White Nights, also known as St Petersburg, has been one of the many generous sponsors of the Urban Sketchers Symposium for the last few years now. They have been expanding their range, moving from just full pans to the addition of 10ml tubes for many colours, and expanding their range with 9 extra colours in 2017 and another 9 new colours in 2019. They have also added 7 metallics. I am grateful that they have given me samples to try to keep up, though somehow Venetian Red slipped through the cracks.
The colours that were added increased the range to 75 colours and the new colours are mostly lightfast and largely single pigment additions. I've updated my previous post but decided to create a new post of the full range here, this time with most colours scanned rather than photographed, where possible.
These are very reasonably priced watercolours that perform well. Setting up with full pans is simple and gives easy brush access so they suit beginners, though of course many professional artist use them as well. They are made with genuine pigments though some feel to have some sort of filler? And some of the pigments are not lightfast, such as PY1, PV3, PR2, PR4, PO13, PG8 and others. As far as I know the colours with less lightfast ratings have remained in the range so do check pigment numbers if you are working on paintings for sale or exhibition. In a sketchbook, watercolours are protected from light.
I'll add the full 2019 range below.
March 2021 update - many more colours were added, and some changes so the full range now consists of 108 colours, including 18 pastel shades and 7 metallic. Many of the previous colours have been updated with more lightfast pigments, which is fantastic. With the addition of new colours to close the gaps and better pigments for greater light-fastness, this range has really improved dramatically over the last few years. While I haven't painted the new colours or the new versions, I'll update the information for each colour. Eventually I'll do a new blog post if I get new samples.
November 2022 update - The range is now 120 colours so I am a long way out of date. You can see the latest Colour Chart here. There are 80 'classic' colours, 59 of which are single pigment; 18 pastel colours, 7 metallic colours and a new range of 15 granulating colours that can be seen in action here.
As always, yellows, oranges and reds are difficult to represent accurately. I've scanned all the swatches but I needed to use a couple of photos for better accuracy for the oranges. As I haven't yet found an updated colour chart, I've used my own system to arrange the colour swatches.
The new Aureolin gives an even better primary yellow option. 211 - Yellow (PY154) and has been added to the range, possibly replacing the fugitive 215 Hansa Yellow (PY1) which isn't on the new colour chart, but is still shown here.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Zinc White, Lemon, Cadmium Lemon, Aureolin (new 2019), Hansa Yellow. |
PY216 used in the new Naples Yellow Light and Naples Orange is also known as Turner's Yellow. I haven't seen the orange version before. Both are more opaque colours. I like the Indian Gold as a warm yellow option as it will mix interesting greens. Indian yellow is a very transparent mid yellow option. 206 - Ochre Light (PY43) has been added but is not shown here.
It is difficult to capture the true colour of oranges and yellow-oranges.
Geranium Red is interesting as it looks like a warm red but has a rose undertone in a wash so I suspect it might mix purples too - I'll check that out.
368 Neon Pink (PR122, PV10) has been added but is not shown here.
368 - Neon Pink (PR122& BV10) has been added but is not shown here. 627 - Perylene Violet (PV29) has also been added but is not shown here.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Indian Yellow (new 2017), Cadmium Yellow Medium, Naples Yellow Light (new 2019), Indian Gold (new 2017), Naples Orange (new 2019). |
It is difficult to capture the true colour of oranges and yellow-oranges.
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| White Nights Watercolour -Golden, Golden Deep, Cadmium Orange, Orange Lake, Orange (new 2019) |
Geranium Red is interesting as it looks like a warm red but has a rose undertone in a wash so I suspect it might mix purples too - I'll check that out.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Titan Red, Cadmium Red Light, Vermilion (Hue) (Old version - now made with PR188 & PY154), Geranium Red (new 2019), Scarlet (Old version - now called Scarlet Light and made with PR 188). |
368 Neon Pink (PR122, PV10) has been added but is not shown here.
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| White Nights Watercolour -Ruby, Madder Lake Red Light, Venice Purple (new 2019), Claret, Carmine (Old version - now made with PV19, though this is referred to as PR19). |
368 - Neon Pink (PR122& BV10) has been added but is not shown here. 627 - Perylene Violet (PV29) has also been added but is not shown here.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Quinacridone Red (new 2017), Quinacridone Violet Rose (new 2017), Quinacridone Rose, Rose, Quinacridone Lilac. |
There are still some of the lovely but fugitive pigments in the range - PV2, PV3, PB1 seen here. Use with caution.
