painting autumn and winter colors in the Scottish Highlands.

Ultramarine Blue (buy) is my staple blue for mixing – but it’s also perfect on it’s own for skies, water, and shadows. It’s slightly granulating and mixes lovely purples and greens.

Manganese Blue Hue is a slightly granulating light sky blue, and since it’s a phthalo it will mix intense greens. It cannot get very dark, so it’s excellent for sunny skies and spring fields. It is pretty gummy in consistency and dries rather hard. I prefer it straight from the tube. It’s definitely a convenience color as my other blues will create a similar ‘sky blue’ when diluted, so having this is a bonus.

Phthalo Turquoise (buy) is a gorgeous deep turquoise and very powerful mixing blue. I absolutely love this for coastal scenes and shadows. It can be diluted for a bright sky blue. Like most phthalos, this is very powerful and a little goes a long way. Currently this is my favorite color in my collection.

Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) (buy) is great for waves and ocean scenes and also creating deep shadows. Even though it’s a red shade, it appears cooler than my phthalo turquoise so I often use it to ‘cool down’ the water.

Lavender (buy) was introduced to me by Iain Stewart when I saw him using it at a workshop. I love this opaque pastel lavender tone. I use it frequently in skies and water. It instantly mutes any mix, and is great for painting distant elements in the landscape.

Ultramarine Violet (buy) is a rich purple that leans towards pink when diluted. I love it’s granulation and use it in shadows. I’ve had this tube for almost 6 years…I don’t use it often because I tend to mix my own purples or use Amethyst Genuine now. But it’s a great purple tube to have just in case.

Undersea Green (buy) is a deep earthy green with hints of brown and yellow. As it’s diluted it reveals it’s warmth, but in it’s masstone it remains dark and mysterious. It’s amazing with phthalo turquoise in coastal scenes, grassy fields, or shadowy foliage.

Primateks have a special place in my heart. They are mysterious and wonderous. I use them sparingly because they are expensive and no one really knows what’s in them, but that’s what makes them fun. And nothing beats their granulation!

Sodalite Genuine (buy) is a deep black-indigo with heavy granulation. It leans towards a cool black and is wonderful in stormy skies and coasts.

Bloodstone Genuine (buy) is a warm black with heavy granulation which gets stronger when diluted. I love it for rocks, earth, bark, and making adventurous greens.

Amethyst Genuine (buy) is a deep neutral purple with heavy granulation and a classy shimmer. As it dries, it reveals undertones of charcoal that create a ton of depth. I love it for rocks and shadows. I often add this to clouds when I need grey.

Minnesota Pipestone Genuine (buy) is a lovely reddish/pink that has medium granulation. It’s perfect for painting sandstone and beaches, especially for Scotland coasts.

Bronzite Genuine (buy) is a warm, light, chocolatey brown with a lot of shimmer. I love adding this to my rock and sand mixes as it helps add to the natural texture. It doesn’t get very dark so it’s easy to add this to almost any mix without overpowering it.

Serpentine Genuine (buy) is a sunny green with heavy granulation. As it’s diluted it reveals yellow and brown speckles. When used thickly, this is almost an exact color match of the bright green Scottish fields and mosses, especially in late spring.

Green Apatite Genuine (buy) is a heavily granulating deep warm green. It has hints of brown and yellow in the granulation that make it great as a more earthy green. Actually it’s a great green to start with if you don’t want something so garrish. I’d pick this over Serpentine.

Diopside Genuine (buy) is the quintessential emerald. It is heavily granulating and looks to me like a vivid springtime green. It’s excellent when muted down with blue, brown or black.

Amazonite Genuine (buy) is a heavily granulating turquoise green (looks phthalo to me) that dilutes down to a beautiful teal. It has decent granulation and makes lovely purples when mixed with quinacridone magenta. I like it for skies when I want more granulation, and to mix all sorts of foliage.

My Core Colors (going into 2024)

In the studio, it’s easy to grab whatever tube I need as I go. But I usually keep my 18-well palette stocked with my favorites. As I enter 2024, these are my core colors:

• Buff Titanium (BUY)
• Lemon Yellow (BUY)
• New Gamboge (BUY)
• Quinacridone Burnt Orange (BUY)
• Minnesota Pipestone Genuine (BUY)
• Bronzite Genuine (BUY)
• Quinacridone Lilac (BUY)
• Deep Scarlet (BUY)
• Phthalo Turquoise (BUY)
• Manganese Blue Hue (BUY)
• Ultramarine Blue (BUY)
• Environmentally-Friendly Brown Iron Oxide (BUY)
• Burnt Umber (BUY)
• Bloodstone Genuine (BUY)
• Amazonite Genuine (BUY)
• Undersea Green (BUY)
• Lavender (BUY)
• Amethyst Genuine (BUY)

What’s In my Portable Painter Travel Palette

It’s always a challenge to select a limited palette when you have so many lovely colors to choose from. I like to change it up every few months, as mixing from a smaller selection really helps me learn a color more deeply. For now, this is what I’m using outside:

• Buff Titanium (BUY)
• Bismuth Vanadate Yellow (BUY) mixed with Lemon Yellow (BUY)
• New Gamboge (BUY)
• Quinacridone Lilac (BUY)
• Minnesota Pipestone Genuine (BUY)
• Burnt Umber (BUY) mixed with Bronzite Genuine (BUY)
• Undersea Green (BUY)
• Phthalo Turquoise (BUY)
• Manganese Blue Hue (BUY)
• Ultramarine Blue (BUY)
• Lavender (BUY)
• Bloodstone Genuine (BUY)

I also added the “expansion” pans where the brush usually goes. (BUY)

• Daniel Smith Primatek Amethyst Genuine (BUY)
• Schmincke Supergranulation Shire Blue (BUY)
• Titanium White aka “permanent white” (BUY)

How to Store Unused Tubes

I like to make small adjustments in my palette a couple times a year. When I make changes, I put whatever I’m not using in a plastic bag and into storage. Most paint has an extremely long shelf life, and you never know when it might come in handy down the line. For example, I’ve had a tube of Ultramarine Violet on my shelf for almost 6 years. I never really thought I’d use it again. I thought maybe I’d give it away. But suddenly it’s making an appearance in my paintings once in a while. So it’s important to make sure the caps are on tight, seal them in an airtight bag and keep them in a place that doesn’t fluctuate temperature too much, especially if it’s longterm.

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