Daniel Smith used to make Manganese Violet, but they discontinued it years ago when they stopped using some of the heavy metals like cadmium because of their location near the Duwamish River, but they may have discontinued it at the time for some other reason. The new 2025 version is slightly different, still PV16, but low staining instead of medium staining and series 3 instead of series 1. DS has given it a new brand code of 261, the discontinued version was 052. It's a beautiful color, might need to invest :) I love how the watercolor manufacturers like DS, Roman Szmal and Schmincke seem to push each other to add new colors--not that I need to buy more colors, but it's tempting. Thanks for sharing this update with us watercolor nerds!
I know that heavy metals are a problem if they get into our drinking water. Cadmium is especially toxic to humans, animals. waterways and plantlife and hard to filter out of public water systems, so as I recall that's why DS stopped making cadmium paints. Cobalt is also a heavy metal, but is filtered from our local (Seattle) tap water (although I don't put my cobalt watercolor water down the drain just in case). Manganese is a naturally occurring metal and needed in the human body in small quantities, but I just read that new guidelines were recently set for Washington state public water systems to test for manganese as too much is harmful in drinking water to infants. So I'm wondering if Daniel Smith felt it was now safe to produce (now this is speculation on my part, somewhat informed by a tour I took at the Daniel Smith store/manufacturing area many years ago, and a tour I took of our local water and waste management systems pre-covid) so it could be for another reason entirely. A friend had given me some tubes of DS paint she didn't need and an old Manganese Violet tube was included, but almost totally used up so I never painted with it except for a few swatches. Yikes, TLDR!!! Hope it's interesting to my fellow watercolorists!🖌
I feel like the Jaune Brilliants and Coral Reef definitely caters to illustrators who are more familiar with eastern watercolors that readily have these types of colors available (Turner, Holbein, Mijello). I believe their pink adjacent is usually called "Shell Pink". Most of these are great for light skin tone mixes and blushes and mix a great variety of soft colors so I am glad to see they have also included them in their lines!
I do have the Holbein Shell pink, but it definitely leans more “bubblegum” than the DS Coral Reef! It will be fun to do a comparison! I think that’s what DS was going for with some of these colors; offering some comparable colors to Holbein etc. I’m looking forward to some comparisons!
@ashleyhawkeswatercolor it uses the same pigment combination too, so it'll come down to how much red that PO73 has or if it's more firmly orange, than red-orange.
Not a Jaune Brilliant fan or any watercolor mixed with white (I can do that on myself ;-) I would love to see the earth red and cobalt green deep in a demo. I bet they would be beautiful together!
Looks like they are satisfying the girlies who can’t resist buying pastels (even though everyone knows you just add white to any color.. and put aside transparency).
I like Earthy Light Red. I live in Arizona and the red rocks of Sedona, Jerome, even Bisbee. I can mix most of the other shades, or have from another brand.
Their Manganese Violet looks gorgeous and will end up on my palette. I just bought a tube of Michael Harding’s Manganese Violet and I love it. I have mostly Daniel Smith watercolors, but I am loving the Michael Harding just as much, especially the Amethyst and my favorite-Moss Green. I have a set of the Kuretake Gambi and most of those pigments are mixed with PW6 for that creamy, pastel look.
Manganese Violet is exactly what I have been looking for! Coral Reef and the yellow #2 look pretty fun too. All of them together would make pretty sunsets 🌅
Ooh, new colors! I love the cobalt green deep and manganese violet. I was excited about the coral reef, until I realized that it looks the same as Holbein's shell pink and has the same pigments. A totally new color would have been more fun. I'm curious how the Earthy Light Red will compare to Roman Szmal's Ginger Red, also PR290.
Oh I have shell pink! I didn't think of the connection. The swatches looked more coral than the shell pink I know! Curious to see comparisons between the two!
I have the Shell Pink and am excited to do a swatch comparison! The Coral Reef definitely looks a bit more intense, but it’s hard to tell with one swatch!
