Fwiw these may not be lightfast but I have a painting from a friend made using these and it's hung for a little over a year in my garage and still looks fairly new. Of course you'd want to take care if it was something very important but these aren't as delicate as one may think!
I confess that for want of right pronunciation of a brand I have been watching the video, but not making a decision to buy this set. I work on my watercolor favorites video and Lemon Yellow bottle is included. Now I loose my sleep to have this kit! Thank you for your wonderful review!
I just purchased to bottles and am excited to use them..I appreciate your honest opinion. I was hoping they were light fast because I do like the brilliance of color and not having to use a ton of it to get that brilliance.
I love this product. I have "most" of the colors.... I was getting them one/two at a time from Blick and have ended up with a great assortment. Just beautiful colors and so fun to use. I don't sell my work (yet) so I haven't been too concerned about light-fastedness. I just love to play with COLOR!!! Thanks for the review. Always fun to see other's opinions. Lauri
Heya, not sure if you are aware of this but you said the Dr. Martin's can be used to paint on fabric, and can be made permanent, you can also do that with inktense both the blocks and the pencils. Ran across a video accidentally about 6 months ago about it. Not exactly fine art but would be a great craft project for kids, especially the inktense pencils as you don't need to worry about spills like the liquid.
Great review, Thanks! Love that you mentioned the non-toxic quality and the trick to use them on fabric with soda ash. I know some artists mix these with traditional watercolour (if they keep work in sketchbooks or scan and don't have to worry about them being fugitive.) Though I have heard that some of the fluorescent colours don't scan as well because of reflection or some such.
Interesting about the scan not picking up fluorescent colors, but maybe that makes sense. Hopefully though, even if these are fugitive, they serve a purpose in terms of sketchbook or story boards. Hope you are good.
Great review Marty! The radiance has always been so tempting with these. Glad you pointed out the light fastness problem. A big deal for any fine artist who may exhibit original work. Hydrus is a much better choice in such cases. I got rid of all mine and am sticking with Hydrus for a liquid WC. Back in the day these were really popular with comic artists and cartoonists who mostly color digitally now.
+The Mind of Watercolor Hi Steve - I remember those days, when all of my comic book artist friends were raving about these and they were just part of the work by hand. I miss those days when we were more tactile than digital. My entire career has been in technology though, so I guess I'm what you'd call hypocrite. :-) Thanks for the note my friend. Been binge watching MoWC quite a bit lately. Oh I haven't forgotten about our Art exchange, I just haven't been able to pick our something worthy enough to send you yet. Let's do a collaboration video sometime this spring. - Marty
+Owings Art No problem. And yes, looking forward to a collab. I was planning to circle back around to you once the weather warms up especially for you guys up there in the frozen North 😃. What I really want to do is one of your art adventures as guests on each other's channel. It should be a lot of fun. I love that format.
The Mind of Watercolor That sounds great my friend! Heck, I'd even consider a road trip. :-) Spent a summer and fall in North Carolina a long, long time ago. Virtual Art Adventure would be great as well.
+Owings Art Oh that would be sweet! We could go on location together and turn it into two videos somehow! Let me know for sure if that turns into a real possibility.
Merci beaucoup pour toutes vos vidéos. Elles sont très intéressantes et fort bien faites. I don't speak in English, but I love your vidéo and appreciate your generosity. Thank's!
+Louise Camirand Salutations Louise. Merci pour les remarques très aimables et pour avoir pris le temps de commenter. Mon friench est pas si bon, mais je ne peux utiliser Google translate :-) Merci pour regarder et pour votre gentillesse. - Marty
Wow, the colors are lovely! Though I think these are bit too expensive for not being lightfast and I believe there are cheaper alternatives to these stampers (?) use. I'd much rather invest straight away on the lightfast set.
+ohm Thank you very much for the comments. I just posted a review on the excellent Hydrus liquid watercolors. Here is the review: ruclips.net/video/8M7yKKhrio8/видео.html
I have a few of these, they're really pretty. I mostly use the Liquitex acrylic inks though, they're permanent once they dry. That can be a downside though. It's just a personal preference I guess.
