Good grief Kim. I applaud the work you've put into all this! I'll be disgusted if you lose any paint sponsorship! I hope you don't. Once again, love the art work, the colours are actually quite beautiful! Thanks for another video!
J.wells. I'm relieved to hear Kim won't be penalised by losing sponsorships. I too support her on patreon, she's a smashing artist and I love her work! Long may she continue!!!
Needed a love option for this one. Think it's my favorite ever. Earth type colors are my favorites and muted makes it even better. These would be wall art in my home!
I love how thoroughly researched and insightful your videos are. Looking forward to the historic pigments video you mentioned in the prodigal son’s manganese blue video. Thank you for the hard work!
I love how you go straight to the subject matter with no small talk ☺️. I believe Shin Han has two van d. Brown versions. As mine came in a half pan from a friend, I’m not sure which one I have. Thanks again, and your art is lovely!
Haha, yes I am a straightforward to the point sort of person - you'll never have to wonder what the message of my video is going to be. I saw that ShinHan makes a VDBrown marked as "#2" for a more lightfast alternative (PR101 I think) but I'm not sure if they are easy to tell apart. I don't own them both to swatch them side by side, though I kinda wonder how close they match each other in hue. Well, I hope you find a good use for your mystery color! Happy painting :)
I normally mix my own browns, although I have a few that came in sets and a Sepia which I thought would be useful for shadows. I love the idea of making my own toned paper for a vintage look and will definitely try that out. Your animal studies are amazing, they do look like art from a cave wall!
I am blown away at how much you made the artwork look like it's some historical parchment or drawing on a rock! I don't normally think of Browns when I go for exciting or cool colors, but you've presented some great information & ideas for usage. Thank you for doing all of this research and work to try and clarify or correct the information some companies are presenting. Not all of them may be malicious, but I think having clear labels / ratings is super important!
I agree with your comment, Joshua. At first, I thought Kim copied prehistoric cave paintings, but then I realised that the paintings were too detailed to be prehistoric. I thoroughly enjoyed this video.
@@awatercolourist Yeah, I don't feel like I quite nailed it, but I was indeed super inspired by the Lascaux caves!!! I find it really difficult to be more relaxed and abstract with animal designs. There was some serious creativity going on in things like horn patterns and super elongated necks back in prehistoric cave painting days :D
@@KimberlyCrick I never noticed, to be honest. But cave paintings always amaze me. Actually a lot of the information I’ve recently learned about prehistoric man amazes me. It challenges my perception of them. I think they were more civilised and down right decent than we perceive them to be.
Van Dyke brown always sounded like a convenience mix to me so I never paid any attention to it. The Roman Szmal one looks VERY similar to my Hematite "Genuine" by Daniel Smith. And we all know how genuine the Primateks really are... Have you done a lightfastness test on that one?
Lovely! 😢 Seriously lovely, brought me to tears (that the real stuff is so fugitive). I'm very fond of the hues, hadn't tried an NBr 8 but boy do you make it look tempting! Raw umbers (and dusky blues) are my jam so sepias and van dykes are just a pleasure to use. Just have to say that your brushwork with the gouache is so impressive; really made those pages pop! Here I'm trying to 'go large' but am tempted to chuck the large sheets and dig around for the detail brushes again! Love the inspiration, and the *pigment information!* Ty! When your videos pop up, I grab my swatches and see which pigments I might not have. I think I'm going to start putting little notes behind each swatch card, as problems (or happy accidents) arise.
I'm learning so much about pigments it totally changed the way I think when considering to buy a new color and the beautiful paintings at the end are like the cherry on top. Thank you so much for all the work you do in educating us and saving us from the disappointment of a faded painting.
It's not lightfast but you still made it shine in it's own way. That's a gorgeous little masterpiece! I have some sepia watercolor and fountain pen ink for a cool brown. I like to mess around with the antique moody look sometimes 😁
I love your cave paintings!!!! I'm glad to know this is fugitive, I think I assumed it would be lightfast because it's an earth pigment. I do not have a Van Dyck brown but I have been tempted to buy one to paint along with Bob Ross LOL
You and me both, since almost every other brown earth pigment is lightfast this does feel a bit surprising to see how badly NBr8 can fade. Luckily most dark brown alternatives will get you very close to replicating it, so you can still paint along with Bob :D
I really love your pigment centric videos! Thank you for all of the hard work that goes into these videos. They’re so helpful and so soothing to watch.
This is one I picked up out of a "ooo, that's a new pigment code I haven't seen before!" whim. Since 90% of what I paint is cards that will likely see a grand total of about 30 minutes of sunlight in their lifetimes, the lightfastness isn't an issue for me, but very handy to know.
Brilliant, as always! You're right--this pigment is best left to the collector. Achieving the same hue with lightfast pigments is a simple matter and many convenience colors exist. Good work.
Thank you for this important video! I really love Roman Szmal Van Dyck Brown, but knowing it is fugitive is important. I think I will stick with the Daniel Smith one, which I like. Also, Roman Szmal has some deep dark Raw and Burnt Umbers that could be subtitutes
Another great video. I have the Mission Gold Van Dyke Brown and I really like it. I don't have any NBr8s that I'm aware of. I really love the paintings you did - reminded me of wall art or art on rocks (same thing, really). Perfect use of this color. I always love seeing your DIY mixes. Thanks for this, Kimberly!