Thank you for sharing these! I am anxious to get a couple of these, cobalt green deep, manganese violet, and the earthy light red. I question them putting white in some of those and making them semi-opaque. Sounds like gouache territory. I'd be curious about your thoughts on that addition of white. Informative video, thanks!
Hi Ashley. Thanks for the exciting preview. Cobalt Green Deep and Earthy Light Red for me. I'm looking forward to ordering these and maybe some of the others. Do you have any information (or even hints) about new gouache colors for 2025?
The two colours I'm most excited about are Manganese Violet & Cobalt Green Deep! I love my granulating pigments so I feel that these will make a great addition to my palette!
I suspect they will be an awesome addition! I have the WN Cobalt Green Deep on my travel palette because I can’t paint without it! So glad DS is offering it!
I’m going for the earthy red and cobalt green deep. PR290 was introduced for high temp polymers in 2017, and has a range of reddish tones. Cant wait to see it
They will be fun to explore! I think the reason Ds is going for the white pigment colors is to offer colors similar to Holbein and similar brands who have pastel colors:) But I can understand why many wish to avoid them!
Always exciting to see new colors. Mostly interested in the one pigment colors. Daniel Smith is not cheap where I live, so I tend to go for the one pigment colors. While I sometimes like colors with white in them and do have designated palettes for those, I don‘t really like to mix them in my more traditional leaning watercolor paintings. It is either pastel colors or transparent colors, not the biggest fan of mixing the two. I don‘t think it fits my style. Really interested about that red earthy tone. I have the other two single pigments in Winsor and Newton and Schmincke, so I would love to see more where the Daniel Smith ones land in there. Really exciting.
Agreed! It will be really fun to see some brand comparison videos start to roll out this year! I agree about the white pigment colors..I tend to use them for fun, gouachy sketchbook work, but they never land on my pet portrait palette! It's so interesting how everything has it's place and each artist approaches it differently!
I like the Cobalt Green Deep and the Earthy Light Red. There is a contradiction in the description for Earthy Light Red. It says non-granulating in the prose section. The other section with the pigment info, says granulating. I think there is an oops in the prose.
There's an inconsistency in the Earthy Light Red description: in the text right of the color swatch it says non-staining and non-granulating, but below the color swatch it says low-staining and granulating! What is true now?
Earthy light red sent mixed messages. At the bottom of the description it said granulating but in description to the right said non granulating. I know my eyes saw granulation. Hopefully we will get an explanation soon!!!
It is a great question - I will definitely investigate and see if they can update the description! Good catch!! I know my granulation as well and it totally does!!
I can totally understand that! It seems like people either love or hate the semi-opaques! I didn’t love them at first, but they have grown on me! The good news is that DS still has such a massive selection to choose from; something for everyone!
@wildflower1397 I love how we all love different pigments/colors! I personally love the "odd" colors (the opaques, semi-opaques, granulators) even though I didn't used to.
When I found out the car industry dictates which colors & why Q. Burnt orange went away (the original)! Seems few ppl bought burnt orange painted cars then losing many quinacridones 😢. I must say love these colors but try my best to keep a limited pallet as so tempting but shelter, foods come first! Lovely.
It's so interesting! I think burnt orange cars need to come back in style! And I absolutely agree, colors are fun but not as important as paying the bills and putting food on the table! I always say start where you are and use what you have! A limited palette leads to more creativity!
on first look, I only like the cobalt deep green, rest seem 'muddy', 'dirty', muted with the white added, chalky, pastelly... however, on second thought perhaps they could have some use... I prefer 'clean' toned.. never seem to mix with white...maybe I'"ll change my mind once I see them demonstrated!
While I love Daniel Smith watercolors, and have far more colors than I will ever use, I also have the “new” D.S. Colors, except two, just in other brands. Roman Szmall has PR290, Ginger Red Ruby, but it leans red and not brown so that is worth looking at. As for PO62, I can just add white to Azo Orange or Winsor Orange, so that’s a convenient color.