Hi Rose - If you want to have colors like this along with more lightfastness, try the Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus. I did a review on them here: ruclips.net/video/8M7yKKhrio8/видео.html
Hi Deborah - It's a good question. I think the best way to make sure a product will be lightfast is to use a single pigment. When you look for products check and see if they are single-pigment. :-)
So I really like these and I think I'm probably going to order some for my classes to try, but I'm also thinking about what watercolor has that these don't. And that comes down to the character of the paint. Like in my experience there's varying degrees of granulation depending on the color in the water color and there's varying degrees of thickness or opacity and I feel like the pH Martin's are a little bit more streamlined in that regard and they do lose some of their character even though they are beautiful vibrant paints. I guess that's just in support of what watercolor has that these don't. That said these are cool.
Hi Michelle - I'm not entirely well versed on the science of these, but I think they use, "brighteners" and additives to really enhance the vibrancy. They are extremely loud and even watered down, they pop off the page.
+Owings Art yes I have made sprays and splatters as well as drips. Also have used them with alcohol technique as well as the plastic wrap technique. You can use them anytime you have a technique that requires a very "wet medium". I have used them to color in image but not my favorite way because you need a light hand which I don't have.
+Liezzah The can be re-wet, but lifting them is a little tougher and depends a lot on how robust your paper is. It's interesting because these are so vibrant and vivid, I'm still figuring out how to knock down the color through re-working. - Marty
These look really nice Marty! Quick question however, have you tried any other liquid watercolor concentrates, that you would rate higher than these? Maybe I have missed it, prior to my finding you, on RUclips? Thank you :)
+Rhonda Magee Hi Rhonda - Not really, but I've tried the Derwent Inktense blocks and pencils. I'm working on my review of the Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus, which are more lightfast and are very concentrated as well. Have you tried any other brands Rhonda?
i don't like them that much because when i mix two colors i can see splotches of both the colors that i mixed. i don't know why that is i stir it well =(
these wont fade in incandescent light, so, in a dim lit room, hung on the wall, the piece shouldnt fade too badly. If you also spray with a UV resistant spray and then frame behind UV resistant glass, you should be able to hang these on the wall with minimal fading all together :)
+DontLeaveMeLucile They didn't hold up at all well in my lightfast testing. As a matter of fact they were downright poor. I saw significant fading in both sun and indirect light after a few short weeks.
+Owings Art very lightfastness it means more or less resistant to light? sorry to ask one more time, but to me some terms in enghish are difficult to understand.
+Owings Art very lightfastness it means more or less resistant to light? sorry to ask one more time, but to me some terms in enghish are difficult to understand.
Ana Patrícia Barbosa No problem. Lightfast means the color will be resistant to light. It will last longer in light. So less lightfast means poor longevity in light. More lightfast means the colors will last longer in light. :-)
This is way too expensive for something that is dye-based, thus not lightfast. Watercolor is expensive because of the natural pigments. Dyes are dirt cheap which is why Ecoline liquid watercolor is cheap in its origin country, Netherlands around 2-3 euro per 30ml bottle, commonly used in preschools. Go figure.
OMG, I want these! Ink and colored pencils for life!
+SuperFlawless9 Oh yeah, production wise this is your best video yet! It's so informative that it makes it really entertaining. :)
+SuperFlawless9 These are awesome! The colors just jump off the page. I'm testing the Hydrus right now. They also look great!!!
+Owings Art Thank you Patrick!
Fwiw these may not be lightfast but I have a painting from a friend made using these and it's hung for a little over a year in my garage and still looks fairly new. Of course you'd want to take care if it was something very important but these aren't as delicate as one may think!
I confess that for want of right pronunciation of a brand I have been watching the video, but not making a decision to buy this set. I work on my watercolor favorites video and Lemon Yellow bottle is included. Now I loose my sleep to have this kit! Thank you for your wonderful review!
:-) Thank you for watching! LOL, please don't lose sleep. ~Marty
colors are beautiful!
+REBECCA SHARP They are for sure. Very vibrant. - Marty
I just purchased to bottles and am excited to use them..I appreciate your honest opinion. I was hoping they were light fast because I do like the brilliance of color and not having to use a ton of it to get that brilliance.
They make a brand called Hydrus and they are lightfast. Here is a link to my review of them: ruclips.net/video/8M7yKKhrio8/видео.html
I have been using these since 1976 and they have been lightfast and colorfast. I do have archival glass in the frames but they have held up.
That's awesome to hear.
