The new Daniel Smith watercolor "Red Jasper Genuine" is a light red-brown natural mineral pigment slightly warmer than Indian Red. It has gentle granulation. This subtle texture is unlike the majorly granulating Lunar Brown, Tiger's Eye and Hematite minerals. It's texture may disappoint those looking for a ton of granulation, however it's very easy on the eyes for those who don't normally like texture.
This color is semi opaque and is not a strong mixer. It is less intense than colors like Permanent brown or Perylene Maroon. Though I will say that even though Perylene Maroon initially goes down very strong, it has more of a wet-to-dry shift and when you add just a touch of it to Burnt Umber the mixture can look very similar to the new Red Jasper Genuine.
Because I often paint warm color pieces including birds or other animals, and I'm pretty much obsessed with granulating paints, this color seemed like a good fit for my palette.
In the middle of my debating what to try to paint with this new color yesterday, several watercolor artists on YouTube created inspiring bird theme paintings. Their group, the Animal Artists Collective, was created to help raise awareness and support for conservation efforts. I've been impressed with the many artists participating, and wanted to unofficially tag along. In honor of their kind contributions to organizations that help animals and the environment, half of the profit from this painting will go to Audubon Florida chapter.
The Reddish Egret is a very unusual bird. Unlike most birds who have a certain color pattern based upon age and if they are male or female, the Reddish Egret can actually be all white or red-brown-gray (called light or dark phase, with about 20% of their population being light). They were nearly hunted into extinction for their feathers, used for clothing and hat adornments for women's fashion in the late 1800s. Luckily in 1918 the migratory bird treaty put a federal ban on hunting them for feathers. Their population is slowly recovering and many of them call Texas home.
The new Red Jasper Genuine watercolor is perfect for more than a few bird species, animals or even canyon scenes. So far, I was able to find the new colors for sale online at Dick Blick, Amazon, The SAA (UK) and The Merri Artist (Oregon USA). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you would like to buy any of the supplies I used in this review, the Amazon links are below.
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