Early Access MIYA Watercolors- Unbox and Swatch (Patreon)

MIYA Watercolors- Unbox and Swatch

7" Kara: Read it as a webcomic! Volume 1: Volume 2: Lilliputian Living: Check out more of my Art! Instagram: Artstation! Support reviews like this one: Patreon: Mentioned In This Video: Meiliang Pretty Excellent Watercolors: Unbox and Swatch: Fieldtest: Paul Rubens Watercolors: Unbox and Swatch: Fieldtest: Cotman: Sennelier L'Aquarelle Full Shownotes including Color Info Available here: https://tinyurl.com/2ejvc9cn Himi Miya Palette Available on Both Ali Express and Amazon 36 Half Pans: $19.99 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SxgwNj Himi makes several other watercolor palettes, several of them look quite interesting The Miya Website: https://www.miyaarts.com Miya is a Chinese company with four brands- HIMI, MIYA, Original Paint, and Pen World. The Packaging: Wrapped in a solid plastic container Inside the Packaging: Palette map on watercolor paper Color key with colors and the names in chinese (will translate) Paints are extruded w/c paints on a flimsy plastic holder, this is removable from the plastic container No room for a brush or pencil Colors listed in full shownotes. Swatching- Palette Map Colors activate fairly readily Seem quite saturated and blend out nicely But make the water a muddy mess- so probably full of brighteners to make the masstone more appealing All of the colors activated quickly, with good saturation, but the brush, even with a gentle touch, picked up a lot of paint These would probably get used up quickly, but so far, not bad at all Nice array of colors- lots of bright colors, but also some great earthtones and neutrals Swatch Test: Colors swatch really saturated on cottonrag paper Pans are a good size- slightly larger than half pans, easy to get a brush in there These really muddy the water fast though Lift Test: While some colors do reactivate and lift up, all seem pretty staining- none lifted up anywhere close to the white of the paper. Granulation is pretty minimal, everything seems to be granulated to about the same amount. Color Mixing: Atomic or manual mixing- very easy to mix secondary colors like orange, gree, and even a decent purple. When using ultramarine, there’s also some fun granulation involved. While colors swatch down really vibrant, they dry a bit less vibrant, especially as you add water Seeing some color reactivation with the optical mixing, despite allowing the first layer to dry for an hour beneath a fan. You want to be careful with glazes over full saturation swatches. Who is this for: Definitely a great fit for calligraphers and card markers- people who want a lot of color, quick activation, and don't need to do a lot of mixing. These could also be a great inexpensive option for comic artists who don’t want to do a lot of color mixing, or as an expansive travel set with a lot of color options for quick illustration on the go. To me, these are more compact that the Superior watercolor fan palette, with less mess. Pros and Cons Pros: Very inexpensive, a huge range of colors Quick to activate, you get a lot of color fast Generous amount of color in these ‘half pans’ Format is unique and fun Nice gamut of colors, should be able to paint quickly without too much color mixing Staining Can easily get a brush in these pans, would be great for artists who work larger or need to mix up larger amounts of color Cons: Colors dry desaturated, not nearly as vibrant as they promise As these are student grade, you will probably end up using up some colors quickly, and won’t be able to replace them with MIYA watercolors, but you could probably refill those strange ‘half pans’ with the watercolor of your choice No room for a brush or pencil Pigment information and lightfast information not readily available No longer listed on the MIYA site, but still available through Amazon Can’t really glaze over full saturation of color, as colors do reactivate even once dry (this is a common issue though) The Verdict: I found the MIYA 36 diamond pans set to be well worth the $20, and probably something I’ll be able to recommend in the future. I might even like it a smidge better than the Pretty Excellent watercolors, which is honestly saying a lot. MIYA Unbox and Swatch: Crazy- Patrick Patrikios Wishful Thinking Italian Morning- Twin Musiccom Touching Moment Lovely Afternoon Breeze Lil Cookie Marigold A Quiet Thought MydNyte- Noir et Blanc Vie Honeybar Finding Me Calmant National Express- Dan Bodan Pluck and Play- Kwon No 9 Esther's Waltz- Esther Abrami Sunset Dream- Cheel Broken- Patrick Patrikios Ready or Not- Trevor Garrod Bike Sharing to Paradise- Dan Bodan Dance for the Wind Trio- Sir Cubworth