Right outta the gate, I'm looking at the coral. I am a weirdo (that is the only warning you get 😊) and every August in my corner of Montana, it is Flamingo Month... I have a crazy collection of pinks just to get revved up for the month. (Actually, any color I associate with Miami, "Juans, aquas, lime) but I'm ready to buy the violet and the red before I jump in my van; my soon to be portable art studio, to drive the Going To The Sun road and paint images of the sunrises. Humm, I may NEED the green too. A jazzed Deb in Montana.
unfortunately, all these paints contain toxic elements: cobalt, titanium, manganese and azo compounds. If you use them, do not empty your rinse water into your drain (pour into a large container, allow the water to evaporate, and eventually the solids can be disposed of properly). also, avoid allowing your children to used these paints
Daniel Smith used to make Manganese Violet, but they discontinued it years ago when they stopped using some of the heavy metals like cadmium because of their location near the Duwamish River, but they may have discontinued it at the time for some other reason. The new 2025 version is slightly different, still PV16, but low staining instead of medium staining and series 3 instead of series 1. DS has given it a new brand code of 261, the discontinued version was 052. It's a beautiful color, might need to invest :)
I love how the watercolor manufacturers like DS, Roman Szmal and Schmincke seem to push each other to add new colors--not that I need to buy more colors, but it's tempting.
Thanks for sharing this update with us watercolor nerds!
That’s interesting! I did not know the history of DS Manganese Violet! They must have found a way to formulate it without the harsh pigments!
I know that heavy metals are a problem if they get into our drinking water. Cadmium is especially toxic to humans, animals. waterways and plantlife and hard to filter out of public water systems, so as I recall that's why DS stopped making cadmium paints. Cobalt is also a heavy metal, but is filtered from our local (Seattle) tap water (although I don't put my cobalt watercolor water down the drain just in case). Manganese is a naturally occurring metal and needed in the human body in small quantities, but I just read that new guidelines were recently set for Washington state public water systems to test for manganese as too much is harmful in drinking water to infants. So I'm wondering if Daniel Smith felt it was now safe to produce (now this is speculation on my part, somewhat informed by a tour I took at the Daniel Smith store/manufacturing area many years ago, and a tour I took of our local water and waste management systems pre-covid) so it could be for another reason entirely. A friend had given me some tubes of DS paint she didn't need and an old Manganese Violet tube was included, but almost totally used up so I never painted with it except for a few swatches. Yikes, TLDR!!! Hope it's interesting to my fellow watercolorists!🖌
I feel like the Jaune Brilliants and Coral Reef definitely caters to illustrators who are more familiar with eastern watercolors that readily have these types of colors available (Turner, Holbein, Mijello). I believe their pink adjacent is usually called "Shell Pink". Most of these are great for light skin tone mixes and blushes and mix a great variety of soft colors so I am glad to see they have also included them in their lines!
I do have the Holbein Shell pink, but it definitely leans more “bubblegum” than the DS Coral Reef! It will be fun to do a comparison! I think that’s what DS was going for with some of these colors; offering some comparable colors to Holbein etc. I’m looking forward to some comparisons!
@Arusei ShinHan PWC as well. You are very right 😄
@ashleyhawkeswatercolor it uses the same pigment combination too, so it'll come down to how much red that PO73 has or if it's more firmly orange, than red-orange.
Shinhan PWC tint have the Jaune Brilliant and Shell Pink
Coral reef!!! And Jaune brilliant 2!!! Yummy!
So good!
the coral! yes plz!
🦩
That earthy light red is gorgeous
Agreed!!
Love the coral reef, manganese violet and jaune brilliant 2. Beautiful!
🎉🤗
Same! Can’t wait to get them all!
That pink is the one that excites me. Love their descriptions, they really know how to create an image or feeling with the descriptions
I'm so excited for the pink as well!!