521 - Ultramarine Deep (PB29) has been added but is not shown.
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| White Nights Watercolour -Violet-Rose, Quinacridone Violet (new 2017), Ultramarine Violet (new 2017), Violet, Blue Lake. |
521 - Ultramarine Deep (PB29) has been added but is not shown.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Indanthrone Blue, Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Azure, Blue (New 2017). |
PB36 used in Cobalt Azure Blue is my favourite choice for a cerulean pigment. A good addition to the range.
Cobalt Turquoise is an incredibly popular watercolour. 533- Cobalt Chrome Turquoise (PB36) has been added - often known as cobalt turquoise or cobalt turquoise deep.
I love yellow ochre as a colour but shy away from this mix with PY1. 257 Irgazin Yellow (PY129) has been added but is not shown here, along with 206 Ochre Light (PY43).
604 Caput Mortuum (PR101) has been added, but is not shown here. 401 Van Dyck Brown (PR102&PBk8) has also been added.
Two new blacks are 801 Lamp Black (PBk7) and Ivory Black (Hue) P(R102 & PBk7)
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| White Nights Watercolour - Bright Blue (Brilliant), Indigo (Old version - now made with PBk7, PB15 & PV23), Prussian Blue, Ceruleum Blue, Cobalt Azure Blue (new 2019). |
Cobalt Turquoise is an incredibly popular watercolour. 533- Cobalt Chrome Turquoise (PB36) has been added - often known as cobalt turquoise or cobalt turquoise deep.
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| White Nights Watercolour -Azure Blue, Cobalt Turquoise (new 2019), Turquoise Blue, Green Light, Emerald Green. |
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| White Nights Watercolour - Green Original, Yellowish Green, Sap Green (new 2017), Green Earth, Olive Green. |
I love yellow ochre as a colour but shy away from this mix with PY1. 257 Irgazin Yellow (PY129) has been added but is not shown here, along with 206 Ochre Light (PY43).
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| White Nights Watercolour - Chromium Oxide, Green (Russian), May Green (new 2019), Yellow Ochre (old version - now made with PY43 & PY154), Naples Yellow. |
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| White Nights Watercolour - Raw Sienna (Old version - now made with PY43) , Red Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Shakhnazarskaya Red, English Red. |
604 Caput Mortuum (PR101) has been added, but is not shown here. 401 Van Dyck Brown (PR102&PBk8) has also been added.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Venetian Red (New 2017, not shown), Burnt Umber, Mars Red, Umber, Sepia. |
Two new blacks are 801 Lamp Black (PBk7) and Ivory Black (Hue) P(R102 & PBk7)
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| White Nights Watercolour - Voronezhkaya Black (old version - now made with PBk8), Payne's Grey (Old version - now made til PBk7, PB15 & PV55) Neutral Black. |
The 7 new metallic colours...
I haven't tried any of the 18 new pastel colours.
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| White Nights Watercolour - Silver Light, Inca Gold, Bronze, Aztec Gold. |
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| White Nights Watercolour - Antique Gold, Silver Deep, Copper. |
I haven't tried any of the 18 new pastel colours.
With all these new colours, my suggestions for a White Nights 12-colour plein air sketching palette has changed.
I'd look at Aureolin, Indian yellow, the new Scarlet Light or Geranium Red (I need to test that in mixes), Quinacridone Red, Ultramarine or the new French Ultramarine, Cobalt Azure Blue, Emerald Green (for mixing only), Sap Green, Raw Sienna or perhaps the new Ochre light, Burnt Sienna, English Red (or possibly Venetian Red - I haven't tried that one) and Payne's Grey. That would now be a lightfast set :-)
To match my Ultimate Mixing Set, the closest options are Aureolin, Indian Yellow, the new Scarlet Light, the new Carmine (not a perfect match), Quinacridone Red, Ultramarine, Cobalt Azure Blue, Bright Blue, Emerald Green, Raw Sienna (not a perfect match), Burnt Sienna, English Red (or possibly Venetian Red - not perfect matches), Umber (not very strong) and Paynes Grey (also not a perfect match)
If you would like to send samples of any of the missing colours, please get in touch :-)
Happy painting :-)
Love there bright colors!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jane!
