Early Access: SeamiArt Watercolor Kit Unbox & Swatch (Patreon)

SeamiArt Watercolor Kit Unbox & Swatch

Shownotes: Full shownotes here: https://tinyurl.com/c5eh8ufm Seamiart Watercolor Paint Set, 90 half pans: https://amzn.to/2XORAmS $29.69 on Amazon Shoushan Shenglan Trade Co LTD 50 normal colors, 36 shimmer colors, 4 neon colors, 1 water brush Claims to use high quality solid pigments, promises to be not chalky Other set sizes are available 50 color sets that include brushes 12 color themed sets (Ocean Forest, Skin, Candy, Morandi Packaging: Initially shrinkwrapped in plastic Inside is a cardboard gift box Foam bag Plain metal palette with a clasp Inside: Swatch Sheet Sheet of Black Paper Bunch of stickers-Christmas and...totoro? Labeled swatch sheet on cellulose watercolor paper for the 50 ‘regular colors’ Black sheet of paper (maybe for the shimmers and neons?) Small travel size waterbrush The palette: Thin, cheap plastic holding extruded half pans Swatching on Their Paper: Regular Colors: It’s kinda hard to get a feel for these, because the cellulose isn’t really the best reflection. Some of the colors seem kinda off to me, like the Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, and Red Ochre- like they went for much cheaper pigments that don’t granulate. And some of these colors (and I’m NOT talking the pastels) are definitely chalky- Alizarin Crimson, is a prime culprit here. The shimmers seem like they don’t have a lot of oomph at first, but they do dry a bit more opaque and shimmery. On black paper, the neons definitely seem a bit chalky Swatching on My Paper: These are slow to activate if you let them dry, and take some scrubbing. These are definitely full of optical brighteners, and there’s also a fair number of pastels in this set. There’s a number of possibly promising colors for florals, but I also find these seem to lack any real saturation or color depth. Not really seeing a lot of granulation (if really any), seeing a lot of chalkiness in my rinse water, and while none of the colors are really duplicates, I would have preferred more purples and greens over all the shimmer colors. Shimmer: The shimmer is particularly slow to activate, and doesnt really seem to have a lot of color OR shimmer So the paints themselves, on the paper, don’t have a WHOLE lot of opacity (there’s definitely some, but there’s also a lot of really translucent colors), they also don’t have a lot of oomph or color to them. Color Mixing: Optical: The Prussian blue (closest to a cool blue) and the ultramarine are really close- like...basically the same color when side by side. So there isn’t really a warm blue, other than the Cobalt blue. SURPRISNGLY You can glaze these and they don’t reactivate. Seriously, color me surprise, everything I’ve been testing lately reactivates. Atomic: I am able to mix secondary colors (greens, oranges, purples), but all color mixes are just kinda muted and fairly unimpressive. These top out with saturation, so I would say you’re best served using these for more pastel, lighter hand watercolor pieces, and limit your deeper saturation needs for specific things. I’m sorta getting MIYA vibes? Lifting: Not really lifting at all. Wet into Wet Test: Strangely these do really pretty, diffused went into wet. So maybe if you have a really soft, dreamy feel to your art, or you’re not looking to render something specifically, and are aiming more for soft dream-like impressions, these could be a good pick. I really like the color while it’s still wet, we’ll see how it dries. The background diffusions seem to be drying into like, nothing. The more saturated dots of color also dried pretty pastel and faded. The end result is pretty but doesn’t bode well for artists who prefer more vibrant, predictable colors. Compared against: Coolbank Schpirerr Farben Mungyo These sorta remind me of the Bainyo watercolors I reviewed a while back Pros: Price Come with fun shimmery colors Could be fun for younger artists Can actually glaze them Cons: Kinda everything else? They’re really really desaturated They take forever to activate When activated, they glob up on your brush They dry super desaturated IMHO, the resulting paint on paper looks and feels children's grade and kinda cheap The Verdict (for now) These are really weird. They’re similar in quality to the CoolBank watercolors, and might make an ok gift for kids, but! There are better student-grade watercolors at the same (or lower) price, and I would really recommend you just give them those instead- they’ll be a lot happier. Music: Friday Fugue- Trevor Garrod Sunset Dream- Cheel National Express- Dan Bodan Snow Drop- Kevin MacLeod 8 Bit Dreamscape Fairy Tale Waltz Crazy- Patrick Patrikios Bike Sharing to Paradise- Dan Bodan Silver Blue Light- Kevin MacLeod Sunny Looks Good On You Blue Feather- Kevin MacLeod Inner Light- Kevin MacLeod Angevin 70- Kevin MacLeod Pop in Gold- Freedom Trail Studio National Express- Dan Bodan Fairy Tale Waltz Orange Octopus MydNyte- Noir Et Blanc Vie Oh My- Patrick Patrikios Lukewarm Hazy- Asher Fulero