Monday 18 April 2016

Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - complete set

I had painted swatches of a few Mission Gold colours previously, is seen here, but have now had a chance to try the whole range. This is an interesting brand, made my Mijello of Korea. There are 105 colours but they are largely mixed hues created with very few pigments. There are no cadmiums or genuine ceruleans and the only genuine cobalt is Cobalt Blue. The paints are very predictable to work with, in the sense that they re-wet with the touch of a brush and brush out bright and strong, with very little granulation and very little drying shift.

If you love bright colours and are starting out in watercolours, this could be an interesting range to try, though I certainly wouldn't recommend getting the full range, just the single pigment colours. Personally, I miss the granulation that I love as only a couple granulate at all.

October 2018 - The swatches were originally painted out in a rather random order, but I have re-photographed them in a more useful order.  I'll add them all to my website soon. Here is the full colour chart, with the meanings of the symbols. 


If choosing a limited palette of largely single pigment colours, Lemon Yellow or Permanent Yellow Light would be possible cool to mid choices.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Chinese White, Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Aureolin, Permanent Yellow Light.
I like PY65 as a warm yellow option. 
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Gamboge, Indian Yellow, Permanent Yellow Deep, Yellow Orange, Orange.

Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Red Orange, Autumn Red, Scarlet Lake, Vermilion, Permanent Red Light.

Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Permanent Red, Permenant Red Deep, Rose Madder, Rubine,
Permanent Alizarin Crimson.
Permanent Rose is an excellent pigment choice for a primary or cool red.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Perylene Maroon, Cherry Red, Permaent Rose, Compose Opera, Bright Opera.
Most of the purples and violets contain PR122 so Permanent Magenta is a great mixing colour.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Bright Rose, Compose Rose, Permanent Magenta, Red Violet, Crimson Lake.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Bright Violet, Compose Violet, Violet Lake, Bright Clear Violet,
Ultramarine Violet.

Indanthrone Blue is a beautiful deep warm blue, however this sample didn't paint out very nicely.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Mijello Blue, Compose Violet Deep, Shadow Violet, Blue Violet, Indanthrone Blue.

Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Ultramarine Blue, Ultramarine Light, Cobal Blue #2, Coblat Blue #1,
Prussian Blue.


Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Manganese Blue, Cerulean Blue, Marine
Blue, Indigo, Peacock Blue
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Bamboo Green, Chromium Oxide Green, Hooker's Green, Permanent Green No 2, Permanent Green No 1
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Sap Green, Olive Green, Yellow Green, Leaf Green, Greenish Yellow.
 Yellow Ochre No 2 is the only single pigment earth yellow in this range.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Green Gold, Yellow Ochre No 1, Yellow Ochre No 2, Raw Sienna, Gold Brown.

Burnt Sienna is a real problem in this range - it is more like a Quinacridone Gold hue and not useful to mix with ultramarine and other blues to create interesting greys as one would normally do.

Red Brown PBr25 is used in a number of the Mission Gold mixes and is an interesting alternative to the more opaque Indian Red in the palette. 
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Naples Yellow Deep, Burnt Sienna, Light Red, Red Brown, Indian Red. 

Van Dyke Brown is a good rich chocolate brown.
Mission Gold Watercolours my Mijello - Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna No 2
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Payne's Grey, Neutral Tint, Ivorry Black, Bluish Pearl, Yellowish Pearl.

 The tints - all these tints have some white in them and have a bit of a feeling of gouache.
Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Naples Yellow, Jaune Brilliant No 1, Jaune Brilliant No 2, Shell Pink, Brilliant Pink


Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Lilac, Violet Grey, Lavender, Verditer Blue, Blue Grey.

Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Horizon Blue, Compose Blue,  Cobalt Turquoise, Turquoise Blue, Cobalt Green.

Mission Gold Watercolours by Mijello - Green Grey, Emerald Green, Melon Green, Davy's Grey, Yellow Grey,
Grey of Grey.

 I enjoyed painting out these colours as they are very vibrant and 'well-behaved'. They disperse well in water and are easy to paint with, making them very consistent and predictable, as stated in the website. That will appeal to a lot of people. I admit they don't appeal to me - I enjoy playing with a whole range of characteristics in watercolour, not just the colour - but if colour alone is your goal, these are an excellent choice.

The pigments have been improved since the range was first introduced and are now more light-fast. I think they would suit those wishing to work with a full gamut palette, as the range of earth colours is limited. 