I have Winsor and newton pbr7 pr101 vandyke brown. It's a little to warm so I add Ultramarine or black iron oxide. Whatever I have out at the time. Your animals are gorgeous 😍
I own the White nights one, and wanted to purchase the Roman szmal buuut afte your review I will go for a more pigment mixed lightfast version. Thank you for all the work you put into this research !
So glad you made this! I love the NBr8 I have by Roman Szmal and a handmade one that has the most incredible texture. I was sad when I did my own lightfastness tests and it came up faded. That unique bark-like, crackled texture I just haven't seen matched by other pigments. Guess it's a good thing I do mainly sketchbook work and small pieces I don't really sell. Gorgeous drawings at the end!
Gorgeous artwork Kim, and inspired choice of subject matter with these pigments. I bought the Holbein very early in my watercolor journey, before I knew much of anything about pigments. I have never used it beyond painting 2 swatches, I cannot stand the gritty texture of it. I haven’t tossed it yet, because I hate throwing out paint, but I can’t imagine finding anyone else who would want it either. I have plenty other dark browns to make me happy, I actually like the Mission Gold Van Dyke Brown. Thanks for the video!
I don't feel like I quite nailed it, but I was indeed super inspired by the Lascaux caves!!! I find it really difficult to be more relaxed and abstract with animal designs, there was some serious creativity going on in things like horn patterns back in cave painting days :D
V.D. brown has been on my wish list for a while, but now I will rethink that. I see a few comments from people who enjoy Winsor & Newton's V.D. brown, so perhaps that is a good option.
i definitely need to get a granulating pbk11 sometime, i love how this mixture with a pbr7 looks in the bbackground of these paintings!!! 😳✨ thanks for always keeping us informed☺️
nice idea with using these types of colors as a layer for painting/drawing on top of! I actually remembered I used to do this sometimes, I need to do this again more, thanks for reminding about this ^^
Your paintings were unbelievably suitable for the pigment you showcased today. Love the paintings! I have some browns in my palette (the usual suspects ie burnt sienna, burnt umber, the two pigment umber by Paul Rubens and their burned brown). So far I’ve avoided Van Dyke brown as being a pigment for professional artists, and I’m far from even being an expert hobbyist. I’m still using my training wheels on my watercolor journey (ie tutorials and beginner books).
I just added some of your videos to my watch later and realized who you are. i came across your lightfastness databases when finally learning of the sadness that is lightfastness or the lack of it. seeing your collection is helpful. but shoot discouraging as well. makes me wanna keep my ideas just in my head. But i am really glad that you took the time to do all this for us. it also makes me question how works in the museums lasted as long as they have, before they were in their refuge of the museum. Maybe you have more answers. Here is one. Can you mix colors from lightfast pigments and have them be lightfast shades....that straight out of a tube may have been fugitive? or is fugitive fugitive based on shade of color alone?
I like historical pigments and I didn't know about the "N" signification on the paint code. Very interesting. I wouldn't use it in a painting situation because I've got plenty of earth tones already. Great video!
I own a couple of NBr8 and while I have them for interest, I'm not the biggest fan of it. I do kind of like how the faded mass-tones look though, they have some nice texture. Great idea with the cave painting idea! The Old Holland mix reminds me of caput mortum mixes. Unfortunately, I've already sold my soul to Sennelier's caput mortum, which has nothing to do with the fact that I spilled far too much of it in a palette and now have to use it up because I don't want to waste it (though it is genuinely a lovely colour).
I love being inspired by color - it basically demanded cave art when I swatched them lol :) That spill was just a happy accident to make sure you used up that wonderful color - I'm a big fan of Sennelier's Caput Mortum as well! This Old Holland Vandyke/Cassel looks really similar to DS hematite burnt scarlet and a little like Schmincke's new Volcano Brown too, though for that earthy red/black color separating combo I think I'd prefer to just keep a good PR101 and PBk11 on my palette.
I have both the Holbein and Mission Gold VanDyke Brown. Since I am not yet to the point I;'m hanging or selling my art it doesn't bother me much, but this information is great. Thank you
Another great video! I had never paid much attention to this colour, until I got a free pan from RedCloverMeadow with my order and I fell in love… it’s not as pigmented as the ones you tested, more like the version you made with pbk11 on the cooler side and quite transparent. No idea which pigments they used for it as they don’t disclose them. I got the Roman Szmal after that but still, RCM one remains my favourite, love the texture. Very nice artworks you created with it!
Another really interesting and informative video c: ! This color really reminds me a lot of the hematite brown shade from roman szmal that i purchased recently. Both are gorgeous browns with a lot of texture so maybe that would be a possible replacement for those who want the hue and texture of Vandyke brown and the convenience of a premixed/single pigment paint.
Informative as usual, and loving the painting you did with your own mix, it looks cool. I own my fair share of browns, not sure if I have this pigment, haven't painted in a while, can't remember what I got from roman szmal exactly.
