A few weeks ago I received some samples of the Viviva Colorsheets to review. If you haven’t heard about them before they are dye-based watercolors in dry sheets that come in an adorable and very compact booklet, perfect for travelling and painting on the go.
I’ve been playing around with them for a while to get a good feel of how they work and I’m really enjoying them so far. The first thing I like to do when I’m using a new art supply is to swatch the colors while playing around with them and trying a couple of mixes and basic techniques.
I tried a couple different brushes, layered colors on top of each other, did some splattering and color lifting and basically had fun messing around with them.
I created this swatch page in my Fabriano Drawing Journal in 160 g/m2 (80lbs). Keep in mind that every product re-acts differently on different types of paper. I chose not to use watercolor paper because that’s the journal I use most of the times and I wanted to feel how the colors will work on it.
I could tell the colors were dye-based cause there was a little bit of bleeding in the areas I overwetted.
Here is my full review on this set:
Colors
The colors are really beautiful and vibrant. All of them are clean without any granulation and completely transparent making them perfect for layering without creating muddy pools. The sheets are extremely concentrated and full of color. According to the manufacturer the amount of color on each sheet is comparable to a half pan. Although they are branded as watercolors, they act more like inks. I believe they are dye-based and they are extremely staining. That means it’s almost impossible to completely lift the color once it’s on the paper. That can also be considered an advantage if you are working with specific techniques like glazing.
The color selection on the 16 set is really good but some of them are not really lightfast and will fade over time if they are exposed to sunlight. I especially love the blues and magenta although these are some of the colors with low lightfastness. According to the creators, the colors were chosen carefully for urban and outdoor painting. My only complain there is that I wish there was a deep green color (something like Hooker’s Green) in the palette. It would be really convenient for painting flowers and plants. You can definitely mix it with the existing colors but since this palette is all about convenience and ease I think it would be useful to have it ready to go.
According to the first lab reports they are non-toxic and could definitely be a fun supply for crafters. Since most of us create our masterpieces in journals, lightfastness shouldn’t be a big deal breaker.
Packaging
The packaging is really beautiful. They definitely considered both functionality and style when they designed it. Between each page there are non-stick sheets that allow you to flip through before your colors are dry without worrying they will contaminate each other.
There is also a color index at the bottom of each page that shows you samples of the colors. That definitely gives you an approximate idea of the colors but they are not absolutely accurate so I’d definitely recommend adding a small swatch next to each color on your own.
The only considerable disadvantage of the packaging is the lack of mixing space. You will need to carry a different mixing area with you or mix the colors straight on your painting.
Availability
Viviva Colorsheets are created by Aditya and Rohan, two brothers from India. They started with a crowdfunding campaign that did extremely well. Right now they are on the production stage. Unfortunately that’s the only place you can get this set right now since they are not widely available yet. They do offer worldwide shipping so you can order them from anywhere in the world.
I don’t know the details about the waiting time but I personally believe it doesn’t matter much. It’s always great to support small businesses to take off, especially when they offer a great product made with love and attention to detail.
Disclaimer: I received the products mentioned above for free in exchange of my honest review. This is not a sponsored post and all opinions and views are my own.
