Overview of Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours

Even at first look, the paints accessible within the Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours vary will pique the thrill of any watercolour painter. These are artist-quality paints, finely floor for vibrance and readability, and every is extremely pigmented for a beautiful power and depth of color. The vary boasts a formidable 136 shades, 92 of that are single pigment colors, which is designed to allow shiny, clear colour-mixing. By testing eight colors from the watercolour paint vary, I used to be in a position to see for myself the wealth of color and excessive pigment load that this model prides itself on – and rightly so, for my part.

First Impressions of Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours

I have to admit, my expectations for these watercolour paints had been excessive, as I do know that the Michael Harding vary of oil paints already has a superb status. The watercolours arrived in sturdy 15 ml tubes, well labelled, with the identify of paint, pigment quantity, and a band of the corresponding color on the entrance of the tube. As somebody whose organisational abilities will not be precisely implausible, I at all times discover this a really useful function relating to tube paints! The one situation I had right here was the color on the Indanthrone Blue tube: it appears extra violet than blue to me, which meant I did seize the fallacious paint a few occasions by mistake. The squeezing consistency of the paint was very related throughout the eight tubes I examined: creamy, thick, and a little bit sticky. This I think is partly as a result of elements employed in making these paints, which embrace high-quality gum arabic and honey.

The care that has been dedicated to producing this vary was evident in each paint I examined, with every color boasting its personal distinct character. The spectrum of watercolour paints provided is designed to go well with any artist’s goal, boasting traditionally fascinating pigments equivalent to Rose Madder and Lapis Lazuli, in addition to many trendy synthetics which provide lovely vibrant color.

Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours

Testing Colors From the Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours Vary

When deciding on my paints, I elected to check a variety of brights and darks, six of that are single pigment colors and two of that are blends, as I used to be excited to see whether or not there was a lot distinction between them, and simply how nicely these paints would combine.

Orange Sundown

This paint is maybe the strongest of all the colors I examined. It’s also a surprisingly good mixer: I’ve discovered up to now that deep orange tones are inclined to muddy a little bit when combined, as they’re usually created with a mix of pink and yellow pigments, reasonably than a real orange. Michael Harding’s model of this color makes use of a single pigment, PO34, which softens right into a pale, elegant wash. This paint is marked as semi-transparent, and when used thickly it has an actual robustness of color. This may be a beautiful addition to the palette of any botanical artist or painter of florals, with its vary of wealthy color.

Orange Sundown and Imperial Purple

Imperial Purple

Wealthy, shiny, and vibrant, this excellent purple color is a fastidiously crafted mix of two pigments: PV19, a violet shade; and PB29, which most individuals will recognise by its different identify: Ultramarine Blue. This turns into evident when sufficient water or a little bit salt is added to a wash of Imperial Purple, encouraging the paint to separate out and reveal a pleasant trace of blue underlying the deep violet color. This distinctive mixture is what provides Imperial Purple its exceptional depth. As with all Michael Harding colors, a little bit of this color goes a great distance, as a result of paint’s excessive pigment load. It’s a clear color, giving shiny, granulating washes, and I believe it could be a beautiful addition to a floral or botanical artist’s palette.

Indian Yellow

This yellow is pure sunshine: a delightfully heat, buttery color. It’s made utilizing PY83, a clear non-granulating pigment, which provides this paint an admirable, in addition to an excellent depth. It is going to stand as much as heavy watering-down and may nonetheless produce, clear washes of wonderful transparency. As a heat tone it tends in direction of the ‘pink’ finish of the color spectrum, and as such is a pure mixer with fellow heat colors equivalent to pinks, oranges, or reds. That is one other that I’ll actually be including to my common palette. 

Indian Yellow and Opera Rose

Opera Rose

I used to be so excited to do this color as Opera Rose is an everyday favorite of mine.; and in contrast to others, the Michael Harding model is non-fugitive, and has a great lightfast score. It’s also splendidly shiny; and totally, totally pink. The pleasant factor about this paint is that whereas the color is extremely vivid when used straight from the tube, it may be closely watered all the way down to create the dreamiest of rosy hues. This color lends itself most naturally to watercolour florals or botanical artwork, nevertheless I imagine that this color’s versatility would make it an fascinating addition to a panorama artist’s palette as nicely. It additionally mixes superbly with Indian Yellow to create some fantastic sundown tones.

