Brilliant Beautiful Color with Holbein HWC
Generally, I avoided fluorescents and semi opaque multi pigment colors, assuming that since they have a tendency to fade, lift, and mix muddy, they had no real place in my palette. But after purchasing a few tubes of Kusakabe watercolors openstock while in Japan, I fell in love with the idea of using such colors sparingly, giving them the opportunity to shine.
If you're in the US, you may have difficulty finding Kusakabe. Holbein, another Japanese watercolor brand, is easier to find and a bit better known. You may be familiar with the now discontinued Irodori line, a selection of traditional colors based on the sumi palette.
Awhile back, I reviewed the Holbein HWC 12 color set available from Amazon. These tiny tubes deliver a lot of color, but also a fair bit of opacity. During the fieldtest, I decided this particular selection of HWC might be an excellent beginner option, or an option for a comic artist who wants to work in watercolor, but doesn't want to do a lot of mixing.
Holbein Quick Fire Review
Recently, I've started collecting more of Holbein's semi-opaque multi pigments and fluorescents. There's something really fun about getting a lot of color without doing much mixing. A recent acquisition of beautiful blues, pinks, and purples inspired the below hydrangea illustration. Holbein can't take all the credit though- I used my lovely Da Vinci mixing set for everything BUT the hydrangea.
Holbein Colors Used:
Color was applied into a clear wash to allow for diffusion.
Color is intensified by another layer of application. Some wet into wet mixing is encouraged between colors, as some hydrangea blossoms are multi-colored.
I find with these watercolors, it's best to keep your layers to a minimal- don't overwork the piece with too many glazes or details.
I have a timelapse video for this piece coming up, so if you'd like to see how I painted this, step by step, subscribe to my Youtube channel and hit that bell notification!
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