Hahaha I have a few paints called Van Dyke Brown, but nothing that is actually NBr8. Is that good or bad news? I don't know! 😀 Pigment info is interesting and strange. Loved the video as always!
Good or bad news lol... well as a pigment enthusiast who tries ALL the things I'm glad to have experienced so many different colors, but I can not say that I would do it again. Going forward I'd rather reach for my reliable similar-looking iron oxides, as this particular fugitive color was too easily replicated to be worth the UV fragility.
Hi Kim. This was a good video and very informative. I have a request for a video if you’re looking for ideas. I would love a video on your favourite limited travel palette. I’m currently putting together a set from my now great selection of pigments and realize just how hard it is to leave some of my beloved colours behind. I thought a split primary would provide the greatest options but would love your take on a travel set.
Ok so here is my list. It’s by no means definitive but I wanted to share it if anyone’s interested PY 175/PY150/pY183/ochre/pY119/PBr7 burnt umber/ PY43 raw sienna/ pR233/leaf green/PG18/Aqua/PG50cobalt/PB5manganese be hue/PB78/PB29/PG15/PV15/PV23/PR122/PR209/PR264/volcano red/hematite/Spinel/Payne’s Grey Voila. I’ve done a swatch card for inside and I may swap out a few. It’s actually a LOT of colours but I wanted a good selection for sky, flowers and the millions of greens one finds in nature. Plus some dark options for shadows and more illustrative work. I’m taking a few water brushes, a detail brush, my beloved Princeton Neptune#6, à click eraser, pencil, pigma and Sakura pens, white ink pen, one tube of white gouache and my watercolour travel sketch book. All of it fits inside a little zippered pouch except for the sketchbook. Thanks for everything. I’ve learned so much.
Looks like I need to check my Roman Szmals. IDC if they "fix" it later, it pisses me straight off to find out I've wasted money on a fugitive paint I was told was lightfast.. they should know better and/or do the actual work to find out before they put it on the market, or label it unknown and at least give us warning. I don't typically go for VDB but use a lot of Sepia, it's my go to "dark" in my limited palettes vs the usual neutral tint or paynes grey.. I just prefer the warmer tone. I might have one or two in the collection somewhere though, some brands have so few good options I tend to buy the hue I want in the most lightfast combination regardless of name. The Old Holland one is so pretty, I just haven't been able to convince myself to try that brand, it's so expensive per tube.
Old Holland is crazy expensive, but they have a couple unique colors that I'm glad I tried. I will say though they are very quirky and perform as a gansai. They smell like burnt glue from the animal glue and other odd binder additives they use. That's also a brand that suffers from labeling everything as LFI-LFII without checking a darn thing. It drives me nuts too, the only thing I feel like I can do about it is make videos like these.
Lovely cave paintings! I don't have any Vandyke brown... I tend to mix most of my browns from blacks and some staples from Roman Szmal, like their Cyprus raw and burnt umber colors, as well as some staples from Da Vinci. At some point, I'd love to hear your take on the recent price increases on Roman Szmal paints. Have you worked through the cost comparison to full pan quantities vs. tubes from some place like DaVinci? I've been willing to buy quite a few pans from Jackson's, even tho the shipping takes forever, because of the price points and unique sourcing/mixes. Is it still an economical artist grade paint?
DaVinci is not economical for anyone outside of the USA, so for a lot of people Roman is still a go-to ideal brand. It also depends on how much paint you use. When you own a lot of colors, a 37ml bulk tube might not be something you'll ever use up to justify having spent more on it. I think there's going to be a LOT of price fluctuations this year, I'm nervous it will hit DV because MGraham just had a massive increase and they used to be much more economical too. Sometimes though prices come back down on sales, so we'll see how this all evens out over time. That being said, even if I never use it all, I love DaVinci Burnt Umber at about $12 per 37ml. It equals about 8-10 half pans or safely 4 full pans... estimating $3/full DV vs $3.79 romans current price for Cyprus BU Deep - either way is really not so bad! The other types of pigments, especially cadmiums and cobalt prices, are going up everywhere sadly. After accounting for drying/shrinkage and refilling to the brim, usually I get 4 half pans (2 full) out of a 15ml tube in most brands.
I really hope the lightfastness and pigment tests for the White Nights paints won't get canceled. I do understand why people want to cancel Russian brands, but most of us already have these paints and I don't think it will hurt to learn more about the pigments, lightfastness,... I especially love when they are included in comparisons with other paint companies
Funny I would expect them to offer a fugitive pigment because there was something lovely or useful about it but these paints don’t even paint out nicely. The granulation is more like a scruffy flocculation - they literally look like someone grabbed some dirt to paint with.
I've been wondering what to do with my white gouache. I've been just keeping it in it's tube separate from everything else and popping a bit on my palette as needed.. but it's a bit of a hassle and I wind up wasting a lot since I don't typically use that much at any given time. I've noticed you keep yours in a pan.. is that just for each use or do you store it that way dry? Would it be better in a sealed container with a lid, or leaving it in the tube so it's fresh each time as I've been doing? I use WN designer if it makes a difference, I've had it for a long time, it was the first suggestion I got starting out and since I use so little it will probably last forever. Do you find the M Graham is better than the WN?