ReplyDeleteMy swatches seem to look much darker than yours, probably because the scanner lights them up brightly. Especially blues, except for Prussian Blue, what's up with it? I couldn't get that Prussian blue dark at all and it kept trying to slip off the paper back onto the brush and felt kinda glueish and too many big particles
ReplyDeleteI agree Prussian Blue was very strange. The other that is difficult as it runs all over the place is Cerulean so I'm glad they have added the PB36 version.
DeleteBut PB27 is not a pigment I use as I tested one once and it failed my lightfast tests. It's an easy hue to mix from phthalo blue GS and a touch of a warm red such as a PR255.
Maybe they use too much gum arabic for it or even glycerin, since it's poured into pans instead of being chopped from dry like with Sennelier. I've ordered Jackson's version of Prussian Blue to test it and also Raw Umber together with it, because for some reason Raw Umber in White Nights has three pigments... I've noticed that tip you gave about mixing cold phthalo with warm red earlier (Thank you for it), when I was disappointed in Prussian Blue when I bought it a few months ago, I didn't have a cold blue at that moment, I've had their "Blue" which I think is closer to Phthalo RS and after mixing with red I got something like a very dark Indanthrene Blue with a touch of Indigo which I was satisfied with for the time being :) I want to try their new Cobalt Turquise because it looks like a nice blue for the ocean... I feel like I will be switching to Daniel Smith after I finish all the White Night pans, though, You've converted me lol ... I'm not sure about travelling to hot countries with WN due to honey in their contents... And I fell in love with that Teal color in DS...
DeleteI have order all 12 of white night pans (except I could only find the old scarlet), so excited to start my watercolour Joyner!!!
DeleteSome really lovely colors here. Thanks again for you thorough review.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess what? I can comment again and I know exactly why.
Blogspot no longer works with Safari. I'm using Firefox and it works just fine. Go figure.
So now I'll have to use two different browsers but not that big a deal. Have to do it for a few other blogs I subscribe to that have stopped allowing my to comment. Just catching up today.
Welcome back!
Deletesafari is terrible so no wonder things don't work with it! Apple.... BLEH!
DeleteThanks for sharing so much information, it has helped me rethink my color purchases, although at the moment I seem to have almost all of the single pigment lightfast red, blue & yellows. Question about Voronezhkaya Black - you have it as PBk10 but nevskayapalitra.ru & Jackson's Art have it as PBk8, which one is correct? Handprints information on PBk10 says it's graphite, I wonder if that is the same as the graphite in my water soluble graphite pencils?
ReplyDeleteThe pan I received was a Jack Richardson branded St Petersburg package, with PBk10 on it. It doesn't have the sheen of the Daniel Smith graphite watercolour but is more grey than black. So I don't know if it is correct, if it was correct and has now been changed, or was a typo. My sample doesn't look like the Nevskaya Palitra website version so perhaps it's been changed?
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteSorry to bother but can you give me a 21 color palette recommendation? I would really appreciate!
Thanks!
I wouldn't necessarily suggest getting 21 of these colours but if that is what you are after, here is what I'd consider. I am looking for the most lightfast colours and the most useful mixing set.
DeleteCadmium Lemon
Indian Yellow
Indian Gold
Orange
Titan Red
Venice Purple
Quinacridone Red
Quin violet and/or ultramarine violet
Indanthrone blue
Ultramarine
Cobalt Azure
Bright Blue Brilliant
Emerald Green
Green earth and/or Sap green
Raw Sienna
Burnt Sienna
English Red
Burnt umber
Sepia
Payne's Grey
Very, very helpful post! I'm just a small beginner :) every advice is important to me! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow, such an amazing and informative post, thanks for sharing it, refer it when I paint next, using water colours and painting is one of my favourite activities
ReplyDeleteNP just issued a set of their pastel colors. It's not posted on their website because it's being updated, but is posted on their instagram page. the colors are very beautiful and are translucent mixes with white gouache.