If you wanted to create a basic set I would consider Green Gold PY150 or Lemon Yellow PY3 as your cool yellow, Permanent Yellow Deep as your warm and Yellow Ochre as your earth yellow.

For reds look at Scarlet Lake for warm and Permanent Rose for cool (or Permanent Magenta PR122 if you love that pigment) I'd add Rose Madder for a crimson as well.

For blues look at Cerulean Blue (hue) PB15:3 as a cool phthalo blue and Ultramarine Light PB29 as the warm.  

For greens, only to be used for mixing, I'd suggest Viridian (hue) PG7, which is phthalo green BS and neutralises a crimson, and/or Bamboo Green PG36, which is Phthalo Green YS, and neutralises PR122 and PV19.

The earths are tricky, but I'd look at Yellow Ochre PY42 as mentioned, Red Brown PBr25 or Indian Red PR101 as an earth red. I'd probably add Van Dyke Brown as a deep brown and make my own custom version of a burnt sienna with the Yellow Ochre and Red Brown.

Happy painting and thank you to Winifred for the samples :-)

42 comments:

  1. Thanks Jane love this post along with your others lol I have the Burnt Sienna only it came with the palette I ordered and I totally love it ,how did they know it was a fav colour....serendipity....they are not affordable for me at the moment by I love seeing your swatches and hearing your opinions....

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  2. Oh yes I agree about the burnt sienna being more like Ouin Gold ....

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    1. Mijello make excellent palettes. And yes it is a lovely glowing colour, but it isn't a Burnt Sienna hue ;-)

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  3. I'm considering buying them now, since Amazon are holding a huge sale on them. I'm deciding what's better - buy 4-5 Daniel Smith basic colors or buy set of 36 colors with nice palette included. For now I don't have any of these watercolors and have only pans set of White Nights. What will be your advice for a beginner? My paintings are listed in Instagram - Tanit555.
    I love your blog VERY-VERY much. Thank you!

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  4. Set of Mijello 36, I meant :)

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    1. There is a sale for about $70+ for the 36 colour palette with 36 tube paints on Amazon listed here http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Gold-Water-Palette-Colors/dp/B00BFCGF2O/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1461266659&sr=1-1&keywords=mijello - that seems like a pretty good deal to me, even if they are 7.5ml tubes (I can't find the tube size so I don't know).

      It will include more colours than you actually need, and perhaps not all of the single pigment colours that I recommend, but you'll be able to do a lot of painting with them, and you'll be delighted with how easily they rewet and how easy they are to paint with, as well as how bright they are.

      They won't completely solve the earth issue you will already have with White Nights so one day you may just add some excellent earth colours or granulating colours from Daniel Smith.

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  5. I like Mission Gold. I bought the 9 tubes set and was impressed by the intensity of the colours. It's a good set for beginners who want to try this brand.

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    1. I agree they are a very good beginner set and the intensity is striking. They are also good for those who don't like granulation!

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  6. Hi@All

    Thank´s Jane for your large swatch set work with Mijello´s G.M. :)
    I´m with G.M. since 3 years back and go along with your experience .
    Sepia is a very useful a hue ,too Pbr9,Pbk7 .
    And what i found out ivory black has to be in the palette , why , well the idea from mijello do darken down with less color shifting.
    May i can add something about long term fading .
    Most of the heavy chalked white Hues will strong fade after 2 year.
    95% may Watercolors , are painted with Mijello G.M.
    Here you can see 3 years developing , starting with 12 Tubes...
    www.Schokohund.jimdo.com
    Love bright colors and have fun , start with Mijello.

    Ps.: Mijello has Student range , too .

    Cheers Schokohund

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    1. What is your student Grade quality for Mijello?

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    2. Mijello's Mission White Class is student grade

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    3. hey Kelly - that’s incorrect. the Silver Class line is their student grade paint, which is only available in a set of 12 pre-filled pans.

      the White Class line is their gouache hybrid paint; very opaque straight from the tube, but even moreso when mixed with their matte white gouache. it doesn’t dry quite as chalky matte as Winsor & Newton though. its a bit more of a satin finish when applied thickly.