I leave a dry pan of white gouache out on my work desk all the time. I use it so often I don't even cover it up or put it in a palette container. I use M Graham because it's less prone to cracking into small pieces due to the honey content. I don't like the way WN dries really hard sometimes. You could really use any brand if you wanted to add a drop of glycerin or honey to the pan and stir before it hardens... may help it stay a little easier to re-wet and certainly less prone to cracking apart. I think I'll do a white gouache comparison, putting them all into pans to see which are the worst for cracking and re-wet and see if I can fix them up. I meant to do that anyway to really look at who has the best pigment load for an intense white, but I've been pretty happy with the M Graham I've been using for years. If the one you have cracks a lot, you can try to press it down in the pan as it dries (semi soft drying stage) to see if compressing it keeps it from falling apart.
@@KimberlyCrick I got a big tube of M. Graham white gouache and I was surprised a dot of it left out dried hard as a rock quickly and was hard to rewet, despite the honey content. Do you have this issue? Are other brands even worse?
@@jennw6809 I wonder if that might be because you're in a different climate than Kim or something? Nerdy Essay (with possibly too many parentheticals) time! I live in a very arid, mountainous region, at altitude. My Sennelier (which is NOT M Graham obviously, but does have honey) stays tacky when all of my DS is dry dry dry and often crumbly Honey and glycerin are both humectants, which have the property of drawing moisture to them. Humectants are used, in cosmetics, for instance, to draw water to them so you feel moisturized (double-edged sword: if you are wetter than your environment [curse you, winter!], it is possible it'll draw moisture from YOU lmao) Jane Blundel, who lives in a particularly humid area of Australia (IIR) dislikes honey-based paints because she reports they have molded on her before (again this seems to be a thing with how moist her climate is). I've also seen people complain honey-based paints are hard to send dot card sample cards of as well, because they're "runny" I absolutely believe these people, but in my climate I could turn my Sennelier pans upside down or backwards and they wouldn't run. I think that's a benefit to different companies using different binders and additives (as long as they DECLARE them. I'm WAY allergic to an antibacterial some companies like Holbein and Schmincke put in, and companies aren't required to declare it for American buyers 🤬. At least Hol and Sch do, so respect for that at least), Sennelier paint is much quicker for me to work with than DS, AND I crank the humidity in my house (and, actually, keep my paint in a closet just beside the humidifier. Like a normal person) because I am in fact a mermaid and can barely live on land, let alone in what is basically a desert 😂😉😭 I just got some M Graham but it isn't here yet. I'll pan some and report back, if I ever can find where I said I'd do so 🙃 TLDR: in my opinion paints with humectants or without them may handle rather differently depending on what the humidity is in your area :) the drier your area the more you may love/rely on them, but also that could mean one person's dot (of a paint with or without humectants) performs differently than someone else's Be well 🥰
@@KimberlyCrick I would really love that. In particular I would value color comparisons (X Titanium/Zinc/etc white is a creamier/matter/brighter/bluer/more non-matte/etc white than Y] and what the hazes look like over black paper/other colors, etc, as well as the coverage, which I assume you would have done. I have looked in vain for a video like this. Also, perhaps, how they all mix with a particular transparent color. Basically how they'd perform as a diy gouache-maker, whether they leave the color true but just a different tint, or shifted it towards some end of the color spectrum? I have heard some concerns that heavy applications of gouache can crack. If you've noticed one did you would probably mention that anyway, but I hear people in forums asking for help finding one that doesn't crack. You have a life, I will understand if that's way too much or out of the scope of your video intention. But it's a video I haven't found, and it's a niche I have several times wished was filled. Be well!
Sadly no, I'm just very ill and can't do voice overs at this time. Since many of my videos are information dense, the script was too much to put in text/subtitles. There will be more videos with other random voices, the next couple will be voiced by other nice ladies that volunteered to fill in. That way I'll still be able to provide content while unable to do the speech. Happy painting :)
![Diggy Graves - Red Vineyard [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Ro085T0mnQ/mqdefault.jpg)
To the surprise of absolutely no one: Kim went off about lightfastness again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I absolutely Love all of your paintings, and color mixture. So Beautiful!
I love your wildlife art!
Good grief Kim. I applaud the work you've put into all this! I'll be disgusted if you lose any paint sponsorship! I hope you don't. Once again, love the art work, the colours are actually quite beautiful! Thanks for another video!
Kimberley Crick doesn't receive any paint sponsorships. She is completely independent. That's why I support her on Patreon.
J.wells. I'm relieved to hear Kim won't be penalised by losing sponsorships. I too support her on patreon, she's a smashing artist and I love her work! Long may she continue!!!
Needed a love option for this one. Think it's my favorite ever. Earth type colors are my favorites and muted makes it even better. These would be wall art in my home!
I love how thoroughly researched and insightful your videos are. Looking forward to the historic pigments video you mentioned in the prodigal son’s manganese blue video.
Thank you for the hard work!
The smalt episode will be coming up soon - I'm so darn excited for that one :D
I think this is my favorite art you have done so far. It's just impactful. ❤
I love how you go straight to the subject matter with no small talk ☺️. I believe Shin Han has two van d. Brown versions. As mine came in a half pan from a friend, I’m not sure which one I have. Thanks again, and your art is lovely!
