Hey everyone! Thanks for all your great comments! I thought it would be easier to write it once here instead of responding to all the people that suggest I open the tube of DS paint :) While that is a great tip for dried paint in a tube, in this particular case it's pointless, I'm afraid. The tube was bad to start with, the pigment seems to react with the metal and the whole thing is a crumbly dried dusty mess. Good news is that it is no longer made by DS, I guess it just didn't work in this formulation.

I've been afraid to do a video on my most expensive supplies, for fear of looking like an art snob! lol! But, you pulled this off fabulously and I love seeing what you use and your thoughts on each - very surprised by the Jean Haines brushes not coming to a point. That drives me bananas! I've also bought some expensive brushes that ended up in my brush jar, unused. I feel the same way about the synthetics, too. This was a fun video and really enjoyed your take! Maybe I'll get over being a snob and share my own supplies, some day... or not. Who knows! LOL!! Hoping you're well and thank you for this one! ~ Mark

One thing about saving that expensive watercolor paper for a special occasion: the sizing on watercolor paper does have a shelf life, it won't behave the same if it gets too old. If that happens, it can be resized, just get yourself some watercolor ground. But maybe this is a good reason to motivate yourself to go ahead and use it while it's still good! Just tell yourself you are doing the responsible thing by using it first.

The most expensive watercolour paint I have is Daniel Smith and I have a few small tubes of the ones made from gemstones like Amazonite, Sodalite, Amethyst and so on and I LOVE THEM!

I would love it if you did a video on vegan brushes. I've purchased so many in my quest to find an alternative to animal hair brushes. It's hard to beat the water retention of a natural hair brush---I would love to hear your thoughts on alternatives.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with these products.

Great video, I don't know about others but I'm nosey and like to find out things such as expensive watercolour supplies and are they worth it!! While watching it several things came to mind so I hope you don't mind some motherly advice, and as I say to my own daughters "you probably already know this BUT.....". Saunders Waterford 300 lb paper is Shirley Trevena's favourite paper - so that should inspire - plus paper has two sides, now I know you know that - but that means you have freedom to use one side as intuitively as you wish, knowing that the second side can be used with a little more planning, and watercolour paper will eventually lose its sizing so don't procrastinate too long, and it's only paper 8-) . Take a sheet of that Saunders Waterford, tape off the sides (just so you will have a nice border when done) and without too much planning (well, possibly choosing colour combinations might not be a bad thing) wet the paper, mingle your chosen colours, fill the sheet, possibly wet on wet and when it drys (dries?) you will at the very least have a background onto which you may paint something else and you will have a feel for how your paints react to the paper. Also, dig that Daniel Smith Malachite (?) out of the garbage. Get a smallish glass jar into which the tube will fit, take off the top of the tube, scissor along the bottom of the tube, pry open that end, plop the tube in glass jar, fill it full or part way with water (preferably distilled water) - leave it a week or so, then shake the bedevil out of the jar and you will have, hopefully, reconstituted paint to use (and don't forget to label the jar). Forgive the grammar, the run on sentences and the length of this comment - isolation means not many conversations taking place so I tend to get a little carried away 8-) !! In our little corner of Canada folks (myself and family included) are doing relatively well - hope your corner of the world is also doing well.

I order from jacksons all the time now based on your recommendation even though I'm in the USA. The prices are cheaper and it arrives in two days flat! Thanks.

If anyone wants to start out in Sennelier I just discovered the Billie Showell 6 tube set. It's a great deal at half the price for 10ml tubes and it's a split primary so it's a great foundation for any palette. It was about $35 at Jackson's.

I ordered the one with larger wells the 64 well plus a 21 well insert. I can’t stand half pans. For me it just equals brush destruction and I use very expensive brushes. I believe the 64 well is the one Angela Fehr has.

The DS Malachite (now discontinued) reacts with metals (and I think maybe with air?) so might have been okay if you had squeezed it out of the tube as soon as you got it home into a plastic pan/container and stirred in the binder. I think Daniel Smith only made a small quantity of it, and I've only seen handmade versions of it on Etsy outside DS--and maybe Kremer has it. I've never tried it, know watercolor friends who loved it but found it had a very short life due to the weird chemical reaction.

I too am an art supply adict but one that is self aware enough to limit my purchases lol. I have only recently begun "upgrading" my watercolor supplies from "student" supplies (though ive been using Arches 300lb for years). My most expensive purchase other than paper is either one of my travel brushes or my pocket folio, both of which I love. Getting Da Vinci paints to start my new studio palette, but i will eventually get at least a few tibes from each of the other big brands.

