To see the images larger, just click on them!
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| I was asked to test the new QoR colors, and I jumped at the chance--what fun! Golden makes my favorite acrylics, so I really wanted to see what they'd do with this medium--my favorite. Above is the selection of colors they sent--not always the ones in my normal palette, but it made me stretch a bit. Here, you can see directly from the tube, pulled down with water, then I allowed the paint to dry for a further test. In the small two spots above each pigment, the one on the left is lifted from dry pigment, the one on the right is after pre-wetting a bit. (QoR is pronounced "core," by the way!) |
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| I didn't have a lot of brands to compare similar colors, and of course that's what's most fair to do...here in the left column are Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton paints (Sorry, don't remember which is which, except the cool red is DS--they were in my reworked Prang palette.) The middle column is Russian Sonnet, and the column on the right is QoR. |
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| Here, I allowed the paint to dry on the page...the bottom light streak is lifting with one quick stroke and blotting, the next up I scrubbed a bit more, and the soft edge at the top of each swatch was lifting with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Not many colors lifted entirely, but it's useful to soften and define areas if you need to. |
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The Transparent Red Oxide isn't quite as transparent as I expected (I've used Rembrant's version of that one), and the gray at lower right won't be useful to me, though you may find it so. It was a bit weak, didn't lift all that well once dry, and I don't use gray from a tube anyway! (Sorry the pigment names didn't make it, the test sheet was just a bit too big for my scanner! You can see most of them on the image at the top of the page, though.)
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| This is the handy little plastic palette I happened to have on hand--just fit the new paints! I'm good to go. |
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| I tested them out at our sketchcrawl in March...nice! |
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| And as a background to give this ink sketch a bit of snap... |
Then, more testing! Back to the studio...
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| If you want to know how your colors will glaze, you can make a swatch of one of them, let it dry, then add a quick brushstroke of another color--move fast so you don't lift the undercolor! |
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| I used a band of India ink and then painted over with each of the colors QoR provided, as I do with every new paint I try out. For the most part, these are reasonably transparent, and the ones that aren't are the ones I would choose for their opacity anyway...the Pyrrole Red, Venetian Red, and the blues on the far right, especially. |
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| I compared their quin gold with Daniel Smith's...it's quite a bit warmer, and it flows well... |
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| Cobalt Teal and Indian Yellow...a fresh spring green, and isn't that teal gorgeous?? |
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| Finally, I did a self portrait of the Watercolor Crone, going for subtlety (and wrinkles, of course, don't forget the wrinkles!) Nice and delicate! |
These are definitely nice paints, that compare very well with other brands I've used...they re-wet nicely for the most part (except that grey!), and seem to hold their color well once dry. And by the way, I didn't use the grey for my hair, that's a mix of blues and browns, my normal way to get a variety of greys.
I'm definitely going to be turning to that little palette a LOT. Thank you, QoR and Golden paints!
More info on their web page, here:
http://www.goldenpaints.com/company/news/2014/qor-watercolors/
