First developed in 1881 as one their two foundational products, the HORADAM Aquarell range from Schmincke is available in several varieties, each offering a broad assortment of professional-quality watercolours.
But just what are these ranges... and how do they differ from one another? That’s what we’re here to answer today, so let us introduce you to these amazing paints.
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Despite being dubbed “standard”, the original range is anything but.
Available in tubes or half-pans, their extensive 139 colour palette includes both established, traditional tones & several innovative shades made using special pigments such as perylenes, quinacridones & transparent iron oxides.
With 92 single-pigment & 22 granulating colours, you can easily create brilliant mixing results & a variety of special effects or finishes in your work.
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Available in 50 colours divided into 10 thematic series, the Supergranulating range is characterised by their combination of at least 2 granulating HORADAM pigments, intensifying the effect to ”supergranulation“. In addition to this, they’re produced using pigments from different colour ranges, offering not just a granulation effect, but unique colour interchanges also.
Their natural structure formation varies dependent on both the surface & level of water used. Essentially, the rougher the paper, the stronger the granulation.
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The latest from Schmincke, HORADAM Naturals are a high-quality, environmentally friendly & vegan watercolour range in a palette of 16 matte and mostly semi-/transparent colours offering a unique combination of watercolour & gouache properties.
An outstanding feature of this range is the use of carefully chosen natural earth & plant-based pigments and extracts in their formulation, with their lightfastness corresponding to these natural characteristics. For instance, using the genuine juice of the Indigofera plant or resin of the Dragon's Blood tree enables plant-based colours, whilst the use of exceptional earth pigments provides precious colours like Lalvarit violet or Caucasus earth.
One interesting point to note is that their natural formulation offers a unique combination of properties that distinguishes them from either a pure watercolour or gouache. For example, the coarser texture of the natural pigments can lead to rougher, slightly granular surface effects distinct from traditional gouache. Along with this, their consistency is somewhat thicker & doesn’t flow as easily as standard watercolours, being more comparable to a gouache.
As they’re produced using natural materials, there may be slight colour variations within different branches, but please rest assured this is not a quality defect.
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The HORADAM Aquarell range is by no means the only professional-quality materials produced by Schmincke, we highly recommend browsing all of their amazing products including their acrylics, oils, mediums & primers right here!
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