I have expensive paper I don't use, so I know the feeling! My paper is mostly from Hahnemühle since I am in Germany but I have Arches, Fabriano and even some Winsor & Newton. I really should use it before it goes off! 😀😂

Irit, on the DS tube.. I've heard of people cutting open the tube and rewetting the dried paint. Not sure how well it would work with a genuine or if it would be worth the effort to you or not, but thought it might be worth a try..

I have the 64 well robax and insert and liners. I love it and the insert has wells too so if I’m painting something smaller I can take out what I need and put them into the insert. I think it was worth the cost. Thanks for the info you are sharing. It’s very helpful

Hi Irit! I don't think the Etchr books are worth it, I have a couple, and I prefer my hand-bound Arches one for less than the Etchr price :)

Thanks for the video! Just a tip, if you are using an artistic but slightly less legible font, and you've got multiple lines of text, you might want to keep it on screen for longer than 5 seconds. 2:45 was one that stood out--I am in general a fast reader (I read twice as fast as my husband) but I had to go back a couple times to make it through the whole thing. It's a little thing, but a nice consideration for viewers :)

The Qor 12 intro was wonderful. First professional paints I bought.

Gosh, thought I thanked you at the beginning of my long txt for suggesting some of my favorite stuff. Thank you! I’ve purchased some of your favorites and love them all.

I will never buy a sable brush, all the ones I have had have been DEVOURED by clothes moths! So it is good synthetics now. The Khadi journal I would love, it is my favourite I even love the flaws. Please use your Saunders Waterford. Though I would buy The Khadi heavyweight. The Jacksons eco is lovely and probably my most extravagant purchase in recent years, but bought in their sale. I have a longing for a Fabriano pad. a huge one for ink and wash, in a signature cover of dark blue and ochre, I had one, loved it and used it up years ago, Great art stock it and it is mindblowingly expensive, so I may never ever get it, but maybe its tiny version ( if I am lucky). The jacksons eco btw comes a bit sort of dimensionally wonkt, the sheets are not flat, but if you wet them on both sides and tape them down to dry they become flat and take the paint very well. I think they may last very well too it is such a robust paper, when cut down it is fabulous too. Keep safe where you are, in this bizarre new reality.

Thanks Irit! Always fun to see and hear your recommendations. Schmincke is expensive in states so I have a couple tubes and love them. Most of my tubes are Sennelier and I buy Daniel Smith for granulation. I think Daniel Smith cobalts and granulating colors might be as expensive as Schmincke. My 8 by 10 khadi sketchbook is most expensive and totally worth it. When I want very white paper I love the stillman and birn alpha softcover sketchbook. Recently I started tearing down my expensive single sheets of watercolor paper and I find it easier to use if torn in half giving me double the amount. daVinci Casaneo quill #2 and #4 favorite and most expensive brushes. 💕

My most expensive watercolor set is the 48 pan box by Sennelier which I payed 170 Euro for at Amazon. I own a 54 pan collection by Schmincke which has a higher price in shops (199 Euro) but I bought it from ebay for a lower price. Also found the Sennelier tube collection used for about the same price. My most expensive brush is the limited edition brush by Da Vinci 😭😂 sorry, I am a brush addict... About paper, well I own some Arches and other cotton paper but whenever I see a price of more than an Euro per sheet, I feel it is a kind of waste. Therefore I love my jumbo pads and blocks with 50 or even more sheets.

Hi. I have a tube of daniel smith malachite that is fine. I think you got a bad tube. I have some squeezed out in a plastice palate with a fairly loose lid, but it still will soften if I wait a few minutes. what I have in the remaining tube is fine as well. I think you got a tube that was not mixed at all or something. I be maybe they would replace it for you? Edit - I see now some are saying it has been discontinued, and i only bought this a couple of months ago. I will use it carefully, it's beautiful!

Hi Irit! Interesting video! I was wondering: Would it work to cut the DS tube open and then reactivate the paint instead of tossing such an expensive tube? 😔

I think the more expensive items I buy are mostly paper blocks or journals. Paper is so, so important...even for beginners. I have several palettes, most of them older, they belonged to an aunt, but I would never spend the money on those big wheely lazy Susan ones. I have no need for that many colors. Probably my most useless purchase was that Etchr mini palette, I just couldn’t resist. I do use it, but wish I had gotten the one with 18 wells, instead of the one with 37. I think this weekend I’m going to order a Koval watercolor journal. You can choose your paper, either Arches, Fabriano, or Saunders. They aren’t cheap. But I’d like a journal with really good paper.

