I Am Shocked by these Watercolors! MaimeriBlu Watercolor Fieldtest

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Shownotes:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u...

Did a really lose wet into wet toning wash with yellow, orange, hot pink, ultramarine blue. Colors REALLY diffuse out. I'm going to allow this to dry fully and do another similar toning wash before we start painting.

These really like to diffuse out wet into wet- they move a lot and might contain a lot of oxgall. I like this kind of soft diffused movement.


These are pretty fun to paint with, and the color is REALLY vibrant. While I'm not sure if these are the best fit for ME (pricewise), I can definitely see why they're so popular with some artists and why floral artists might like them. A little color goes a really long way.

The results are colors that are really pretty and dreamlike. You can get more saturated colors, you can spritz them to encourage mvenet, you can layer them, you can blend them out.I feel like the binders used must be decent quality, because they allow for a decent amount of flexibilty. That said, there's also a fair amount of opacity to these, which does allow for some layering and correction, but may muddy lineart. They're not as opaque as Lukas or Schmincke or Rembrandt or Turner= I feel like they're probably similar to Mijello tube watercolors, with perhaps more immediate color payoff.

This color payoff translates to the ability to mix really fine and delicate washes, add in details, or go full color if you wish. Color mixes hold up well as welll (see the blue violet flowers, the larger pink and purple flowers, even the evening primrose)

This is what field tests are for. I didn't really care for these paints all that much from what I'd seen until I started really PAINTING with them, and then I kinda started to fall in love.

Burgundy red flower- if you want to lift and rework, colors do lift fairly easily and rework, which a good sign because sometimes you want to be able to do that

Skintones- these are gorgeous in really thin layers
I can mix up a very light and translucent skin tone that glazes well and builds up gently. The same for diffusing the red into a blsh tint- really pretty, esp on this paper.

I have done SO MANY layers on the skin building it up and done so many wet into wet blush washes, and while I'm still working on it, it hasn't gone muddy on me. You can work really lean with these watercolors and they still have some color to them- not all watercolors work with thin glazes. Also, I've been using pretty dirty water and it hasn't really muddied anything yet (that said, I fill my wells with a Klein bottle, not from the cup), so even if you aren't great about switching out your water, these wont go too muddy on you.

I really like how this is coming along, but I'm definitely going to have to reink and clean up some lines.

Bokeh effect:

Not all colors are universally lifting (nor should they be), so i did kinda a modified bokeh thing, where I would lift out a circle, then dip in some yellow, to create kind like sunspots


Pros:
In practice, these paints produce BEAUTIFUL colors, particularly in dilution
Don't get used up fast
A little goes a long way
Very mixable
for the most part, very clean color and mixes
Can really lay on the delicate layers

Cons:
Kinda expensive
Saturation with these builds up FAST
Somewhat hard to find


Final Thoughts:

I'm really glad I fieldtested these (and with an inked piece I loved), because these really surprised me. With the initial Unbox & Swatch, I wasn't impressed, but these really came through in a practical setting. These handled pretty much everything I threw at them, and I can see why other artists like them. In terms of bright, vibrant color, I feel like they're a bit cleaner and brighter than Daniel Smith and maybe Winsor and Newton, perhaps comparable to Qor.


Music:
A Day in the Village Loop
A Day in the Village Loop Layer Dulcimer
A Day in the Village Final No Loop
By the Bonfire Intro
By the Bonfire Loop
Calm Intro
Calm Loop
Calm with Final No Loop
Exploring the VIllage Loop
Exploring the VIllage with Final No Loop
Japanese Village Loop
Japanese Village with Final No Loop
Kevin MacLeod Enchanted Valley
Kevin MacLeod Folk Round
Kevin Macleod Master of the Feast
Sunny Travel- Nico Staf
Sunset Dream- Cheel
Village Nights Loop
Village Nights with Final No Loop

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