Not a Jaune Brilliant fan or any watercolor mixed with white (I can do that on myself ;-) I would love to see the earth red and cobalt green deep in a demo. I bet they would be beautiful together!
Absolutely cannot wait to mix the two!! 😍
Agreed!
I NEED that cobalt green deep!
Thanks for sharing!
It's a beauty!! 🎨
Coral reef deep!
🦩
I have the PG26, PV16, and PR290 from Roman Szmal, and they are lovely, lovely colors. PR290 is very unique and definitely looks like Sedona, AZ.
It will be interesting to start to see the brand comparison videos begin to roll out!
Looks like they are satisfying the girlies who can’t resist buying pastels (even though everyone knows you just add white to any color.. and put aside transparency).
Exactly! But it is nice to have convenience mixes ready to go! 🤗
@ 👍🌸
Thanks for sharing, as a huge Daniel Smith lover this is so exciting!
You are so welcome! 🤩Excited as well!!
I love this manganese violet shade.
💜
I like Earthy Light Red. I live in Arizona and the red rocks of Sedona, Jerome, even Bisbee. I can mix most of the other shades, or have from another brand.
So great for those Red Rock desert tones!! ✨
Cobalt Green Deep is my favorite one, but I know I'll end up buying all of them. Take my money!
It’s like Pokemon, gotta catch em all!! 😂
Cobalt green deep! Yes, please.
🌲
That coral reef has my attention. And yes, perfect job, quite poetic.😊
It’s so lovely! 🩷
Their Manganese Violet looks gorgeous and will end up on my palette. I just bought a tube of Michael Harding’s Manganese Violet and I love it. I have mostly Daniel Smith watercolors, but I am loving the Michael Harding just as much, especially the Amethyst and my favorite-Moss Green. I have a set of the Kuretake Gambi and most of those pigments are mixed with PW6 for that creamy, pastel look.
I have yet to try the Michael Harding colors! Moss green sounds amazing!! 🤩
I'm all about the earth tones, I can wait to see you swatch the Earthy Light Red and Cobalt Green Deep
YES! And I cannot wait to MIX the two!!
Manganese Violet is exactly what I have been looking for! Coral Reef and the yellow #2 look pretty fun too. All of them together would make pretty sunsets 🌅
Yes! Gorgeous sunset colors!
Something to look forward to! I think I may have to buy them all.
Cobalt green deep, earthy light red love both of those will have to get those 🥰
They would be an awesome addition to a landscape palette!! 🩷
Ooh, new colors! I love the cobalt green deep and manganese violet. I was excited about the coral reef, until I realized that it looks the same as Holbein's shell pink and has the same pigments. A totally new color would have been more fun.
I'm curious how the Earthy Light Red will compare to Roman Szmal's Ginger Red, also PR290.
Oh I have shell pink! I didn't think of the connection. The swatches looked more coral than the shell pink I know! Curious to see comparisons between the two!
@ I would love to see a comparison of those if you end up getting that color!
I have the Shell Pink and am excited to do a swatch comparison! The Coral Reef definitely looks a bit more intense, but it’s hard to tell with one swatch!
Take my money, Daniel Smith💸 very exciting releases!
Exactly my thoughts!!! So exciting!!
I am excited! Especially for coral reef, as DS has Wisteria, but no light creamy pink! 💕 Thanks for sharing!
Oooh it’s going to pair SO well with Lavender and Wisteria! Macaroon colors!!
I absolutely am with you.
How can believe anything is higher, or even equals Her Majesty the Sun Queen A'Cridone Gold?!
🙄👸🏼👑
🤣✨ 🏆
Coral reef!!! I need!
Yes! You’ll love it for your florals!! 🩷 Wishing you lots of healing vibes my friend!
❤These are fun new colors!
🎉
I'm looking forward to trying: Jaune Brillian 2, Manganese Violet (and perhaps Cobalt Green Deep as I love granulating watercolors).
