Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours have added 15 limited edition colours to their Horadam Supergranulation Watercolour range. Each colour contains a combination of granulating pigments which separate and settle into the paper surface for textural watercolour effects.
Painting with Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours
German brand Schmincke, who produces paints and mediums, has released a new limited edition series: supergranulating watercolours.
What is granulation? Briefly, it is the process of paint particles falling out into visible flakes which creates additional texture on the paint surface.
The new special edition of Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours is part of the Horadam Professional Range. It includes 15 colours in 15 ml tubes, which are grouped into three series: ‘Deep Sea’, ‘Glacier’ and ‘Galaxy’. There are five shades in each series, which best reflect the colours of similar scenes. All series’ have blue and black shades, and then they are distributed according to the name of the series: ‘Galaxy’ has purple and pink shades, ‘Glacier’ has cold blue and blue shades, and ‘Deep Sea’ contains greenish and blue colours. The whole new line consists of blue, green, brown, pinkish-violet and black.
Among the notable features of the new special edition are the principle of selection of pigments. All of the colours are based on at least two pigments that have been used in Schmincke watercolour paints before. But in this series these pigments are specially selected/combined to give supergranulation. Granulation is often achieved simply by mixing paint with the highly granulating black pigment PBk11, but Schmincke used the principle of combining two different pigments which are highly granulating by themselves and also look harmonious together. This is a unique solution that no other paint manufacturer has. In addition, some of the paints in this series beautifully fall apart into several pigments, such as Glacier Green, which uses two pigments, green and brown.
All paints in the series are highly lightfast (4**** and 5*****) and are predominantly semi-opaque/semi-transparent.
An Overview of Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours
Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours – Glacier Series
Glacier Turquoise
Pigments: PG50, PV16
A shade more gentle and less vivid than the usual Cobalt Turquoise: a cold green-blue.
Glacier Blue
Pigments: PB29, PG50
A bright blue based on ultramarine, deep and saturated.
Glacier Green
Pigments: PR233, PG50
An incredibly beautiful colour, combining green and brown.
Glacier Brown
Pigments: Br6, PG26
A warm saturated brown, where greenish specks can be seen.
Glacier Black
Pigments: PBk11, PB35
Black, based on mars black with cobalt blue pigment.
Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours – Galaxy Series
Galaxy Pink
Pigments: PV16, PBr33
A very beautiful pure cold pink.
Galaxy Violet
Pigments: PR233, PB29
A violet hue breaking down into particles of blue and purple. In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful colours of the entire special edition.
Galaxy Blue
Pigments: PG50, PB29
A cold blue with a distinct greenish undertone.
Galaxy Brown
Pigments: PV62, PBr6
Brown going into an orange undertone, warmer than brown in the Glacier series.
Galaxy Black
Pigments: PBk11, PB29
Black with a mixture of ultramarine; the coldest black of all three.
Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours – Deep Sea Series
Deep Sea Green
Pigments: PG18, PB29
A cold green, a shade most like malachite.
Deep Sea Violet
Pigments: PB29, PBr33
Denser and more intense than in the Galaxy series, the purple also disintegrates into blue and purple particles.
Deep Sea Blue
Pigments: PG50, PV16, PB29
A warm and soft shade with a velvety paint effect.
Deep Sea Indigo
Pigments: PV62, PG18
A saturated dark blue, green particles can be seen in the granulation.
Deep Sea Black
Pigments: PBk11, PB74, PB35
Black with a blue undertone, but the colour is warm rather than cold.
Painting With Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours
My core palette as a practicing watercolour artist (with only 30 colours at the moment) includes 5 new colours which I actively use. These are:
Deep Sea Blue – a dim, dusty blue to create texture and granulation in mountain washes.
Glacier Green – divinely falling apart into two shades of red-brown and green, creating interest in trees/grass painting, good in both pure and mixtures.
Glacier Black – a cool granulating black for creating texture in the shade.
Galaxy Pink – a very beautiful colour, creates incredible washes and also brilliant in pure form.
Galaxy Violet – differs from the similar colour in the Deep Sea series only by the brown pigment, both colours are incredible both in pure form and in mixtures, they can make a very beautiful picture by themselves.
To sum it up: the new Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours, which are very lightfast and using the natural nature of the pigment, are really worth a try. They allow to differ and create more interesting watercolour washes, are very beautiful in pure form and in mixtures and create an incredible texture on the surface of the paper. And it’s impossible not to fall in love with these colours: when you watch this watercolour paints flowing and granulating your heart freezes with delight.
The Supergranulating Deep Sea, Glacier and Galaxy colours can be found at the bottom of the colour chart.
Further Reading
What is Watercolour Granulation?
Review of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours
Painting a Mountain Landscape in Watercolour
Why Schmincke Horadam has 20 Different Green Watercolours
Shop Schmincke Horadam Supergranulating Watercolours on jacksonsart.com
8 thoughts on “Painting with Schmincke Supergranulation Watercolours”
Absolutely stunning blog post. I was so happy to get the wonderful email announcement for these paints, and even more excited to get them after seeing this wonderful example art. Thank you Jackson’s for making my day, I love granulation! I also deeply appreciate how quick, easy and reasonably priced it is to get my orders over here in the USA 😀
Thank you for this lovely comment, Kimberly!
After searching Jackson’s website for a
while, all I could find in 15 ml tubes was the
Galaxy Blue. I couldn’t find the others even
listed.
Hi Mary, you will find them along with the other Schmincke Horadam colours here: https://www.jacksonsart.com/schmincke-horadam-watercolour, they are at the end of the colour chart.
I ordered the whole set because of this blog post and the
galaxy painting that is just stunning. I can not wait to
receive my order. I am wondering how the flow is on these
colors, similar granulating colors when dropped on the
page just sit there.
Hi Tisha, I’m sure you’ll really enjoy them when they arrive! Of the colours I’ve tried, they behave the same as other granulating watercolours in the sense that they are not very ‘active’ when dropped onto the page. I think this is typical of granulating watercolours because the pigment particles are characteristically larger and heavier than their non-granulating counterparts.
Thank you for posting interesting article!
Each colours have very beautiful
granulation. I can’t decide which ones to
order. I enjoyed translating this article
into Japanese and share it. Many
thanks!
Noko, you speak Japanese! I just happen
to know someone who is wondering
whether Boku-Undo E-Sumi colors are
lightfast. Do you happen to know?
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