ReplyDeleteYes I have seen that they have another 8 colours and another two are on the way. I'll add those as soon as I can...
DeleteThanks for all of these most valluable Infos.
ReplyDeleteI want to replicate "The Ultimate Mixing Set by You & Daniel Smith, with White Nights colors. Which colors should i use?
I know it won't be the real thing but only a replica. But very affordable, specially for beginners like me.
Thank you very much again.
There is not a Buff Titanium option. Get it from Daniel Smith - series 1.
DeleteOtherwise you'd try
Aureolin (instead of hansa yellow medium) - will be similar
Indian Gold (instead of Quinacridone Gold) - will be similar
Cad red light instead of Pyrrol Scarlet - will be quite different but a workable warm red
Venice Purple instead of Pyrrol Crimson - will be deeper and darkerso add a touch of the quin red so make it crimson
Quin Red instead of Quin Rose - will be similar
Ultramarine
Cobalt Azure Blue instead of Cerulean Chromium - same pigment
Bright Blue Brilliant instead of Phthalo Blue GS - same pigment
Emerald Green instead of Phthalo Green - same pigment
Raw Sienna instead of Geothite - less granulation but will work as an earth yellow
Burnt Sienna
English Red instead of Indian Red - will be less pinkish but will be similar
Umber instead of Raw Umber - won't be as strong, but a dark cool umber
Payne's Grey instead of Jane's Grey - not nearly as nice but workable
Some are the same pigment, some fairly different. All reasonable pigments for lightfastness.
There is a set of new colors having PW6 (titanium white) and Dunes is one of them with a color resembling pretty well Titanium Buff. It's a multipigment paint, having 3 other pigments (PY42, PBr6, PBk7) though looks pretty similar. Another option is to mix any Titanium white with Umber. I tried Titanium Buff from Van Gogh (which is actually PW6 + PBr7) but had to do more Umber than they added as it was too light. So not a problem.
DeleteAnother source of genuine PW6:1 other than Daniel Smith is Aquarius paint of Roman Szmal.
Jane, can Geranium be used in place of Cadmium Red light & Indian Yellow in place of Quin Gold if I add a touch of English Red (PR101) to it?
DeleteThank you .
Yes that will work for both :-)
Deletethere are nine pastels in total, & ochre light is also new
ReplyDeletePigment: PY43/PY1
Transparency: Semi Transparent
Series: A
Lightfastness: ** Medium Lightfastness
I think that's the description of Yellow Ochre. Jackson's has the new one listed as
Delete- Ochre Light
Pigment Index: PY43 | Transparency: Semi-Transparent | Colour Lightfast: Excellent
Hello everybody.I have a 36 pan set from White Nights and tis set have a Magenta color whitch I don`t see anymore on the site. Do anybody know what happend? Thank you
ReplyDeleteMagenta is Quinacridone Rose
Deletehi, I have Sonnet set of 24, the student line, and I see the Sepia is made of same pigments as in White nights line. My sepia looks almost indentical to lamp black and I'm very disapointed, because I tought that sepia should be more brownish, like on your swatch. Otherwise I like the flow of these pigments and so bright colors, the easy way to activate colors. To me Sonnet are much better than Cotman set I have.
ReplyDeleteIt is dark brown in Sonnet (like Burnt Umber or even darker). But it happens that they give you a wrong paint :) I've seen the video where they put a White Zinc (PW4) instead of one of their muted colors (PW6 plus some color). So it's possible that's your case.
DeleteSonnet are quite good, I barely see difference with the same pigments of White Nights. I've found my old student kit of 16 colors, replaced all non-lightfast paints with Wight Night versions and it works very well (I took yellow, orange and red cadmiums and Dioxazine Violet of Rosa - ukrainian watercolor brand).
thanks, I think I got double black. I shouldn't have ordered White Nights then if they are much like Sonnet, I still have a lot of paint in my Sonnet set
DeleteHi Jane,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all your useful information. For a beginner to watercolour, this is invaluable. Ihave a question regarding the symbols on your watercolour charts. Could you explain what the following symbols mean please: ◇, ○, and I (on Cerulean Blue). I've tried looking these up but have had no luck.