🙌🏻
Jaune Brilliant #2 and Coral Reef 😍😍
They look so pretty side-by-side!
Thank you for sharing these! I am anxious to get a couple of these, cobalt green deep, manganese violet, and the earthy light red. I question them putting white in some of those and making them semi-opaque. Sounds like gouache territory. I'd be curious about your thoughts on that addition of white. Informative video, thanks!
It will be fun to experiment with them!
The first one is my favorite…!!❤️
Thank you for sharing. I am a new subscriber!
I'm so glad you found your way here! 😄
Hi Ashley. Thanks for the exciting preview. Cobalt Green Deep and Earthy Light Red for me. I'm looking forward to ordering these and maybe some of the others. Do you have any information (or even hints) about new gouache colors for 2025?
You’re welcome, Chuck! I have yet to hear about any new gouache colors, but I’m looking forward to any news that I can share!
So excited for all. Mostly the Manganese Violet, but gosh, I’ll be getting all!
Right?!? They are all so exciting!!
Cobalt green deep ! Just went to the top of my list.
I think it’s going to be a favorite for a lot of people!
The two colours I'm most excited about are Manganese Violet & Cobalt Green Deep! I love my granulating pigments so I feel that these will make a great addition to my palette!
I suspect they will be an awesome addition! I have the WN Cobalt Green Deep on my travel palette because I can’t paint without it! So glad DS is offering it!
I have Jaune Brilliant by HWC and love it. I am in the midst of collecting all the DS waterstick colors
Holbein is great!!
Which of these colors has you the most excited??
Manganese violet and Coral Reef💸
Yes. 🎨
Coral Reef ❤❤
Coral and red rock
I’m going for the earthy red and cobalt green deep. PR290 was introduced for high temp polymers in 2017, and has a range of reddish tones. Cant wait to see it
Very interesting info about the pigment! I'm personally excited to mix the two and make some mossy earthy greens!
@ yes! Should be gorgeous
Cobalt green deep, manganese violet and earthy light red 😍 despite having them all from other brands, I still have to try them, duh! Lol.
I know! It’s irresistible!
Exciting!
🎉🤗
I am interested by the ones without PW6 !
They will be fun to explore! I think the reason Ds is going for the white pigment colors is to offer colors similar to Holbein and similar brands who have pastel colors:) But I can understand why many wish to avoid them!
ooh, also jaune brilliant no. 2 and manganese violet! I am so glad Daniel Smith is making the lighter colors now! I neeed 😫😩😆😝
Yes, NEED! 😜🤗
Always exciting to see new colors. Mostly interested in the one pigment colors. Daniel Smith is not cheap where I live, so I tend to go for the one pigment colors. While I sometimes like colors with white in them and do have designated palettes for those, I don‘t really like to mix them in my more traditional leaning watercolor paintings. It is either pastel colors or transparent colors, not the biggest fan of mixing the two. I don‘t think it fits my style.
Really interested about that red earthy tone.
I have the other two single pigments in Winsor and Newton and Schmincke, so I would love to see more where the Daniel Smith ones land in there. Really exciting.
Agreed!
It will be really fun to see some brand comparison videos start to roll out this year! I agree about the white pigment colors..I tend to use them for fun, gouachy sketchbook work, but they never land on my pet portrait palette! It's so interesting how everything has it's place and each artist approaches it differently!
I like the Cobalt Green Deep and the Earthy Light Red. There is a contradiction in the description for Earthy Light Red. It says non-granulating in the prose section. The other section with the pigment info, says granulating. I think there is an oops in the prose.
You're right! Thanks for catching that!
There's an inconsistency in the Earthy Light Red description:
in the text right of the color swatch it says non-staining and non-granulating, but below the color swatch it says low-staining and granulating!
What is true now?
Yes, a few people caught that! I’m going to talk to the powers that be and let them know!! Thank you! (Definitely granulating!!)