I love this product. I have "most" of the colors.... I was getting them one/two at a time from Blick and have ended up with a great assortment. Just beautiful colors and so fun to use. I don't sell my work (yet) so I haven't been too concerned about light-fastedness. I just love to play with COLOR!!! Thanks for the review. Always fun to see other's opinions.
Lauri
+Windkisssed Thank for watching and commenting Lauri. These are pretty awesome. - Marty
Heya, not sure if you are aware of this but you said the Dr. Martin's can be used to paint on fabric, and can be made permanent, you can also do that with inktense both the blocks and the pencils. Ran across a video accidentally about 6 months ago about it. Not exactly fine art but would be a great craft project for kids, especially the inktense pencils as you don't need to worry about spills like the liquid.
Thanks for the video......also I was smiling as you were doing your scribbles, each one looks like a different side view of a face!!
Oh thank you!
Very nice.
Great review, Thanks! Love that you mentioned the non-toxic quality and the trick to use them on fabric with soda ash. I know some artists mix these with traditional watercolour (if they keep work in sketchbooks or scan and don't have to worry about them being fugitive.) Though I have heard that some of the fluorescent colours don't scan as well because of reflection or some such.
Interesting about the scan not picking up fluorescent colors, but maybe that makes sense. Hopefully though, even if these are fugitive, they serve a purpose in terms of sketchbook or story boards. Hope you are good.
@@owingsart I just love them. They add such intensity. I'm well, thanks :) Hope you are good too!
another great review!
+ColoringKaria Thank you Karia.
Great review Marty! The radiance has always been so tempting with these. Glad you pointed out the light fastness problem. A big deal for any fine artist who may exhibit original work. Hydrus is a much better choice in such cases. I got rid of all mine and am sticking with Hydrus for a liquid WC. Back in the day these were really popular with comic artists and cartoonists who mostly color digitally now.
+The Mind of Watercolor Hi Steve - I remember those days, when all of my comic book artist friends were raving about these and they were just part of the work by hand. I miss those days when we were more tactile than digital. My entire career has been in technology though, so I guess I'm what you'd call hypocrite. :-) Thanks for the note my friend. Been binge watching MoWC quite a bit lately. Oh I haven't forgotten about our Art exchange, I just haven't been able to pick our something worthy enough to send you yet. Let's do a collaboration video sometime this spring. - Marty
+Owings Art No problem. And yes, looking forward to a collab. I was planning to circle back around to you once the weather warms up especially for you guys up there in the frozen North 😃. What I really want to do is one of your art adventures as guests on each other's channel. It should be a lot of fun. I love that format.
The Mind of Watercolor That sounds great my friend! Heck, I'd even consider a road trip. :-) Spent a summer and fall in North Carolina a long, long time ago. Virtual Art Adventure would be great as well.
+Owings Art Oh that would be sweet! We could go on location together and turn it into two videos somehow! Let me know for sure if that turns into a real possibility.
The Mind of Watercolor Will do Steve. I'll have to seriously consider it for sure. I think it would be a blast - Marty
Merci beaucoup pour toutes vos vidéos. Elles sont très intéressantes et fort bien faites. I don't speak in English, but I love your vidéo and appreciate your generosity. Thank's!
+Louise Camirand Salutations Louise. Merci pour les remarques très aimables et pour avoir pris le temps de commenter. Mon friench est pas si bon, mais je ne peux utiliser Google translate :-) Merci pour regarder et pour votre gentillesse. - Marty
Wow, the colors are lovely! Though I think these are bit too expensive for not being lightfast and I believe there are cheaper alternatives to these stampers (?) use. I'd much rather invest straight away on the lightfast set.
+ohm Thank you very much for the comments. I just posted a review on the excellent Hydrus liquid watercolors. Here is the review: ruclips.net/video/8M7yKKhrio8/видео.html
I have a few of these, they're really pretty. I mostly use the Liquitex acrylic inks though, they're permanent once they dry. That can be a downside though. It's just a personal preference I guess.
+RedStarLights I need to add the Liquitex to my list. - Marty
Owings Art
I look forward to it (despite actually using them on a regular basis haha).
RedStarLights :-)
Darn...why couldn't these be lightfast? I think this collection has the most colors. Thanks for the review.
Hi Rose - If you want to have colors like this along with more lightfastness, try the Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus. I did a review on them here: ruclips.net/video/8M7yKKhrio8/видео.html
What's the difference between Dr. Ph Martin's Radiant and Hydrus colors? I'm about to buy some so I'd like to know the difference.
