Early Access- Miya Watercolor Fieldtest (Patreon)

MIYA Watercolor Fieldtest & Review

More of my art! Instagram: Artstation: Twitter: Check out my webcomic, 7" Kara: Buy Volume 1: Volume 2: Lilliputian Living Support art tutorials like this one! One time tips: Kofi: Paypal: Join me on Patreon! Materials Used: Other Student Grade Watercolor Palette Reviews: Other Great Watercolor Tutorials: Shownotes: Full shownotes: https://tinyurl.com/2jyp9t7e The selection of blues is really nice and includes some pretty different colors (and not just different bc some are more pastel, like legit diff blue hues) Lighter colors really don't pack much of a punch when watered down. When you DO get them saturated enough though, they're really pretty and seem to layer nicely, that said, it muddies the water fast, and takes a fair amount of paint to get half-decent color. While painting the strawberry leaves: My goal was to establish a foreground leaf (yellow undertone), a midground leaf (green) and a b/g leaf (blue): Colors go down pretty bright and saturated but dry far less saturated. Honestly, for some colors, the color payoff is kinda disappointing- you really have to glob it on to get the color you're going for. It's kinda difficult to build up the color you want, especially if you aren't mixing colors or working super thick and globby. I'm using a nice cottonrag paper- the same one I use for all my modern w/c fieldtests, and it almost feels like a student grade paper, because I just can't get the effects I want. The wet into wet dries really unimpressive. It takes so much paint to get any color at all. So even after drying all night, colors that should be fairly set and immovable to reactivate and move around, which would definitely lead to mud if you were trying to do glazes. It makes the paint difficult to control and predict and you end up with a very sloppy painting, even if you know what you’re doing. These are definitely kinda frustrating to use, and I haven’t even started painting the kids yet, which is usually the most challenging part. The hot pink is also kinda milky and a bit weak- you do get more 'paint' than the Meiliang palette, but it's really stretched out with fillers. The paint itself is also a bit more gloppy, making it harder to use and harder to apply, more difficult to control. I really wanted to like this palette, and I'm really sad that it's been such a frustration to paint with. Even if you're applying color to a fully dry area, it's SUPER prone to bleeding (I've noticed this with student grade w/c with a lot of optical brighteners, it's like it forms a second ground) This has definitely been a challenge because all the techniques I'd normally rely on just don't work or are a huge risk- sometimes they work, sometimes not. For darker skin tones, the colors are kinda muddy and heavy, this is not a palette I would recommend for painting a variety of people. Pros and Cons: Pros: Price Compact format Larger pans Wide color gamut Reactivates from ceramic decently well Cons: Color payoff is hit or miss, some colors are really weak unless used at full strength Colors prone to reactivating, bleeding Almost impossible to pull off normal w/c techniques that I should be able to do on cottonrag paper MIYA vs Meiliang: Meiliang: Smaller pans Similar amount of colors Colors contain fewer optical brighteners, will last longer Colors mix well Colors layer well Colors handle like more expensive watercolors MIYA Lot of optical brighteners, muddy the water fast Colors fall out of mixed solutions quickly Colors turn muddy quickly Cannot do many traditional w/c techniques with these, wet into wet is basically a tossup Color saturation, esp in mixes, is weak and muddy Compared to Meiliang, these are frankly quite disappointing, I expected a lot better The Verdict: It's so much harder to paint a nicer piece with these- it takes longer, and even if you're using nice materials, the end piece doesn't look as nice as it should and feels more like a student piece. This is a perfect example of how using student-grade materials can often hinder your art from being as good as it COULD be. I had high hopes for these based off the swatches, but fieldtesting them and creating a full illustration that used a variety of techniques helped me form a different opinion. Music: 8 Bit Dreamscape Cartoon Space Utopia Fairy Tale Waltz Sweet Relief- Zachariah Hickman English Country Gardens-Aaron Kenny Orange Octopus Swseet Relief- Zachariah Hickman Sunset Dream- Cheel Pop in Gold- Freedom Trail Studio National Express- Dan Bodan Morning Mandolin Lulu is the Cat I like Best Lil Cookie Friday Fugue- Trevor Garrod Sonatina No 2 in F Major Rondo- Joel Cummins On the Passing of Time- Kevin MacLeod Crazy- Patrick Patrikios Ready or Not- Trevor Garrod No 0 Esther's Waltz- Esther Abrami #MIYAwatercolors #MIYAwatercolorreview #budgetwatercolor