Today I have once again updated my Pigment Comparison by Brand Spreadsheet
Roman Szmal Aquarius Line Expansion
A few days ago, Roman from Roman Szmal Aquarius reached out, informing me that they are expanding their watercolour offerings with 25 new colours.
For those of you unfamiliar with Roman Szmal Aquarius, this is a fairly new brand of watercolour paint based in Poland. They are distinguished by offering a massive selection of watercolour paints, with a strict focus on lightfastness and pigment selection. I have reviewed Roman Szmal Aquarius paints on my Youtube channel twice. First I reviewed a selection of 12 colours sent to me by the brand, and later I reviewed a selection of RSA paints I purchased for myself
Several of the paints being added to the RSA line are made with unique pigments not offered by any other manufacturer, while most of the others are uncommon pigments and unique mixes. 22 of the 25 new additions are made with single pigments or natural earth pigments. What an exciting brand expansion!
I have now updated the pigment comparison spreadsheet as best I could with these new additions. Golden Yellow (PY181) and Perylene Green Deep (PBk32) now have their own rows in the pigment spreadsheet. The new colours also include two unique shades of PR102; Hematite(Violet Shade) and Hematite(Brown Shade), and several other uncommon pigments and shades.
I would also like to draw your attention to several unique paints in this update that do not have assigned pigment numbers and thus could not be added to my pigment spreadsheet, which is sorted strictly by pigment. Roman Szmal’s new offerings include 4 natural earth pigments that do not have an assigned colour index (Lazurite, Vivianite, Malachite and Goethite) as well as a bright orange named Aquarius Orange, which does not yet have an assigned pigment number. I am eager to find out whether this new orange shade is the same as the Transparent Orange I love from Winsor and Newton (pigment currently unassigned, but tentatively PO107).
Roman Szmal Aquarius watercolours are available internationally through Jackson’s Art
New Brands Added to the Pigment Comparison Spreadsheet
In this update, I have also added 3 other brands of paint to the pigment comparison spreadsheet:
American Journey is the store brand of watercolours offered by Cheap Joe’s Art Supplies in the US. This brand distinguishes itself with poetic paint names for common pigments, including gems like “Royal Amethyst” (PV23), “Red Hot Mamma” (PR188) and “Sour Lemon Hansa”(PY3). This is a great example of the utility of the pigment comparison spreadsheet. I just wish I had a better way of adding comparisons for multi-pigment paints – perusing the American Journey brand, I strongly suspect they are produced by Da Vinci.
Art Spectrum is an Australian brand. In Australia, this is a very affordable watercolour brand, and their paints can also be purchased internationally through Jackson’s. Art Spectrum’s single pigment offerings are all fairly common in other brands, but they offer a number of unique mixes inspired by the Australian landscape. I have reviewed Art Spectrum paints in this video.
Finally, I added Isaro, a small Belgian brand of watercolours. For those interested in supporting small independent businesses, I believe Isaro has a very small production, just one step larger than handmade paintmakers. Isaro offers a small line of 60 paints. The spectral and earth colours are made with common pigments, which are named in a straightforward way reflecting their pigment compositions, and Isaro also offers a selection of shimmery mica-based paints.