Haha, yes I am a straightforward to the point sort of person - you'll never have to wonder what the message of my video is going to be. I saw that ShinHan makes a VDBrown marked as "#2" for a more lightfast alternative (PR101 I think) but I'm not sure if they are easy to tell apart. I don't own them both to swatch them side by side, though I kinda wonder how close they match each other in hue. Well, I hope you find a good use for your mystery color! Happy painting :)
A really interesting video and fabulous art work Kimberly!
I normally mix my own browns, although I have a few that came in sets and a Sepia which I thought would be useful for shadows. I love the idea of making my own toned paper for a vintage look and will definitely try that out. Your animal studies are amazing, they do look like art from a cave wall!
I am blown away at how much you made the artwork look like it's some historical parchment or drawing on a rock! I don't normally think of Browns when I go for exciting or cool colors, but you've presented some great information & ideas for usage. Thank you for doing all of this research and work to try and clarify or correct the information some companies are presenting. Not all of them may be malicious, but I think having clear labels / ratings is super important!
I agree with your comment, Joshua. At first, I thought Kim copied prehistoric cave paintings, but then I realised that the paintings were too detailed to be prehistoric. I thoroughly enjoyed this video.
@@awatercolourist Yeah, I don't feel like I quite nailed it, but I was indeed super inspired by the Lascaux caves!!! I find it really difficult to be more relaxed and abstract with animal designs. There was some serious creativity going on in things like horn patterns and super elongated necks back in prehistoric cave painting days :D
@@KimberlyCrick I never noticed, to be honest. But cave paintings always amaze me. Actually a lot of the information I’ve recently learned about prehistoric man amazes me. It challenges my perception of them. I think they were more civilised and down right decent than we perceive them to be.
I’m excited because we will be going to see some grottos this summer in France. I went to Lascaux2 when I was 18 and it was magical.
@@danazaruba268 Oh, wow! You were very lucky!
Van Dyke brown always sounded like a convenience mix to me so I never paid any attention to it. The Roman Szmal one looks VERY similar to my Hematite "Genuine" by Daniel Smith. And we all know how genuine the Primateks really are... Have you done a lightfastness test on that one?
Lovely! 😢 Seriously lovely, brought me to tears (that the real stuff is so fugitive). I'm very fond of the hues, hadn't tried an NBr 8 but boy do you make it look tempting! Raw umbers (and dusky blues) are my jam so sepias and van dykes are just a pleasure to use. Just have to say that your brushwork with the gouache is so impressive; really made those pages pop! Here I'm trying to 'go large' but am tempted to chuck the large sheets and dig around for the detail brushes again!
Love the inspiration, and the *pigment information!* Ty! When your videos pop up, I grab my swatches and see which pigments I might not have. I think I'm going to start putting little notes behind each swatch card, as problems (or happy accidents) arise.
I'm learning so much about pigments it totally changed the way I think when considering to buy a new color and the beautiful paintings at the end are like the cherry on top. Thank you so much for all the work you do in educating us and saving us from the disappointment of a faded painting.
It's not lightfast but you still made it shine in it's own way. That's a gorgeous little masterpiece! I have some sepia watercolor and fountain pen ink for a cool brown. I like to mess around with the antique moody look sometimes 😁
I love your cave paintings!!!! I'm glad to know this is fugitive, I think I assumed it would be lightfast because it's an earth pigment. I do not have a Van Dyck brown but I have been tempted to buy one to paint along with Bob Ross LOL
You and me both, since almost every other brown earth pigment is lightfast this does feel a bit surprising to see how badly NBr8 can fade. Luckily most dark brown alternatives will get you very close to replicating it, so you can still paint along with Bob :D
I really love your pigment centric videos! Thank you for all of the hard work that goes into these videos. They’re so helpful and so soothing to watch.
This is one I picked up out of a "ooo, that's a new pigment code I haven't seen before!" whim. Since 90% of what I paint is cards that will likely see a grand total of about 30 minutes of sunlight in their lifetimes, the lightfastness isn't an issue for me, but very handy to know.
Vandyke Brown from WN is PBr7+PR101.... and it's my fav! Paul Rubens is also more black leaning too! Thank You Kim...
Brilliant, as always! You're right--this pigment is best left to the collector. Achieving the same hue with lightfast pigments is a simple matter and many convenience colors exist. Good work.
Thank you for this important video! I really love Roman Szmal Van Dyck Brown, but knowing it is fugitive is important. I think I will stick with the Daniel Smith one, which I like.
Also, Roman Szmal has some deep dark Raw and Burnt Umbers that could be subtitutes
Another great video. I have the Mission Gold Van Dyke Brown and I really like it. I don't have any NBr8s that I'm aware of. I really love the paintings you did - reminded me of wall art or art on rocks (same thing, really). Perfect use of this color. I always love seeing your DIY mixes. Thanks for this, Kimberly!
I have Winsor and newton pbr7 pr101 vandyke brown. It's a little to warm so I add Ultramarine or black iron oxide. Whatever I have out at the time. Your animals are gorgeous 😍
I own the White nights one, and wanted to purchase the Roman szmal buuut afte your review I will go for a more pigment mixed lightfast version. Thank you for all the work you put into this research !
