I wholeheartedly agree! Phthalo Blue Red Shade is my favorite of the two versions and this video perfectly highlighted why. It’s my favorite mixer for greens especially with PY150 as you demonstrated (as well as PO48 Quin Burnt Orange), and with a little PV19 or other cool red, you can shift it to hues similar to Ultramarine and Indanthrene Blue (PB60). For me, it’s the most versatile blue and allows me to create limited palettes that still have excellent mixing potential. Thanks for another informative video! I wish your channel had existed 10+ years ago when I started using watercolors. Palette color selection is definitely a very nuanced and personal process that takes time to evolve as we mature as artists, but videos like these are so helpful with explaining how different pigments behave which is a great resource when exploring options.
You're very welcome 🙏 Colour choice is definitely a very personal thing that comes with experience and depends on what you like and what you want to achieve. I'm sure when I get to 10 years painting my views on pigments and my color choices will probably be quite different from how they are now.
i'm a...... phthalo.......... turquoise user! 😆 haha~ honestly i think holbein got it right in calling it YELLOW shade because if we're talking about primaries, it's red, blue, and yellow. so if we're talking phthalo blue... if one is red shade, the other should be yellow. if one is green shade according to secondaries then the other should be violet shade, shouldn't it? it only makes sense for the PB15:3 it to be called yellow shade if the other is red. that's how i see it at least. 😂
I actually prefer the green shade... Just because I prefer a brighter, more artificial tone for the sky. I tend to mix it with white, just a bit, to make the gradation smooth. This blue is also very useful for shadows in super bright daylight kind of scenery...makes the entire picture pop.
I actually had to look it up and noticed I got both in my palette. In my box of Schminckes' there are phthalo blue, helio cerulean, French Ultramarine, delft blue and Payne's Grey bluish, plus additional bluish violets and cobalt turquoise - yeah, I know my palette's extensive, I just love hoarding colours ^^' And I can totally see why you'd use that red shade one, it really makes for a lovely sky colour and those olive-y greens definitely make for better foliage and grass colours in landscapes and such, which seem like a subject you prefer. So that red shade phthalo is probably one of the most versatile blue stand alone and nicer colours you could choose 😊
Honestly I use both but I recently added a very underrated one pigment PB16 to my palette which I love like how many love cobalt turquoise but without the granulation , opacity and it gives better or more realistic greens, desaturates them a bit plus I add a touch of phaloblue rs for that under layer cerulean looking sky and it’s totally transparent. DaVinci’s brand gradates beautifully and doesn’t shrink down like Daniel Smith paints tend to do in the pans but the DaVinci name is Phaloturquoise ( it is not the combination of the 2) and Daniel Smith calls it phaloblue turquoise. It is beautiful with new gamboge, quin gold, and with quin violet it makes a great desaturated purple. And it functions well making those deeper far away fur trees with some darker raw umber.
I continue to use the green shade because that’s what I always did at the beginning of my watercolour journey, but I did buy the red shade by mistake once. I liked it but after learning more of what others were saying, I switched back to the green. But I like more olive greens too, so might look to having them both in my palette box now… funny how our palettes over time eh 🤓 So, for a painting I’ll just pick three to five, or so, colours from the box and put them in a little tin I have when actually doing a painting. But I do like to have a whole range of colours to pick from. Been learning a lot about the moods that various colour combinations bring out. Thanks for the upload 👍🏼
So glad to see this! PBGS is one of my least favorite blues. Whenever I use it I think of that old alt-rock band named My Chemical Romance because of how artificial and chemical it looks. The red shade looks much nicer. I was looking at PBRS watercolors easily available in the US and it looks like they are often PB15:0 or PB15:6 rather than the 15:1 you demonstrate. Is there much of a difference among these PB red shades?
Uh oh,I was at crossroads with this too ,not long ago...I wanted a new tube of this color and i was torn between the green and red version..but I am a sucker for the green shade so went with that one. Since I do fantasy art,I mostly need vibrant colors that suit my taste..the red shades do not pull me in as much since I do not use them as much (be it ultramarine,cobalt,etc) but now I am second guessing myself..the phthalo blue red shade does look good! Ona side note,i should listen to the no buy 2022 videos :D Great video once again!!
I use both. BUT I am a person who loves all the colours and does a variety of paintings and subjects. Overall of the two my favourite is Green shade. I love the vibrant acidic value it adds as I often want things more vibrant and 'better than reality'. When I want certain hues or more exact match to reality I will turn to red shade sometimes. I also admit I may simply need to practice actively with Red shade more and do more tests as well. I also adore vibrant turquoise and green leaning blue as among my favourite colours and love 'acid blue' and other mixes. I have only had Red shade since 2021 so I suppose its not as fair of a comparison and this video gave me ideas about how to test it actively, practice and see how to better utilize it going forward! I took notes and will do some painting notes/swatches soon.
