Daniel Smith is truly the worldwide leader of watercolors for artists with 250+ beautiful colors in the 15ml watercolor tubes, the most of any manufacturer, and 88 of the most popular colors in 5ml watercolor tubes. Many are traditional colors relied upon by all artists, and there are many “truly unique” colors made only by Daniel Smith that have become so important to watercolor artists.

Quinacridone Watercolors, Daniel Smith was the first manufacturer to use the high-performance Quinacridone pigments for artists paints. Quinacridone pigments were developed for the automotive industry which requires extremely lightfast and durable paints. The Quins are known for their brilliant color and for their luminous transparency which make them wonderful for watercolors.

PrimaTek Watercolors are made from minerals, often semi precious minerals, that have been ground into pigments, mixed with gum arabic (the binder) and milled into PrimaTek Watercolors. The first was Lapis Lazuli Genuine in 1998, since then, many more have been added such as Amethyst Genuine, Piemontite Genuine and Serpentine Genuine. Most of these colors have wonderful granulating effects that some artists have called “magical”.

Luminescent Watercolors have special optical effects perfect for subjects that have a sparkle, sheen, or reflective glow like the iridescence of hummingbird feathers or the sheen of metals.

Cadmium Hues, Daniel Smith has developed safe and vibrant Cadmium Hues with the density and richness of cadmium colors without the cadmium pigment. Virtually identical in color to their namesakes, they are cleaner in mixtures and much stronger in tints. The working properties – staining power, semi-transparency and excellent lightfastness – are nearly identical to those of the low-soluble cadmium colors Daniel Smith previously manufactured.

Imperial Purple DANIEL SMITH Watercolour