I really appreciate the thoughtfulness and rigor you apply to your reviews. Thank you so much! :)
So glad you made this! I love the NBr8 I have by Roman Szmal and a handmade one that has the most incredible texture. I was sad when I did my own lightfastness tests and it came up faded. That unique bark-like, crackled texture I just haven't seen matched by other pigments. Guess it's a good thing I do mainly sketchbook work and small pieces I don't really sell. Gorgeous drawings at the end!
Gorgeous artwork Kim, and inspired choice of subject matter with these pigments. I bought the Holbein very early in my watercolor journey, before I knew much of anything about pigments. I have never used it beyond painting 2 swatches, I cannot stand the gritty texture of it. I haven’t tossed it yet, because I hate throwing out paint, but I can’t imagine finding anyone else who would want it either. I have plenty other dark browns to make me happy, I actually like the Mission Gold Van Dyke Brown. Thanks for the video!
Absolutely love the Lascaux style animals at the end :-)
I don't feel like I quite nailed it, but I was indeed super inspired by the Lascaux caves!!! I find it really difficult to be more relaxed and abstract with animal designs, there was some serious creativity going on in things like horn patterns back in cave painting days :D
V.D. brown has been on my wish list for a while, but now I will rethink that. I see a few comments from people who enjoy Winsor & Newton's V.D. brown, so perhaps that is a good option.
i definitely need to get a granulating pbk11 sometime, i love how this mixture with a pbr7 looks in the bbackground of these paintings!!! 😳✨ thanks for always keeping us informed☺️
nice idea with using these types of colors as a layer for painting/drawing on top of! I actually remembered I used to do this sometimes, I need to do this again more, thanks for reminding about this ^^
Your paintings were unbelievably suitable for the pigment you showcased today. Love the paintings! I have some browns in my palette (the usual suspects ie burnt sienna, burnt umber, the two pigment umber by Paul Rubens and their burned brown). So far I’ve avoided Van Dyke brown as being a pigment for professional artists, and I’m far from even being an expert hobbyist. I’m still using my training wheels on my watercolor journey (ie tutorials and beginner books).
This is really great and useful research. Thank you!!
Nice! Very well done extremely informative I love your videos
I just added some of your videos to my watch later and realized who you are. i came across your lightfastness databases when finally learning of the sadness that is lightfastness or the lack of it. seeing your collection is helpful. but shoot discouraging as well. makes me wanna keep my ideas just in my head. But i am really glad that you took the time to do all this for us. it also makes me question how works in the museums lasted as long as they have, before they were in their refuge of the museum. Maybe you have more answers. Here is one. Can you mix colors from lightfast pigments and have them be lightfast shades....that straight out of a tube may have been fugitive? or is fugitive fugitive based on shade of color alone?
It's a lovely painting. Van Dyke Brown made me think of coffee art too.
I am gonna make a page in my sketchbook copying this style, so beautiful.
I like historical pigments and I didn't know about the "N" signification on the paint code. Very interesting. I wouldn't use it in a painting situation because I've got plenty of earth tones already. Great video!
I've only used van dyke browns for toning sketchbook paper since it's usually easier to draw on coloured paper
I own a couple of NBr8 and while I have them for interest, I'm not the biggest fan of it. I do kind of like how the faded mass-tones look though, they have some nice texture. Great idea with the cave painting idea!
The Old Holland mix reminds me of caput mortum mixes. Unfortunately, I've already sold my soul to Sennelier's caput mortum, which has nothing to do with the fact that I spilled far too much of it in a palette and now have to use it up because I don't want to waste it (though it is genuinely a lovely colour).
I love being inspired by color - it basically demanded cave art when I swatched them lol :) That spill was just a happy accident to make sure you used up that wonderful color - I'm a big fan of Sennelier's Caput Mortum as well! This Old Holland Vandyke/Cassel looks really similar to DS hematite burnt scarlet and a little like Schmincke's new Volcano Brown too, though for that earthy red/black color separating combo I think I'd prefer to just keep a good PR101 and PBk11 on my palette.
Thank you for another exceptional video! I use Daniel Smith's Van Dyck brown PBr7. I like the very dark coolish hue.
I have both the Holbein and Mission Gold VanDyke Brown. Since I am not yet to the point I;'m hanging or selling my art it doesn't bother me much, but this information is great. Thank you
Another great video! I had never paid much attention to this colour, until I got a free pan from RedCloverMeadow with my order and I fell in love… it’s not as pigmented as the ones you tested, more like the version you made with pbk11 on the cooler side and quite transparent. No idea which pigments they used for it as they don’t disclose them. I got the Roman Szmal after that but still, RCM one remains my favourite, love the texture. Very nice artworks you created with it!
Another really interesting and informative video c: !
This color really reminds me a lot of the hematite brown shade from roman szmal that i purchased recently. Both are gorgeous browns with a lot of texture so maybe that would be a possible replacement for those who want the hue and texture of Vandyke brown and the convenience of a premixed/single pigment paint.
Informative as usual, and loving the painting you did with your own mix, it looks cool.