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  7. Nice to read your article! I am looking forward to sharing your adventures and experiences.
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  8. I recently found many useful information in your website especially this blog page. Among the lots of comments on your articles. Thanks for sharing.
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  9. Hello! First of all, thank you for this excessive review, it is very helpful. Since I'm just starting out I can't buy really expensive paints, and a nail art shop sells the 25 ml tubes for less than 2 dollars, so I decided to build up my starter palette with these.
    I went and bought a few tubes today, one of them is Burnt Sienna, and unlike yours mine says it is a single pigment paint, using PR101 pigment. I bought the Ultramarine Deep too and even thought it's not a single pigment paint, the two of them makes a great grey.
    Do you think it's possible mine is reformulated? Also, I was wondering if you'd like to get a sample from it to test it.
    I'm sad these don't have any granulation, but I think for me right now, the price quality ratio is unbeatable :D

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    1. Great to know they have reformulated the Burnt Sienna. I think they have been very actively improving the range and will watch this company with interest.
      I am always happy to receive samples to test out. Contact me at jane@janeblundellart.com

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  10. Hi Jane, very insightful as usual. Yes, their colours are more suited to illustrations, i think. For granulations i prefer Kremer. By the way, i have their perfect pan set of the Mission Gold, and i find that the colours don't really set, much like White Nights. So i use them only for paintings in the studio.

    Abdul

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  11. Hello Abdul,

    Can you explain how the colours don't really set? I just ordered the White Nights & now I feel apprehensive ... I forewent Mission Gold b/c I wanted the whole watercolor experience, not just a color mixing experience.

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  12. Hi Angel, what i meant was the paints in the pans (although not all) will eventually creep out of the pans when you store them vertically for example. So it will creep into the next pan. I had to scoop out some of the excess paints using a palette knife and transfer them to my normal watercolour palette. I think this is due to two reasons: 1. They overfill the pans, 2. Some colours stay really moist and not even touch-dry. The yellow especially. So i had to have them stored horizontally. Mind you, the White Nights pan paints are the same. Also some colours in my Winsor & Newton artists' fullpan set. Maybe it is the humid weather in Malaysia...

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  13. I think that thanks for the valuabe information and insights you have so provided here.
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  14. Hi Jane,
    I have seen that Mijello has several new pigment colors.
    short question: do you find the Pure Pigment set meaningfully put together?
    here the link:
    http://mijello.com/contents/down/MISSION_GOLD_EN.pdf
    the new Pure Pigmente Set:
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/MIJELLO-MWP-1524P-MISSION-Gold-Class-Pure-Pigment-Set-24-15ml-/332270624311
    I think it's great that you do this work for your blog with all the colors. I also had very big problems to put together a nice range of all the great colors. You helped me a lot to put together a nice palette with your post on your 48er range. The DS colors are difficult to incorporate into a palette because few people use them and integrate them into a palette. Many Thanks :-)
    Helen

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    1. Thank you for the link - looks as though I'll need to update! (I was planning to rephotograph them in better order - I'll look for the missing new colours and add a blank swatch).
      The Pure Pigment set is a pretty good single pigment set of colours. I don't like the Cerulean blue (since it is a phthalo blue) or Burnt Sienna #2 particularly, but nor did I like their original burnt Sienna. Otherwise though, good pigments to work with.

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    2. Hi Jane, great that you want to expand the color card.
      I came across the Pure Pigments set because some of my most used colors are almost empty, and it is cheaper to buy a set. the old set had 9 red tones. I also noticed that with the Creulean blue and the brown shades I find a bit strange. Unfortunately, the Indian red is no longer in it. I think it is still the best of the finished sets with 24 colors, black and white. For other sets, there are often colors of several pigments, a few non-lightfast or colors that I do not need. Too bad that there are so few tube sets.
      Helen

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    3. I have just found a 34 pure pigment set: https: //www.artlounge.in/mijello-mission-gold-class-pure-pigment-set-34x15-ml
      Helen

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  15. Amazing post! Could you do Kremer Pigments? Or Rublev Watercolors? They are both used for art restoration work. It would be nice to see a review of their full ranges! :)

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    1. I have tested a few Kremer and Rublev pigments, amounts others, that have been hand made into watercolours but I doubt very much that I'll try the whole range.I depend on other people generously sending me samples to test those. I'll be adding a blog about them soon though. There are dozens to photograph!

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  16. I have the set of nine. I am sure I have read somewhere they can be used as gouache, especially if adding Titanium White. Would this work with the Chinese White I bought separately? While I live the vibrant colours, I have decided not to add to my collection due to the sticky lumpiness. I do want to use them however, and wondered if I could use them on one of the typical printed gesso canvasses? They were a gift off a dear friend and not exactly cheap; so I do want to use them up in a suitable way.