@ashleyhawkeswatercolor thank you 😍
Earthy light red sent mixed messages. At the bottom of the description it said granulating but in description to the right said non granulating. I know my eyes saw granulation. Hopefully we will get an explanation soon!!!
I wonder if they just made a mistake?
It is a great question - I will definitely investigate and see if they can update the description! Good catch!! I know my granulation as well and it totally does!!
So how does DS decide which colors to put into 5ml tubes? Is it the more popular ones? (For instance, potter's pink is in a 15ml tube)
It’s SUCH a great question! I’m not 100% sure, but your point may be correct!
I can’t wait!!!!
Me either!! The second I have them in my hands I will do a live stream!!
While the Coral Reef looks interesting, I am not really enthusiastic about any of them. Wish they were not leaning so far into the semi-opaques.
I can totally understand that! It seems like people either love or hate the semi-opaques! I didn’t love them at first, but they have grown on me! The good news is that DS still has such a massive selection to choose from; something for everyone!
@wildflower1397 I love how we all love different pigments/colors! I personally love the "odd" colors (the opaques, semi-opaques, granulators) even though I didn't used to.
OMG. When can I order ?
I’m hearing they will hit retailers early spring! As soon as I know I will update! 🤗
When I found out the car industry dictates which colors & why Q. Burnt orange went away (the original)!
Seems few ppl bought burnt orange painted cars then losing many quinacridones 😢.
I must say love these colors but try my best to keep a limited pallet as so tempting but shelter, foods come first!
Lovely.
It's so interesting! I think burnt orange cars need to come back in style! And I absolutely agree, colors are fun but not as important as paying the bills and putting food on the table! I always say start where you are and use what you have! A limited palette leads to more creativity!
on first look, I only like the cobalt deep green, rest seem 'muddy', 'dirty', muted with the white added, chalky, pastelly... however, on second thought perhaps they could have some use... I prefer 'clean' toned.. never seem to mix with white...maybe I'"ll change my mind once I see them demonstrated!
Totally understandable! I’m playing with them LIVE at noon MST today!! I’d love to have you there!
While I love Daniel Smith watercolors, and have far more colors than I will ever use, I also have the “new” D.S. Colors, except two, just in other brands. Roman Szmall has PR290, Ginger Red Ruby, but it leans red and not brown so that is worth looking at. As for PO62, I can just add white to Azo Orange or Winsor Orange, so that’s a convenient color.
So true! Thank you for your comment! 🩷
Hi, new to Your channel. I need four of five, the last one isn’t my 1st choice, ’cause I have some similar to it. The others are sooo yummy!
Welcome! I’m glad you found your way here! 🩷
Cobalt green deep
Yaasss! 💚
Right outta the gate, I'm looking at the coral. I am a weirdo (that is the only warning you get 😊) and every August in my corner of Montana, it is Flamingo Month... I have a crazy collection of pinks just to get revved up for the month. (Actually, any color I associate with Miami, "Juans, aquas, lime) but I'm ready to buy the violet and the red before I jump in my van; my soon to be portable art studio, to drive the Going To The Sun road and paint images of the sunrises. Humm, I may NEED the green too. A jazzed Deb in Montana.
You’re going to love the coral for Flamingo Month! 🤩
I think I have pigment fatigue. Not more colours 😂
Ha!! I can see how it can be overwhelming!!
OMG Barbie is the building.
🤣🩷
Who writes the descriptive color charts. Elaine from the show Seinfeld, Peterman her Boss insisted😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
MANGANESE VIOLET😁
🎉💜
unfortunately, all these paints contain toxic elements: cobalt, titanium, manganese and azo compounds. If you use them, do not empty your rinse water into your drain (pour into a large container, allow the water to evaporate, and eventually the solids can be disposed of properly). also, avoid allowing your children to used these paints
I agree! Thank you for raising this important point. 🤗
Daniel Smith will make me poor in the coming months. very, very poor. only 15ml tubes, sigh
😅