I own my fair share of browns, not sure if I have this pigment, haven't painted in a while, can't remember what I got from roman szmal exactly.
Hahaha I have a few paints called Van Dyke Brown, but nothing that is actually NBr8. Is that good or bad news? I don't know! 😀 Pigment info is interesting and strange. Loved the video as always!
Good or bad news lol... well as a pigment enthusiast who tries ALL the things I'm glad to have experienced so many different colors, but I can not say that I would do it again. Going forward I'd rather reach for my reliable similar-looking iron oxides, as this particular fugitive color was too easily replicated to be worth the UV fragility.
Thank you again for another video. I always learn something new!
I have Daniel Smith's in my main palette which is all PBr7. It leans a little closer to their Raw Umber in hue.
Hi Kim. This was a good video and very informative. I have a request for a video if you’re looking for ideas. I would love a video on your favourite limited travel palette. I’m currently putting together a set from my now great selection of pigments and realize just how hard it is to leave some of my beloved colours behind. I thought a split primary would provide the greatest options but would love your take on a travel set.
Ok so here is my list. It’s by no means definitive but I wanted to share it if anyone’s interested
PY 175/PY150/pY183/ochre/pY119/PBr7 burnt umber/ PY43 raw sienna/ pR233/leaf green/PG18/Aqua/PG50cobalt/PB5manganese be hue/PB78/PB29/PG15/PV15/PV23/PR122/PR209/PR264/volcano red/hematite/Spinel/Payne’s Grey
Voila. I’ve done a swatch card for inside and I may swap out a few. It’s actually a LOT of colours but I wanted a good selection for sky, flowers and the millions of greens one finds in nature. Plus some dark options for shadows and more illustrative work. I’m taking a few water brushes, a detail brush, my beloved Princeton Neptune#6, à click eraser, pencil, pigma and Sakura pens, white ink pen, one tube of white gouache and my watercolour travel sketch book. All of it fits inside a little zippered pouch except for the sketchbook.
Thanks for everything. I’ve learned so much.
Looks like I need to check my Roman Szmals. IDC if they "fix" it later, it pisses me straight off to find out I've wasted money on a fugitive paint I was told was lightfast.. they should know better and/or do the actual work to find out before they put it on the market, or label it unknown and at least give us warning. I don't typically go for VDB but use a lot of Sepia, it's my go to "dark" in my limited palettes vs the usual neutral tint or paynes grey.. I just prefer the warmer tone. I might have one or two in the collection somewhere though, some brands have so few good options I tend to buy the hue I want in the most lightfast combination regardless of name. The Old Holland one is so pretty, I just haven't been able to convince myself to try that brand, it's so expensive per tube.
Old Holland is crazy expensive, but they have a couple unique colors that I'm glad I tried. I will say though they are very quirky and perform as a gansai. They smell like burnt glue from the animal glue and other odd binder additives they use. That's also a brand that suffers from labeling everything as LFI-LFII without checking a darn thing. It drives me nuts too, the only thing I feel like I can do about it is make videos like these.
@@KimberlyCrick Ew.. yeah I think I will pass. I wonder if that is what makes the Camel watercolors smell too?
Lovely cave paintings! I don't have any Vandyke brown... I tend to mix most of my browns from blacks and some staples from Roman Szmal, like their Cyprus raw and burnt umber colors, as well as some staples from Da Vinci. At some point, I'd love to hear your take on the recent price increases on Roman Szmal paints. Have you worked through the cost comparison to full pan quantities vs. tubes from some place like DaVinci? I've been willing to buy quite a few pans from Jackson's, even tho the shipping takes forever, because of the price points and unique sourcing/mixes. Is it still an economical artist grade paint?
DaVinci is not economical for anyone outside of the USA, so for a lot of people Roman is still a go-to ideal brand. It also depends on how much paint you use. When you own a lot of colors, a 37ml bulk tube might not be something you'll ever use up to justify having spent more on it. I think there's going to be a LOT of price fluctuations this year, I'm nervous it will hit DV because MGraham just had a massive increase and they used to be much more economical too. Sometimes though prices come back down on sales, so we'll see how this all evens out over time. That being said, even if I never use it all, I love DaVinci Burnt Umber at about $12 per 37ml. It equals about 8-10 half pans or safely 4 full pans... estimating $3/full DV vs $3.79 romans current price for Cyprus BU Deep - either way is really not so bad! The other types of pigments, especially cadmiums and cobalt prices, are going up everywhere sadly. After accounting for drying/shrinkage and refilling to the brim, usually I get 4 half pans (2 full) out of a 15ml tube in most brands.
I do have one Van Dyck Brown. Mission Gold. It is PBr7. It's a nice enough color, but I don't use it. It came in a set.
I really hope the lightfastness and pigment tests for the White Nights paints won't get canceled. I do understand why people want to cancel Russian brands, but most of us already have these paints and I don't think it will hurt to learn more about the pigments, lightfastness,... I especially love when they are included in comparisons with other paint companies
All test result updates will just happen on my site instead of being promoted here.