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  17. very nice post of gold set, amazing collection.

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  18. I used your website as reference to pick out colours, I ended up picking out Violet Lake which you listed as a PV29, but when my tube of paint arrived it was a combination of PB15:3 AND PR177. Do you have any comments, Mission Gold's website also lists it as PV29 and there's no info about them changing their pigments.

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    1. It is very difficult to stay on top of each companies full range. I update periodically, largely when new colours are launched, but if their own website doesn't show the new details it's really difficult to find them.

      PB15:3 is phthalo blue green shade and PR177 is anthraquinoid red - a deep crimson. It would make a rich deep purple. But it's a mix you could make yourself with your other colours.

      If you like the colour and don't mind it being a two-pigment mix, it's all fine. But if you don't I guess you can send it back since it isn't what you thought you ordered.

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  19. Hello Jane, I new in watercolor, but I would like to start with cool RGB and warm RGB by Mission Gold, as this is affordable for me. Hoping you can help me to identify these 6 colors. Thank you and more power to you.

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    1. I've noted a number of those suggestions through the blog post - Lemon Yellow or Permanent Yellow Light are good options for a cool yellow; Permanent Yellow Deep for a warm yellow. For reds I've suggested Permanent Rose as the cool red; for the warm the best option is probably Scarlet Lake since this range doesn't have my favourite warm red pigment (PR255). For blues, Ultramarine Light since it is a single pigment, and Cerulean Blue (though this is not a cerulean blue, it is a phthalo blue - a staining pigment but very useful as a cool blue).

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  20. Hey Jane,
    I so grateful to you for creating a database like this. Not only is it useful to pick colours but a joy to view as well. The Mijello page may require a update soon. They have 126 colours now.

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  21. It seems that Mijello released some new colors. A couple of ochres, burnt sienna dark PBr7, two proper cerulean colors: cobalt cerulean blue PB35 and cobalt cerulean blue dark PB36 and more. The new color chart http://mijello.com/110

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  22. Mijello actually has quite a few cobalts and granulating colors, such as Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet (which is super vivid and easy to rewet!), even a Cobalt Black and Cobalt Yellow. They are all formulated to be non-toxic and granulate wonderfully. Their Van Dyke Brown Deep is made of genuine Hematite and is a intensely granulating beautiful charcoal-violet color. I bought these less easy to find colors on eBay at a steal.

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    1. I really find that Mijello Cobalt Violet interesting since it’s made with PV102 (rarer than PV47 and PV49), and there are little to no information on the pigments manufacturers.

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  23. Has anyone made any recent (ie 2021 or later) purchases of the single pigment Mijello Mission Gold? I’m interested in purchasing a few, but noticed another blogger mentioned a drop in quality in recent years, such as added fillers and paint not drying in the palette.

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    1. I haven't. Much as I love the rich colours both vibrant and in depth. I hated how long they would take to dry. I have tried another brand based in Italy that is also made with honey (and rosemary essential oil) and they dry far quicker. It's a shame as I raved about Mission Gold at first. But having to keep them flat to dry for a couple of days in an already messy house wasn't my idea of fun. I still love them and will enjoy using them up; but I won't be buying any more sadly.

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    2. I purchased the set of 34 single pigments and am very happy with them. The one issue I've noticed is they are not all the same consistency out of the tube- some are very liquidity (and it's not unmixed binder/pigment) and some are almost clumpy. The clumpier ones are absolutely fine once a little water is mixed in on your pallet. Otherwise they are bright, mix well, and are lovely to paint with. Hope this helps.

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  24. Thanks for the reply! And I have another question. I noticed Jane described Van Dyke Brown as “a good rich chocolate brown”, and then I noticed its pigment code: PBr7. Isn’t that commonly used in Burnt Sienna? I know Mijello often uses different (some would say inaccurate) names for their paints, but in the case the swatch doesn’t look very burnt sienna-y. Does anyone know if PBr7 is used, as a single pigment, to make many different colours? Thanks all! Confused newbie here haha

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  25. Dear Jane, do you have an idea, what colors of Mijello are granulating? I have searched the web now for hours, but I can't find any information about it.

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  26. Hello Jane,
    I draw children's illustrations and manga style illustrations with alcohol markers.
    I would like to switch to watercolor for my illustrations.
    I like saturated colors which don't have granulation.
    I hesitate between making a Daniel Smith palette excluding granulating colors, or choosing Mijello watercolors. What do you recommend for an illustration work? Thanks :)

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