I've been painting on my own for some time and tend toward landscapes that mirror the natural world. I just finished my first watercolor course and had a learning curve, painting with a group, one painting a day for 5 days. It was wonderful immersion. The instructor is exceptional and I love his paintings, and his teaching technique. But I didn't realize how much he used Phthalo blue, Phthalo greens. His vibrant 'better than reality' paintings were thrilling, but you needed to stay within his palette. My painting style is more inhibited; so I TRIED to use his palette colors as suggested, but hated the acidic greens that developed (for forest, foliage). I Loved his skies. I've tried to re-color the phtalo blue greens to be more woodsy and warmer, raw umber helped a little. but in many ways the synthetic 'shouting' hurt my visual nerves. What I learned: if you want to be brave and vibrant - make sure all the palette colors play well together. My more naturalistic palette can be just fine, but it doesn't play well with the Phthalo spectrum.
I so rarely use phthalo, that I buy the 5ml tubes. But I do use GS because in a thin wash it is the only color that matches our early morning skies. Your light is certainly different.
Thanks for a great comparison video with many examples. I have Phthalo blues, but I never use them. They are so pigmented that they are very cost effective. I should push myself to use them more often. After watching this I would prefer the RS.
Thank you! Very informative video! I only have green shade in different brands. Never tried red shade except for a dot card which won’t allow me to do extensive tests.
Hi Jay. The hue is more pronounced in other brands, for example DS Green Shade is better for mixes, for skies, as you say, maybe the Red Shade better, but its look some diferent. As I said, the hue is different for each brand. I don't have any in my palette, I have other blues, but I usually use them occasionally. As far as I know there are 15.1 and 15.3 as RS, and 15.6, but Holbein has a yellow shadow which is 15.0.
looks like a nice color, never had the chance to use it. Blues are my favorite color range. But somehow I tend to like either very cool hues like pb16 or cobalt turquoise, or very warm ones like ultramarine violet, or very dark bluish colors like pb60, indigo and sodalite genuine. I'd love to try this true blue sometime! The mixes shown with the red shade are very nice.
@@JayNathanWatercolor I think it would be useful, especially in a limited palette specialized for mixing. In a very limited palette I probably would have no space for the three kind of blues that I usually use (cool, warm and dark). So the mid blue would serve as a base to mix and tune depending on the painting's needs ^_^
I just now realize that phthalo red shade, ultramarine and cobalt blue are blues that look better in skies (in my preference✌) I dont paint many landscapes, so that must be why my ultramarine gets used a bit less than my phthalo blue.
I agree about Phthalo Blue Red Shade and Cobalt Blue but I still can't learn to love Ultramarine in skies. I use it occasionally but never feel happy with the results.
Just bought some Winsor blue green shade to compare with using prussian blue for different mixes. I'm using Smalt, Cerulean or Manganese blue hue for skies. Do you have a 'painting sky' video? I'm trying to capture some landscape/sky photos and trying to capture the best colour for land and sky, near and distant, mountainous/hill light and coastal light.
I too prefer Phtalo red shade, and I didn`t even know it, I thought I just preferred some brand phtalo`s over the other, being so satisfied since they were cheaper and more accessible, until I cracked the pigment codes and figured it all out :-D
@@JayNathanWatercolor Pardon for the late reply; Seems Rembrandt hasn't changed their formula. Other brands I know of like Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton have two variants of Phthalo blue consisting of the green shade (PB15:3) and the red shade (usually PB15:6).
I wholeheartedly agree! Phthalo Blue Red Shade is my favorite of the two versions and this video perfectly highlighted why. It’s my favorite mixer for greens especially with PY150 as you demonstrated (as well as PO48 Quin Burnt Orange), and with a little PV19 or other cool red, you can shift it to hues similar to Ultramarine and Indanthrene Blue (PB60). For me, it’s the most versatile blue and allows me to create limited palettes that still have excellent mixing potential. Thanks for another informative video! I wish your channel had existed 10+ years ago when I started using watercolors. Palette color selection is definitely a very nuanced and personal process that takes time to evolve as we mature as artists, but videos like these are so helpful with explaining how different pigments behave which is a great resource when exploring options.
You're very welcome 🙏 Colour choice is definitely a very personal thing that comes with experience and depends on what you like and what you want to achieve. I'm sure when I get to 10 years painting my views on pigments and my color choices will probably be quite different from how they are now.
i'm a...... phthalo.......... turquoise user! 😆 haha~ honestly i think holbein got it right in calling it YELLOW shade because if we're talking about primaries, it's red, blue, and yellow. so if we're talking phthalo blue... if one is red shade, the other should be yellow. if one is green shade according to secondaries then the other should be violet shade, shouldn't it? it only makes sense for the PB15:3 it to be called yellow shade if the other is red. that's how i see it at least. 😂
That makes perfect sense... I think 🤣
I don't really like phthalo turquoise but, then again, I haven't spent much time experimenting with it.
