Hi friends! This review took a while! Daniel Smith Inspiration Set contains 12 half pans of artist grade watercolours, and I purchased it on sale for CAD$80. These are the most expensive watercolours I own to date. By the way, I did not do any research on this set when I bought it; I wanted to surprise myself and see what I can come up with these “inspirational” colours. In hindsight I wish I had read some reviews prior to purchasing.
The 12 Colours In This Set
Let’s take a look at the colours:
- Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue
- Quinacridone Rose
- Wisteria
- Rose of Ultramarine
- Moonglow
- Shadow Violet
- Phthalo Blue
- Lavender
- Cascade Green
- Serpentine Genuine
- Green Apatite Genuine
- Quinacridone Gold
The tin also includes 12 extra empty half pans, and a waterproof acetate colour map, which is very handy. By the way, the set is made in Seattle, USA.
Daniel Smith Inspiration Set Swatches
I swatched the 12 colours in my Painter’s Color Diary, which has 100% cold pressed cotton paper. All pictures are taken in natural light so you can see what they really look like. It was then that I realized half of the shades granulate. I will preface by saying that I didn’t like granulating colours because my earliest experience with watercolours are those that unintentionally granulate. The art department in my school didn’t exactly provide the best materials so the watercolours I used as a child were chalky and granulating, which turned me off watercolour for the longest time.
In addition, there was some tea in the watercolour community about Moonglow, when some artists revealed that it is not lightfast like the brand claims. I don’t do lightfastness testing, but if you are into that, you can check out Kimberly Crick, who did extensive testing on most watercolour paints. Personally, lightfastness is important to me, because I don’t want my art to fade away over time, not to mention at this price point I shouldn’t have to worry about the colours being fugitive.
Daniel Smith Inspiration Set Performance Review
So right off the bat, I was a bit wary of the set. Furthermore, the set being costly also created a mental handicap for me, as I am too precious about expensive art supply. Clearly I have issues! LOL. Anyhow, I decided to use the non-granulating colours first and did a couple of beachy sand dunes paintings since they did not require too much paint. 😛
They are similar, aren’t they? The main difference between the two paintings are the main colours used. The first painting used lavender and quinacridone gold; the second one used quinacridone rose and the serpentine genuine.
These paints are very smooth and pigmented, the best I have ever used. I have been using mostly Rosa Gallery and Paul Rubens paints and they were good, but Daniel Smith paints are great. You will feel the difference right away.
Granulating Paints Performance
In the third painting, which I painted Pennywise, I started using the granulating colours. I mixed the granulating colours with the other colours so they all appeared granulating.
Honestly, I did not like shadow violet. It looks and behaves like cheap paint. I tried to use it as background or to mix with other colours but it just gives a cloudy, murky colour. My favourites in this set are cadmium yellow medium hue, quinacridone rose, quinacridone gold and phthalo blue.
My last painting used moonglow, shadow violet and phthalo blue as the background to showcase the granulating paints. I know some people like the granulating paints but I am on the fence. I really tried to like them and use them for special effects, but I personally am not a huge fan of them. Personal bias aside, the granulating paints granulate very well so if you want that effect then these are for you.
Summary of Daniel Smith Inspiration Set Review
Daniel Smith extra fine watercolours are very high quality, beautiful paints that I do not regret buying. They are very pigmented so you don’t need to use a lot to achieve the same results like you would other paints. Moreover, the granulating paints granulate well. Since I am reviewing specifically this set as a whole I must warn you that half of the set is granulating, so if you don’t like the look of them then this set is not for you. They do have other sets that have different colour schemes so you can always pick the colours that appeal more to you.