Many thanks,
Lisajane
Good question - I had to go back to the original post to see which you meant. Then check with the St Petersburg labels to see what the symbols were. I guess I'd assumed they were an indication of granulating or staining but no - the circles, diamonds etc refer to which set of colours they are in. the 24 set etc.
DeleteHi Jane, I have more or less devoured your website as I am new to watercolour and trying to make a somewhat wise decision regarding buying my first set. I wonder, have you had the chance yet to experience how Geranium Red does mixing wise? And if so, do you prefer this colour over the Cad Red Light for your updated set of 12 colours?
ReplyDeleteMoreover, if I am buying my first set of paints do you advice to get just these 12 WN or add a few more specific colours?
(When I was on the brink of buying your 12 W.N. the other day, the shop owner almost convinced me to get Sennelier La Petite 36 colours - more or less of similar price overhere - which left me so puzzled that I left empty handed.) Do you or anyone have any wise words for this Queen of Doubts to finally get her papers stained with some decent colours? These 12 or more WN or 36 Sennelier LPA etc..? Gosh, thank you!
36 student colours can be overwhelming. I think you are far better to work with a smaller number in full pans. go for my updated set of 12, or the set of 15 mentioned on 20th January, and with either you could switch to the Geranium. If you want to add a couple more, consider one of the remade greens (Sap or Olive) and perhaps the burnt umber.
DeleteHappy paining :-)
Hello, I'm new at watercolor, too. I have to suggest that you start with a set of 12. They usually don't include a pink, like permanent rose, so I highly recommend you buy one. I wish I had only worked with my first set of 12 Winsor Newton Cotman, instead of quickly buying their 24 set (although I LOVE the plastic palette in their "PLUS" line, LOVE it). 24 Colors is really overwhelming, and honestly you can mix just about anything with two yellows, instead of four, etc.
DeleteYou're going to spend A LOT of time just smooshing your colors around, playing with mixes, and it is so much fun! But if you buy pricier paint to start with, you might be reluctant to "waste" the paint. So I'd say get a very good quality set of "student" paints, such as WN Cotman, and you will feel free! Van Gogh is another brand that gets very good reviews. However, I bought a sample dot card to try them all out, and personally I prefer Cotman. The Van Gogh just looked much, much to bright and cartoonish, to me.
Just make sure you are using very good paper. That is the #1 thing. I love Cheap Joe's Kilimanjaro. But for just smearing colors around, practicing brush strokes, etc. Cotman XL watercolor paper is good, and cheap. It's $6 for 30 sheets of 9"x12" at walmart. Keep this on hand, because in my opinion, no matter how good you become, or high quality of your paint, you will always need "scrap" paper.
Thank you for your advice! After weeks of waiting I finally received 12 WN colours and I can't wait to mix, mess up and mostly have fun painting. Whohooo! :)
Deletealong with the nine pastels & light ochre, these are also missing from the above "full" range:
ReplyDelete257 Irgazin Yellow PY129
206 Ochre Light PY43
368 Neon Pink PR122 BV10
627 Perylene Violet PV29
533 Cobalt Chrome Tuquoise PB36
521 Ultramarine Deep PB29
604 Caput Mortuum PR101
401 Van Dyke Brown PR102 PBk6
thanks for doing what you do
Thank you for the update. I'll edit the post!
DeletePlease, suggest colours with split primaries and payne's grey, burnt sienna, raw umber, and yellow ochre options in single pans or a 12 colour palette! I am a beginner on a budget trying to create a custom set of artist grade watercoloyrs. Are white nights artist grade water colours??
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Thank you very much for this blog, it is a very good reference and I visit it often. I was recently reading that Orange with PO64 is not lightfast. I love this color but am a bit worried. Did you do any lightfastness tests to confirm? I also love cobalt turquoise, its amazing for spots of color that give illusion of light. When you mix it with cobalt blue it gives an exact match to cerulean!
ReplyDeleteI think White Nights did a lot of changes in 2020. Many colors were replaced with new pigments. Plus several new colors. A permanent version of opera. And the pastels.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago there were some gaps in the range, but they closed all of them now
Yes I think so - it makes it difficult to keep up when there are changes. I'll add the new formulations when I get a chance.
DeleteHi, Jane!
ReplyDeleteI access this specific post all the time, since I'm trying to figure out the best White Nights set for me, considering the pigments/attributes, with the precious help of your samples.
