For a couple of years now I’ve been playing with handmade watercolors from various small shops and I have to say, I’m super impressed with all of them! My latest discovery is Dark Bee Handmade Watercolors. The owner (and great mixed media artist) of this lovely Etsy shop reached out to me and of course I was thrilled to try them out.
If you want the short version of this review here it is: These are some of the most amazing granulating watercolors I’ve tried. Some colors were very strong and some others a bit weaker but the texture of all of them was magnificent. These paints are fantastic for landscapes and atmospheric backgrounds. I also really enjoyed the way the mixed with bright colors from other companies. I was able to mix some really beautiful and unique colors. Their price point is a bit higher than usual but they are created with a lot of love and care and they offer some really fantastic and unique properties.
Packaging
When I received the package, I was really impressed with the care and attention to detail that was put into it. There was a lot of tissue paper to make sure the tin won’t get any scratches and a lovely ribbon to make it look like a very special gift.
The pans inside the tin were also packaged very well. There was a foil layer over a piece of plastic wrap to make sure that the colors are well protected. There were also actual color swatches both on the wrappers and on the lid of the tin. In addition to that, really appreciated the extra effort that was put into labeling each pan and also include magnets to have them stick in the tin.
Overall every aspect of the packaging was well thought and executed by someone who understands and loves their product.
First Impressions
After unwrapping the pans, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of paint included in each one of them. All the colors were filled over the lip of the pans with a very generous amount of paint.
During the initial swatching of the paints I got a little skeptical. I felt a little bit underwhelmed with the lack of strength in a few of the colors but I was still curious to see if I could find a place for them in my main palette.
As I was testing things out with these paints, I figured that all the colors looked absolutely mesmerizing when they are watered down. They all have really beautiful texture and the pigment particles do really interesting things when they have enough water to play with. The texture and granulation of these colors is truly unique.
Colors
Most of the available colors of Dark Bee Handmade Watercolors are towards the earthy/muted side. However that doesn’t mean that they are not good for people that work with a brighter color palette. These colors work beautifully next to brighter shades and they also create really stunning and interesting color mixes.
I tried mixing each color that came in this palette with some of my most used and loved colors to see how I can stretch this palette. This is where the magic started. In most of my mixes, the granulation of the Dark Bee colors was carried to the new mix creating some really amazing effects. In many of my mixes I could see some particles separating creating a dual-tone effect.
I was even more surprised to discover that although these colors are pretty muted, my color mixes weren’t muddy and in many cases they created really intense and bright shades.
Conclusion
These watercolors are really an amazing addition for anyone that enjoys granulation and texture in their watercolor washes. The available colors are very interesting and unique and from what I’ve tried, they mix beautifully with other paints (even with other media like gouache). I’d definitely recommend them to artists and illustrators that enjoy working with texture, landscape and atmospheric backgrounds as well as people that work with mixed media.
These paints are not a great fit as a stand alone palette due to the lack of bright colors unless you really want to work with that limitation. They are a better fit for someone that already has another watercolor palette to pair it with.
Overall I’m really impressed with the performance of these watercolors and although they are slightly more expensive than other paints, I think they are worth the investment as they have something unique to offer.
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.