My wife, Marilee and I are trying something new. Some of you know the Popovich household is 100% artsy-fartsy. I am a fine artist while Marilee is a graphic designer and marketing geek. She has been working behind the scenes creating videos and developing my marketing brand and strategy.
We are combining our talents to bring a more in-depth and more vibrant body of information. Like before I will bring everything watercolor - all of my 40+ years of observing, painting, and art teaching experience. While Marilee will be asking me questions on our videos and presenting additional information from an artist’s marketers point of reference when it applies. She has to help me promote my watercolor paintings and watercolor classes/workshops so I can spend more time painting. In fact, in the last year, art leagues have had her share her knowledge about getting an online presence. WATERCOLOR SOCIETY OF INDIANA Sunday, March 17th Marilee and I drove 2.5 hours to Indianapolis for the Watercolor Society of Indiana meeting. It’s quite a large group of passionate artists from all over the state and beyond with a round 200+ members.
GUEST PRESENTER FROM GOLDEN ARTIST COLORS
Their guest speaker was Valerie Allen http://valerieallenart.com from Golden Paints. Valerie is a working artist who lives in Michigan and gets to play with and present all of the Golden products. She walked the group through their products but of course I wanted to hear more about their relatively new to the playing field watercolors called QoR (pronounced core.) Prior to Valerie’s talk the group had a raffle with plenty of swag. Lucky Marilee! Or should I say lucky Dale? She won a a six-tube set of Qor Modern Watercolor paints. As you know I’ve been professionally painting for 40 years trying every watercolor brands out their. If you have taken classes from me you know my opinion about each brand. I’ve been very pleased with my recommended paint brands — they are like old, comfortable friends. And it would take a lot to to get me to stand up and say WOW!
BACK IN MY STUDIO – VIDEO REVIEW
I was quite excited to try out our six new tubes of paints. I was quite excited to try out our six new tubes of colors. I wanted to see how they perform, so I recreated a demo I did for one of my weekly classes. PLEASE NOTE: The demo used Talon watercolors, was a full palette and a finished painting (1-1/2 hours) where the QoR is a study that took 20 minutes. But I still feel I could give an accurate review.
BRUSHES
I prefer real hair watercolor brushes if you can afford them.
THE SCENE
October 5, 2018: the Presqile River near Marenisco, MI on old route 2. Marilee and I spent our 33rd wedding anniversary doing what we love most – hiking the Northwoods during autumn. Here's a place we spent a lot of time capturing it from every angle. The golds of the leaves and the black water was a bewitching place that left us speechless.
THE QoR VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
As I stated earlier, I planned on doing an interruption using the Golden paints’ QoR watercolors. I compared their watercolors to Talens watercolors which are paints I’ve used for over 40+ years. The video is around 20 minutes start to finish. I started this painting like all watercolors paintings using three basic steps. Step #1: The Block-In
This is a question I get all the time:
Q. Why don't I use my dried paints? A. I covered this subject in the video. I also share how I extend the life of my paints for a day or two.
STEP # 2: Establishing Secondary Masses
Now I wanted to see how the QoR watercolors handled a dry brush technique. I saw no difference in the paint from others when dry brushing. Also ever so slightly spraying the paint. I'm checking the flow. So far I was able to keep the vibrant color. You have probably noticed I keep the painting reasonably abstract. It will all pul together at the end. I used a lot of water and QoR watercolors maintained its vibrancy. These paints are reacting very well. I was impressed so far – remember I have never used QoR paints before.
STEP # 3: Final Details
I see positive results from QoR.
AT THE END OF THE VIDEO
I shared this same painting I created in one of my weekly classes as a demonstration. Now I have to admit there were some differences. The larger piece was painted with Talens watercolors, the painting was a full palette of colors and took me 1-1/2 hours. This was an actual demonstration while the QoR painting was just a 20-minute study. But I felt I got a good read on the QoR paints in 20 minutes.
Side-by-Side Test
I compared Burnt Sienna by QoR and Talens. The colors were slightly different but I expected that. Both brands were in the acceptable Burnt Sienna family. The Talens was more granular. and because of that I preferred the QoR On the flip side I sampled Ultramarine Blue by QoR and Talens. The colors were also slightly different – QoR is a touch warmer and Talens was a little cooler – a slight variation, both paints are good. No gramulaton. Well, the QoR watercolors are looking very good.
BRANDS - Left: QoR Right: Talens Royal. COLORS: burnt sienna and ultramarine blue
IN CONCLUSION
I tried Golden Artist Colors line of watercolors called QoR. I found that the intensity, luminosity, and flow of the watercolor on Indigo watercolor paper was quite impressive.
UPDATE: Got my shipment from Dick Blicks today!
I'll let you know in a future vlog what I think as I start painting with QoR watercolors in a full palette.
AFFILIATE DISCLOSUREAmazon: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Dale L Popovich IWSDale is an award-winning watercolorist and teacher passionate about capturing the raw beauty of the American landscape with the fluid stroke of a brush. As you will see, the works selected in his portfolio represent the depth of his holistic approach to painting. You can also learn with this talented and experienced teacher through his workshops, Palette & Chisel, and Popovich Studio classes. Archives
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