I'm just a bit confused about a few of them, when it comes to the attributes. I assume the info is based on the paints labels, but I found some discrepancy. For instance, PO62 (Golden Deep) and PO36 (Titan Red) are labeled as semiopaque on Handprint, whilst they are labeled as transparent here. Same for PR170 (Ruby), which is also said to be marginally lightfast to impermanent despite how it's labeled. I'm not experienced in watercolor and I wouldn't want to waste your time. So I apologize if I am missing something. I'm just trying to pick vibrant and transparent and lightfast colors to use alone or in mixing. So far, I feel very frustrated trying to get oranges, reds and purples that always end up dull and opaque. So I decided to go for ready mixed paints (monopigmented when possible) or, depending on the choices, better picks for mixing in order get those colors, instead of wasting more and more time and paints for nothing. I bought three White Nights pans for specific purposes (Sap Green, Indian Yellow and Cobalt Turquoise) and I liked them very much. My paints are Van gogh and most of them I quite enjoy. White Nights is the one of its category that I can afford right now, though, so, any help is more then welcome.
Thank you so much in advance.
Kind regards,
Lindsay
Hi Lindsay. There are sometimes more than one distributer for a particular pigment and, wonderful though it is, Handprint isn't always up to date any more. Also, some brands describe their paints as either Transparent, Semi Transparent or Opaque, where others my have an additional Semi-opaque division. It does make it difficult.
ReplyDeleteYellows are often a little bit semi-transparent, with the exception of PY150 - a very transparent yellow that is a good mixer. Reds are also often semi-transparent. PV19 - Quinacridone Rose/Permanent Rose - is a good mixing red. And for blues the Phthalo Blues are very transparent.
I've updated this post with the new colours and pigment numbers, but not with new paintouts. I hope to do that if I get hold of new samples!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jane - thank you so much for all of the wonderful information you share. You are always one of my top stops when deciding on new brands and colors!
ReplyDeleteI just bought a couple of these White Nights tubes after hearing so much about them. And I noticed that on May Green, next to the white square (indicating transparent), it has a triangle that is half white/half black. Do you happen to know what that indicates? Maybe staining? I don't see one on the other 2 colors I purchased.
Thanks so much!
Abby
The empty triangle indicates that it is non-staining. A full triangle is strong staining and a half triangle in between. I'll add that info to the blog.
DeleteI love your blog. I have just bought the White nights in the UK but I have no idea which version I have just bought. However there are 3 colours that I am concerned with that are not colourfast and I need to replace. I wonder if you can help.
DeleteThey are Golden py3, po13, Golden deep Po62 and Indigo PBK7/pb15/pv23. Do you have any suggestions what I can replace these with at all ?
I just bought the 36 set in the UK off of amazon. I am not sure but a lot of people are saying the Golden PY3/PO13 & Golden Deep PO62, and Indigo BLue PBK7/PB15/PV23 are not light fast. Do you have any suggestions for replacements for these colours that will be lightfast ?
ReplyDeleteHi! Thank you for all your posts.
ReplyDeleteI want to use orange lake but i am worried about the lightfastness having only one star. The truth is that I do not really know what it means- will it fade in 6 months or in 10 years? Did anyone ever try it and has a feedback?
As it is a lightfast rating, it does rather depend how much light you expect to expose it to. If you are working in a sketchbook, it can last longer. If you are selling your work, don't go near anything that isn't rated ASTM I or II.
DeleteWhat would be your chois of max 6-8 colors to get to know the brand? There are so many beautiful colors I would not know how to chose a "get to know" selection. I am also a hobby artist, not jet so deep into the theory behinde pigments and colors. Just enjoiuing colors and tring to emprive my know-how. I would very much apreciate your help and sugestion.
ReplyDeleteA split primary (transparent as possible cool and warm of red, yellow, and blue) plus burnt sienna. You can do anything with that. I have several brand specific mini palettes set up in that format.
DeleteI generally suggest a mid primary yellow, a rose red, ultramarine, burnt sienna and perhaps a warm or earth yellow and or a cool blue like Cobalt Azure Blue.