@@KimberlyCrick thanks a lot
My Roman szmal Vandyke brown is awfully hard rock solid. I can't even get a color from it. It's sad
Funny I would expect them to offer a fugitive pigment because there was something lovely or useful about it but these paints don’t even paint out nicely. The granulation is more like a scruffy flocculation - they literally look like someone grabbed some dirt to paint with.
I've been wondering what to do with my white gouache. I've been just keeping it in it's tube separate from everything else and popping a bit on my palette as needed.. but it's a bit of a hassle and I wind up wasting a lot since I don't typically use that much at any given time. I've noticed you keep yours in a pan.. is that just for each use or do you store it that way dry? Would it be better in a sealed container with a lid, or leaving it in the tube so it's fresh each time as I've been doing? I use WN designer if it makes a difference, I've had it for a long time, it was the first suggestion I got starting out and since I use so little it will probably last forever. Do you find the M Graham is better than the WN?
I leave a dry pan of white gouache out on my work desk all the time. I use it so often I don't even cover it up or put it in a palette container. I use M Graham because it's less prone to cracking into small pieces due to the honey content. I don't like the way WN dries really hard sometimes. You could really use any brand if you wanted to add a drop of glycerin or honey to the pan and stir before it hardens... may help it stay a little easier to re-wet and certainly less prone to cracking apart. I think I'll do a white gouache comparison, putting them all into pans to see which are the worst for cracking and re-wet and see if I can fix them up. I meant to do that anyway to really look at who has the best pigment load for an intense white, but I've been pretty happy with the M Graham I've been using for years. If the one you have cracks a lot, you can try to press it down in the pan as it dries (semi soft drying stage) to see if compressing it keeps it from falling apart.
@@KimberlyCrick I got a big tube of M. Graham white gouache and I was surprised a dot of it left out dried hard as a rock quickly and was hard to rewet, despite the honey content. Do you have this issue? Are other brands even worse?
@@KimberlyCrick I would love to see that comparison. I know a lot of people use ink but I really prefer either the gouache or a pastel pencil.
@@jennw6809 I wonder if that might be because you're in a different climate than Kim or something?
Nerdy Essay (with possibly too many parentheticals) time!
I live in a very arid, mountainous region, at altitude. My Sennelier (which is NOT M Graham obviously, but does have honey) stays tacky when all of my DS is dry dry dry and often crumbly
Honey and glycerin are both humectants, which have the property of drawing moisture to them.
Humectants are used, in cosmetics, for instance, to draw water to them so you feel moisturized (double-edged sword: if you are wetter than your environment [curse you, winter!], it is possible it'll draw moisture from YOU lmao)
Jane Blundel, who lives in a particularly humid area of Australia (IIR) dislikes honey-based paints because she reports they have molded on her before (again this seems to be a thing with how moist her climate is).
I've also seen people complain honey-based paints are hard to send dot card sample cards of as well, because they're "runny"
I absolutely believe these people, but in my climate I could turn my Sennelier pans upside down or backwards and they wouldn't run.
I think that's a benefit to different companies using different binders and additives (as long as they DECLARE them. I'm WAY allergic to an antibacterial some companies like Holbein and Schmincke put in, and companies aren't required to declare it for American buyers 🤬. At least Hol and Sch do, so respect for that at least), Sennelier paint is much quicker for me to work with than DS, AND I crank the humidity in my house (and, actually, keep my paint in a closet just beside the humidifier. Like a normal person) because I am in fact a mermaid and can barely live on land, let alone in what is basically a desert 😂😉😭
I just got some M Graham but it isn't here yet. I'll pan some and report back, if I ever can find where I said I'd do so 🙃
TLDR: in my opinion paints with humectants or without them may handle rather differently depending on what the humidity is in your area :) the drier your area the more you may love/rely on them, but also that could mean one person's dot (of a paint with or without humectants) performs differently than someone else's
Be well 🥰
@@KimberlyCrick I would really love that. In particular I would value color comparisons (X Titanium/Zinc/etc white is a creamier/matter/brighter/bluer/more non-matte/etc white than Y] and what the hazes look like over black paper/other colors, etc, as well as the coverage, which I assume you would have done.
I have looked in vain for a video like this.
Also, perhaps, how they all mix with a particular transparent color. Basically how they'd perform as a diy gouache-maker, whether they leave the color true but just a different tint, or shifted it towards some end of the color spectrum?
I have heard some concerns that heavy applications of gouache can crack. If you've noticed one did you would probably mention that anyway, but I hear people in forums asking for help finding one that doesn't crack.
You have a life, I will understand if that's way too much or out of the scope of your video intention. But it's a video I haven't found, and it's a niche I have several times wished was filled.
Be well!
Did you A Gallow review get hijacked???
Sadly no, I'm just very ill and can't do voice overs at this time. Since many of my videos are information dense, the script was too much to put in text/subtitles. There will be more videos with other random voices, the next couple will be voiced by other nice ladies that volunteered to fill in. That way I'll still be able to provide content while unable to do the speech. Happy painting :)
@@KimberlyCrick oh dear. Hope you are on the men's soon!
I own a vandyke brown tube by Windsor and Newton., looks NOTHING like NBr8 hahaha it’s a useful color tho
I've heard a lot of people love that W&N one! It may not look like NBr8, but at least it's totally lightfast :D