+Kawaii San I outline those differences in the video. Mainly the Radiant's are NOT lightfast, but the Hydrus ARE lightfast. - Marty
this may be a question you're unable to answer but is there a medium that can be added to non lightfast paints to make them lightfast ?
Hi Deborah - It's a good question. I think the best way to make sure a product will be lightfast is to use a single pigment. When you look for products check and see if they are single-pigment. :-)
So I really like these and I think I'm probably going to order some for my classes to try, but I'm also thinking about what watercolor has that these don't. And that comes down to the character of the paint. Like in my experience there's varying degrees of granulation depending on the color in the water color and there's varying degrees of thickness or opacity and I feel like the pH Martin's are a little bit more streamlined in that regard and they do lose some of their character even though they are beautiful vibrant paints. I guess that's just in support of what watercolor has that these don't. That said these are cool.
Hi Michelle - I'm not entirely well versed on the science of these, but I think they use, "brighteners" and additives to really enhance the vibrancy. They are extremely loud and even watered down, they pop off the page.
They are spendy but really last a long time. I've had my set for 5 years and they are exactly the same as when I bought them.
+Melissa W Do you use them Melissa?
+Owings Art yes I have made sprays and splatters as well as drips. Also have used them with alcohol technique as well as the plastic wrap technique. You can use them anytime you have a technique that requires a very "wet medium". I have used them to color in image but not my favorite way because you need a light hand which I don't have.
Melissa W Thanks for the response. Sounds like you can get some very cool effects! - Marty
+Owings Art definitely and with such vibrant colors I am always finding more.
Can they be re-wetted once dry on a palette? Can they be lifted, once dry on the page like watercolours?
+Liezzah The can be re-wet, but lifting them is a little tougher and depends a lot on how robust your paper is. It's interesting because these are so vibrant and vivid, I'm still figuring out how to knock down the color through re-working. - Marty
These look really nice Marty! Quick question however, have you tried any other liquid watercolor concentrates, that you would rate higher than these? Maybe I have missed it, prior to my finding you, on RUclips? Thank you :)
+Rhonda Magee Hi Rhonda - Not really, but I've tried the Derwent Inktense blocks and pencils. I'm working on my review of the Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus, which are more lightfast and are very concentrated as well. Have you tried any other brands Rhonda?
nope...I was just being nosey rosy ;)
Rhonda Magee LOL. No worries. Thanks! - Marty
What paper(s) do you find best for these watercolors? I see they recommend papers for illustration but offer nothing more specific. Can you enlighten?
100% cotton paper is the best. Brands I use are Arches, Strathmore, Bee and occasional some French or Italian papers.
i don't like them that much because when i mix two colors i can see splotches of both the colors that i mixed. i don't know why that is i stir it well =(
+Drea O Not sure either. I didn't experience that problem. - Marty
these wont fade in incandescent light, so, in a dim lit room, hung on the wall, the piece shouldnt fade too badly. If you also spray with a UV resistant spray and then frame behind UV resistant glass, you should be able to hang these on the wall with minimal fading all together :)
+DontLeaveMeLucile They didn't hold up at all well in my lightfast testing. As a matter of fact they were downright poor. I saw significant fading in both sun and indirect light after a few short weeks.
Do these have granulation like other water colors/Hydrus?
Yes, a little.
what means lightfastness? you give a 3, it means with time the ink desapear?
+Ana Patrícia Barbosa Hi Ana - Yes, it means they fade quickly in sunlight or UV light. You're correct. - Marty
+Owings Art very lightfastness it means more or less resistant to light? sorry to ask one more time, but to me some terms in enghish are difficult to understand.
+Owings Art very lightfastness it means more or less resistant to light? sorry to ask one more time, but to me some terms in enghish are difficult to understand.
Ana Patrícia Barbosa No problem. Lightfast means the color will be resistant to light. It will last longer in light. So less lightfast means poor longevity in light. More lightfast means the colors will last longer in light. :-)
+Owings Art Thanks
This is way too expensive for something that is dye-based, thus not lightfast. Watercolor is expensive because of the natural pigments. Dyes are dirt cheap which is why Ecoline liquid watercolor is cheap in its origin country, Netherlands around 2-3 euro per 30ml bottle, commonly used in preschools. Go figure.
Agreed. However, for the people that don't care about expense, these are fun. I prefer the Hydrus.