DeleteHi, thanks for always updating de color palette, I have a question, the Shakhnazarskaya red (pr 102) is like "skin tone" or more like something else? I'm looking for one color similar to "skin tone" for illustration and not have to mix it up every time, thanks! <3
ReplyDeleteI tend to use Burnt Sienna (PBr7 version) as a basic skin tone, adding burnt umber or raw umber for shades or darker skin tones. I guess the PR102 red would also work but it seems a very weak pigment to me.
DeleteYour website is my number one resource for watercolour. Thanks so much for your posts. I started off with White Nights as they are probably the cheapest artist grade colours and really good value for money. I am now moving to other brands slowly like Sennelier and Daniel Smith but White Nights will always be special for me! I started with the 12 colour set which is certainly not the best selection (the yellows are all cadmiums, the ochre is the most disappointing colour of the entire range and I think instead of black there should have been a grey) and have over time expanded my set to arrive at my preferred palette. Just a small correction, in the chart, Carmine (319) does not have pigment PR170, it is actually PR19.
ReplyDeleteThank you - they are updating all the time and it is difficult to keep up. It used to be PR170.
Deletehello, this article is what I was searching for. Its very nice. I would like to ask you which colors are specials in White nights when we compare it with Winsor and N. and Van Gogh? Which special colors has White nights and those 2 companies not? Which colors are unique for this brand?
ReplyDeleteYou can open this blog post and the W&N and Van Gogh ones together to compare them. Keep in mind that the Van Gogh range is a student range though.
DeleteI've always been curious about the brand since so many say good things about it, but the lightfastness issues are just too much. They are getting better but still mislabeling colors. Even some of their new releases contain PO64 which is highly fugitive.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jane!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog and I always came here to check your updates. I'm not exactly a beginner but since 2010 I don't paint anything due to a creative block. I'm really want to try again with a brand that I always wanted to use. Can you recommend me a good White Nights 24 set colors? I would like to do a custom set (I like to paint flowers the most but I do portraits too). Sorry, for my poor english..
Hi Jane...is there an equivalent to cobalt violet?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your posts. Literally, an unique source. Have you heard that they stopped producing Indanthrene blue replacing it with a barely half-look-alike Indanthrene light, and Shakhnazarskaya red without any replacing at all? They also removed fugitive Lakes from the range this year. (Orange, violet, blue, etc)
ReplyDeleteHello Jane! Would you be please kind enough to suggest me 36 colour set of the most lightfast and versatile pigments? I have experimented with a few brands and mostly with small 6 to 12 colour sets. Now I think I am ready to dive deep and have a full blown 36 colour set! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteNot Jane.. but the most reliably lightfast brand for sets is Van Gogh. Every paint they offer is LF1, and they have been verified in independent UV testing. Their artist line, Rembrandt, also offers a 36 pan set that is all LF1... and their lightfast ratings are very reliable. Another option if you want a large set is the 48 pan Paul Rubens Artist set.. it contains only a couple of fugitive colors that are labeled correctly and has also been independently UV tested and performed as claimed... it's available on Amazon and is a much lower price point than most professional sets. Only bad thing is you can't buy individual replacement tubes, they only come in sets. Golden (Qor) is very reliable and does extensive testing on their paints but does not offer large sets. Pretty much every other brand has issues in one way or another. For example in independent testing over 25 colors from Daniel Smith showed fading after only three months even though they claim to be LF1. You have to know your pigments, review independent UV tests (go to kimcrick.com for a ton of information on lightfastness and independent real life testing)and be selective on your purchases to ensure your paints are actually lightfast. Keep in mind, you don't need a 36 pan set to achieve any color you want. If you have the "right" colors you can mix any shade easily with as few as seven colors... eight if you want pastels. Learning color theory makes you a better painter regardless of how many paints you own... and it's actually easier to achieve cohesive color schemes with a limited palette. The problem is many sets do not offer the "right" colors, or colors that mix well together. You need a good, lightfast split primary (warm and cool of yellow, red, and blue) plus a brown that is the mixing complementary of one of your primaries for easy grey. A good option to achieve this is ultramarine for your warm blue and burnt sienna for your brown.
DeleteGreat advice there waymire01.
DeleteI'd certainly agree that 36 colours is more than necessary. Have a look at my suggestion from the 20th January in the comments above - it gives a workable and very mixable range. Learn to mix the colours and only add extras if you either really like the characteristics or really want a convenience colour.