I actually prefer the green shade... Just because I prefer a brighter, more artificial tone for the sky. I tend to mix it with white, just a bit, to make the gradation smooth. This blue is also very useful for shadows in super bright daylight kind of scenery...makes the entire picture pop.
Thank you!! Your camera did a GREAT job of picking up the differences -- other artists's cameras had a hard time showing it 🙂
I prefer the green shade for seascapes but the red shade for landscapes, botanicals etc.
I never had both paints to compare so this is really helpful. After I'm done with my 15ml PBGS, I'm getting myself a red shade. Thank you!
You're very welcome 🙏
That was very interesting!! Wonderful comparison. Thank you so much.
Thank you. 🙏☺️
I actually had to look it up and noticed I got both in my palette. In my box of Schminckes' there are phthalo blue, helio cerulean, French Ultramarine, delft blue and Payne's Grey bluish, plus additional bluish violets and cobalt turquoise - yeah, I know my palette's extensive, I just love hoarding colours ^^' And I can totally see why you'd use that red shade one, it really makes for a lovely sky colour and those olive-y greens definitely make for better foliage and grass colours in landscapes and such, which seem like a subject you prefer. So that red shade phthalo is probably one of the most versatile blue stand alone and nicer colours you could choose 😊
Yeah, for me the red shade is the perfect fit. I think if I had a more extensive palette I'd probably include the green shade too 😂
Honestly I use both but I recently added a very underrated one pigment PB16 to my palette which I love like how many love cobalt turquoise but without the granulation , opacity and it gives better or more realistic greens, desaturates them a bit plus I add a touch of phaloblue rs for that under layer cerulean looking sky and it’s totally transparent. DaVinci’s brand gradates beautifully and doesn’t shrink down like Daniel Smith paints tend to do in the pans but the DaVinci name is Phaloturquoise ( it is not the combination of the 2) and Daniel Smith calls it phaloblue turquoise. It is beautiful with new gamboge, quin gold, and with quin violet it makes a great desaturated purple. And it functions well making those deeper far away fur trees with some darker raw umber.
*fantastic* vid! loved the side by side comparisons and especially those mixes with indian red and light red!!
I continue to use the green shade because that’s what I always did at the beginning of my watercolour journey, but I did buy the red shade by mistake once. I liked it but after learning more of what others were saying, I switched back to the green. But I like more olive greens too, so might look to having them both in my palette box now… funny how our palettes over time eh 🤓
So, for a painting I’ll just pick three to five, or so, colours from the box and put them in a little tin I have when actually doing a painting. But I do like to have a whole range of colours to pick from. Been learning a lot about the moods that various colour combinations bring out. Thanks for the upload 👍🏼
You're welcome. 🙏
So glad to see this! PBGS is one of my least favorite blues. Whenever I use it I think of that old alt-rock band named My Chemical Romance because of how artificial and chemical it looks. The red shade looks much nicer. I was looking at PBRS watercolors easily available in the US and it looks like they are often PB15:0 or PB15:6 rather than the 15:1 you demonstrate. Is there much of a difference among these PB red shades?
I've never really painted the red shades I have next to eachother. Maybe that can be for a future video? 😂
they are both useful I think. Had I choose only one of them, I´d take the red shade.
Uh oh,I was at crossroads with this too ,not long ago...I wanted a new tube of this color and i was torn between the green and red version..but I am a sucker for the green shade so went with that one. Since I do fantasy art,I mostly need vibrant colors that suit my taste..the red shades do not pull me in as much since I do not use them as much (be it ultramarine,cobalt,etc) but now I am second guessing myself..the phthalo blue red shade does look good! Ona side note,i should listen to the no buy 2022 videos :D Great video once again!!
The green shade definitely mixes cleaner and more vibrant greens. I think for fantasy art you probably made the right choice.
Wasn’t either, but after video, I’m on red team !
I use both. BUT I am a person who loves all the colours and does a variety of paintings and subjects. Overall of the two my favourite is Green shade. I love the vibrant acidic value it adds as I often want things more vibrant and 'better than reality'. When I want certain hues or more exact match to reality I will turn to red shade sometimes. I also admit I may simply need to practice actively with Red shade more and do more tests as well. I also adore vibrant turquoise and green leaning blue as among my favourite colours and love 'acid blue' and other mixes. I have only had Red shade since 2021 so I suppose its not as fair of a comparison and this video gave me ideas about how to test it actively, practice and see how to better utilize it going forward! I took notes and will do some painting notes/swatches soon.