Perylene Inexperienced

One other of my common favorite colors, I used to be thrilled with the richness and depth of color on this watercolour paint. I’ve at all times had a gentle spot for Perylene Inexperienced because it was one of many first tube paints I ever purchased; and as such, I used to be delighted to search out that the Michael Harding model is a real pleasure to color with. Apparently, though often known as a inexperienced, the pigment behind the great thing about this color is technically a black: PBk31. Maybe this can be a clue to its intensely darkish color, which might nearly move for black when squeezed contemporary from the tube. Nevertheless, I discovered this paint works greatest when combined with sufficient water to carry out its gentle forested tones. It’s a beautiful color for a panorama painter, and ideal for a plein air kit-palette the place area and weight is at a premium, because the vary of sunshine and darkish tones you may get from this single pigment color is, I believe, a exceptional high quality.

Perylene Inexperienced and Perylene Violet

Perylene Violet

In direction of the darker finish of the spectrum, Michael Harding’s Perylene Violet is a deep and characterful color. It is a wealthy purplish paint with pretty dusky hues, which makes it each a great mixer usually, and a very good neutraliser for different brighter hues of watercolour paint. Along with this, I discovered it to be a ravishing, elegant color in its personal proper. It may be used thickly for daring darkish marks, or combined with loads of water for a clean, gentle wash of shadowed violet. That is one other single pigment semi-transparent color, with a superb lightfast score and little to no granulation.

Indanthrone Blue

This blue has a splendidly wealthy, deep-sea color. When squeezed from the tube the paint may be very thick, as are all of the Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours. When laid to paper the color is deep but shiny, providing a pleasant readability. However I discovered when testing that this paint actually comes into its personal when combined with a bigger quantity of water. The richness of this color allowed me to skinny it proper all the way down to create pale, clear washes with out seeing any change in hue or color splitting. I think that this may make a superb layering color and is presently threatening to exchange Ultramarine in my plein air palette.

Indanthrone Blue and Moonlight

Moonlight

One of many few watercolour paints within the Michael Harding vary that isn’t a single pigment color, Moonlight is nonetheless a ravishing and chic shade. Crafted from three separate pigments, this warm-toned impartial has a pleasant tendency in direction of granulation, significantly on chilly press paper. When combined with sufficient water, this paint will readily cut up out and provide gentle pinkish tones underlaid by a touch of sea-green: a novel and surprising high quality that I would definitely wish to experiment extra with. This paint has excessive transparency and a great lightfastness score, in addition to being a low staining paint, which signifies that it lifts nicely too. I additionally seen that when dry, a thick wash of this paint will retain a barely shiny end, harking back to a shellac ink.

Lifting and Staining Properties of Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours

Every paint I examined carried a remarkably excessive pigment load. A number of of the colors I chosen had excessive staining energy, particularly the Indian Yellow, Orange Sundown, and Indanthrone Blue. As such, these colors are cussed, and didn’t ‘carry’ nicely once I tried to tug some color up from the paper with a moist brush. Nevertheless, the opposite paints had been extra cooperative. Moonlight particularly lifted very nicely, leaving clear, shiny paper behind on each sizzling press and chilly press sheets.

It appears that evidently the twenty-year look ahead to Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours was nicely value it. The excessive pigment load signifies that these paints are glorious worth, as a little bit goes a great distance. Usually, I used to be impressed by the readability, the vibrancy, and the sheer fantastic thing about the colors I examined. With a variety of 136 paints to select from, I might solely check a fraction of the paints that the Michael Harding vary affords; nevertheless, I discovered these to be a really promising pattern, and I’m already planning so as to add extra to my assortment.

Additional Studying

Michael Harding Watercolours Overview

In Dialog With Michael Harding About His Skilled Watercolours

A Information to Watercolour Portray

Classes Discovered After a Yr of Watercolour Portray

Store Michael Harding Skilled Watercolours on jacksonsart.com