Hi Jane. Thanks for share your knowledge. According your tests with these paints what's best option in terms of transparency, mixing and flowing: pans or tubes. Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteHi! I stumbled onto your blog here while looking into my new watercolors. I was looking at my color chart (White Knights set of 36) and there is a difference between the chart and the color pan that's in there which is disappointing. I wonder if anybody else had this happen? Instead of the Indanthrene (a color I typically really love) it was replaced with Ultramarine Deep. It came with an Ultramarine and I haven't swatched them or even unwrapped the pans yet so I'm not sure how different the Ultramarine will be from it's "deep" counterpart. I guess I can buy the tube of Indanthrene if I want. Has this been the case for anyone else? The pallet came wrapped and boxed up very nicely so it appears not to have been tampered with. I'm not sure if it was an error of not. I did notice a comment way at the beginning where someone said they mixed red (one I don't have) with blue and it came out a dark Indanthrene? Does anybody else know a way I can mix colors from this set to get close to it? I like darker blues so I don't mind if it's darker like they said in the comment. I have SO MUCH swatching and color mixing charts to do I'm exhausted thinking about it, but I can't wait to see all these colors and how they mix together. But man is it so much work making those charts! Well, that was my question.
ReplyDeleteI believe Indanthrene blue has been discontinued and replaced with Indanthrene blue light (both are PB60). Ultramarine deep is a newer color in the line also.Your set might have been put together just before the new Indanthrene was released. The current color chart can be found on this page:
Deletehttps://nevskayapalitra.eu/brands/#white-nights
I hope this helps a little.
It's not unknown for a company to substitute in sets. Many actually state they will in the fine print, others just toss a random shade in there intentionally or by accident. If you want to darken your Ultramarine deep go with a small amount of it's mixing complementary (options include raw umber PBr7, quinacridone orange
DeletePO48, benzimidazolone orange PO62, burnt sienna PBr7, or burnt umber PBr7). This will visually darken it, but indanthrone is a different pigment than ultramarine so it will have different characteristics.. including granulation. Watch out for prussian blue, another dark blue, it is not lightfast.
Wow, thank you for going back and updating info on this range! In your experience, when filling pans from the tubes, do they dry as well as the pre-filled pans that come from White Nights? Do you find either form (tube or pan) to ever be as problematically gooey the way you have with M Graham?
ReplyDeleteI believe that the pans and tubes are the same formulation and those I tried from tubes dried fine in the pan.
DeleteHi, i was wondering how the scarlet here compares to holbein's scarlet lake. Been researching what warm red to replace the cadmium red light in my 12 piece set because its too orange for me. I love holbein's scarlet lake, and it would be nice to have something like it in my white nights palette
ReplyDeleteHi Jane!
ReplyDeleteis it possible to replace Aureolin P.Y.151 with Yellow P.Y.154. ? Or is it not a good replacement?
I use Lemon as Cool Yellow and Indian Gold as Warm Yellow, but looking for Mid Yellow one.
Hi Jane, my Emerald Green PG7 is much more saturated in real life than what is shown here. Is it just the limitation of the camera/scanner and the screen?
ReplyDeleteAnd about Geranium Red PR242, yes, it mixes purple with Ultramarine. Well, it is not as bright as Quinacridone mixes, but certainly still count as purple not brown.
ReplyDeleteHi Jane, thank you for these color swatches. It saves me a lot of time. What color from White Nights would you suggest as a substitute for Winsor Newton Permanent Rose?
ReplyDeleteJane here - in White Nights, that would be Quinacridone Red.
DeleteHi Jane, I’m a great fan of your work (my computer seems to be full of your advice and blogs!). I wondered if you could possibly suggest a pallet of transparent paint colours for me as I am trying to begin a new phase in my art ‘career’! I am planning to start glazing/layering techniques this year and want to start with transparent colours. It seems impossible to choose a selection. I do mostly use ‘White Knight’ paints though!
ReplyDeleteAny advice or suggestions on suitable blogs/Utube vids/articles etc would be most gratefully received.
Many thanks, Myra
Interesting perspective, worth a read!"
ReplyDelete