I've been painting on my own for some time and tend toward landscapes that mirror the natural world. I just finished my first watercolor course and had a learning curve, painting with a group, one painting a day for 5 days. It was wonderful immersion. The instructor is exceptional and I love his paintings, and his teaching technique. But I didn't realize how much he used Phthalo blue, Phthalo greens. His vibrant 'better than reality' paintings were thrilling, but you needed to stay within his palette. My painting style is more inhibited; so I TRIED to use his palette colors as suggested, but hated the acidic greens that developed (for forest, foliage). I Loved his skies. I've tried to re-color the phtalo blue greens to be more woodsy and warmer, raw umber helped a little. but in many ways the synthetic 'shouting' hurt my visual nerves. What I learned: if you want to be brave and vibrant - make sure all the palette colors play well together. My more naturalistic palette can be just fine, but it doesn't play well with the Phthalo spectrum.
I so rarely use phthalo, that I buy the 5ml tubes. But I do use GS because in a thin wash it is the only color that matches our early morning skies. Your light is certainly different.
I'm sure that even a 5ml tube lasts a long time? Especially if you don't use it that often.
I like to use Phthalo Turquoise. But out of the blues the green shade is one I'm most familiar with.
I've not used Phthalo Turquoise. It's never really appealed to me in the past.
Thanks for a great comparison video with many examples. I have Phthalo blues, but I never use them. They are so pigmented that they are very cost effective. I should push myself to use them more often. After watching this I would prefer the RS.
You're very welcome 🙏 Phthalo Blue is definitely cost effective. Took me a while to get to grips with how strong it is but now i love it.
Thank you! Very informative video!
I only have green shade in different brands. Never tried red shade except for a dot card which won’t allow me to do extensive tests.
You're welcome. Do you think you'll try the red shade some day or are you happy with the green shade?
@@JayNathanWatercolor well I do not use phthalo GS.. it’s on the palette but I rarely reach it like you said. Maybe with a red shade I would!
Hi Jay. The hue is more pronounced in other brands, for example DS Green Shade is better for mixes, for skies, as you say, maybe the Red Shade better, but its look some diferent. As I said, the hue is different for each brand. I don't have any in my palette, I have other blues, but I usually use them occasionally. As far as I know there are 15.1 and 15.3 as RS, and 15.6, but Holbein has a yellow shadow which is 15.0.
Thank you Jose 🙏
Hey Jay, great video. I only have one Red shade for phthalo blue and I love it. Although I also like the green shadE lol
Haha ok. That's great that you're happy with both ☺️
looks like a nice color, never had the chance to use it. Blues are my favorite color range. But somehow I tend to like either very cool hues like pb16 or cobalt turquoise, or very warm ones like ultramarine violet, or very dark bluish colors like pb60, indigo and sodalite genuine. I'd love to try this true blue sometime! The mixes shown with the red shade are very nice.
I like it a lot but it sounds like you already know what kind of blues you like? Do you think you would have much use for a more middle blue?
@@JayNathanWatercolor I think it would be useful, especially in a limited palette specialized for mixing. In a very limited palette I probably would have no space for the three kind of blues that I usually use (cool, warm and dark). So the mid blue would serve as a base to mix and tune depending on the painting's needs ^_^
I just now realize that phthalo red shade, ultramarine and cobalt blue are blues that look better in skies (in my preference✌)
I dont paint many landscapes, so that must be why my ultramarine gets used a bit less than my phthalo blue.
I agree about Phthalo Blue Red Shade and Cobalt Blue but I still can't learn to love Ultramarine in skies. I use it occasionally but never feel happy with the results.
Just bought some Winsor blue green shade to compare with using prussian blue for different mixes. I'm using Smalt, Cerulean or Manganese blue hue for skies. Do you have a 'painting sky' video? I'm trying to capture some landscape/sky photos and trying to capture the best colour for land and sky, near and distant, mountainous/hill light and coastal light.
I too prefer Phtalo red shade, and I didn`t even know it, I thought I just preferred some brand phtalo`s over the other, being so satisfied since they were cheaper and more accessible, until I cracked the pigment codes and figured it all out :-D
Haha! Once you crack the codes is when the trouble really starts. 🤣
@@JayNathanWatercolor exactly 😄
Hi there is Acrylic Marian Blue Paint = Is it the same as Ultramarine Blue Paint
Have you ever compared it to Prussian Blue?
Not in a video no. Maybe that's one for the future? Thank you for watching and commenting 🙏
It's a rarity to find a Phthalo Blue Red Shade that has a colon 1. Some brands use colon 6 for Red Shade.
Oh really? The tube just says PB15 but according to handprint.com it's a PB15:1 (unless they have reformulated since then?)
@@JayNathanWatercolor Pardon for the late reply;
Seems Rembrandt hasn't changed their formula. Other brands I know of like Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton have two variants of Phthalo blue consisting of the green shade (PB15:3) and the red shade (usually PB15:6).