Wow! That palette has me hypnotized 🤩

I dislike DS because it tends to crack and go all over the palette, the floor, the desk. I only use it only directly from the tube

Expensive Kolinsky WC brushes certainly SHOULD come to a fine point. I used to use Kolinsky brushes in my botanicals, but now I use only synthetics, and am quite happy with them. I do still use the kolinsky one-strokes for wetting the paper, and for large washes. I bought a Schmincke 48 half pan WC set (very expensive) from Jacksons And I think my most expensive WC tube now is Schmincke's Cobalt Turquoise. I'm happy with all of these, esp. the Schmincke Cobalt Turquoise.

Hi Irit! I can’t believe that the DS is so hard! So disappointing. I have not had that experience yet with my DS paints, thank goodness. I just ordered a few more tubes of QOR tube paints. I just love painting with QOR. I’m excited to get them and try them out. Great video. TFS!

Sad you didn't love the Rosemary & Co brushes, and too bad you didn't contact them, because they will always make things right. I've got many brushes from them that I love and I think the prices are very reasonable compared to others. I bought a 1" flat sable in a set that just doesn't hold paint right, but they gave me store credit for it.

I was a bit disappointed in the feel of it as well as the very high staining of the plastic!I got the large inserts for the wells and mix on a porcelain palette only so I transfer my paint from the Robax to a porcelain palette to mix on

My most expensive single purchase was the mijello single pigment set. Mostly now I order from Jackson at just over the free delivery mark. I had to lol at you not wanting to use the 600gm paper.. I've still got the sample and wont use that 😁

I like the Indigo Wiropad.. 140lb with Deckled edges.. it's a beautiful sketchbook. The Etchr ones I do like but don't recommend due to the overpricing. My favorite is still the Khadi rough sketchbooks.

I loved this, especially the palette. I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to such a large palette, but I bookmarked the vendor’s page. I tend to blow my budget on paint. Thanks!

I was thinking of buying a series 7 size 8.....what do you think...?

Out of all the items, I'm interested in is the Khadi sketchbook. Love the seize and how the art work came out. Haven't tried Rough paper yet so I'm going to keep an eye on that Sketchbook. Unfortunately Jackson's Art does not ship to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

I got a pan of handmade malachite watercolor, and it was the only one from the maker that was a disappointment. I think most true mineral pigments are very difficult to make a good paint out of. DS no longer makes the malachite, and they should stop making the Lapis Lazuli because it's terrible. The weird thing to me is we now know they put all kinds of synthetic pigments into their Primatek line -- so why did they doctor only some and leave others terrible? LOL

id love those brushes i found sablebrushes cheap on amazon they did not arrive but i want some just to see what the fuss is

for me it was a tube of cobalt violet from Holbein that I bought through a bulk order. It was more so not enough thinking because I had looked at the pigment lists of the individual manufacturers and not the prices on the side from which this was then ordered. I thought that holbein watercolour paints are about as expensive as other Asian paints. I calculated around 8-10 € and it was 20 € for a single watercolour tube. For paper, it is Saunders Waterford paper that I bought with other single sheets to find my favourite papers, which has not happened until today because I find the paper too good for me. the Saunders Waterford paper cost 5,65€ per sheet. I once bought a Kolinsky flat brush no. 20 from kolibri for 20€, such brushes from Da Vinci and other brands are not less than 40€.

My most expensive purchase was schmincke complete watercolor set 140 in a wooden box from Jackson’s. I got a Black Friday sale but I still payed 650$.

Why didn't you return the Daniel Smith tube instead of badmouthing the company?

The most expensive brushes that my art store sells are Escoda Reserva Pure Kolinsky Travel Set of 6 of $ 1,060.00 CDN. I have a hard time seeing how these brushes can be so expensive.

I am so struggling with getting good brushes. I don't use animal hair, so any advice would be great.

No! Don’t throw it out! It can be reconstituted!

If you cut open the tube that has harden, the paint inside is still good. Wet as you use it and I think you will enjoy saving money. You gave some great advice on this show. Being new to watercolor I find it easy to think I should try every paint I see. Not true of course.

In my 5 years experience with watercolours you will never, ever get to know and see what watercolours are capable of or the absolute beauty of watercolours unless you use 100% sized, cotton paper like Arches, Saunders Waterford, Winsor & Newton and Hahnemuhle paper - I know Khadi is 100% cotton but I don’t think it is sized and you are very limited with how you can paint on it - and because of its limits, to me, it doesn’t feel like ‘real’ watercolour paper like the main brands mentioned above. I’ve tried sooooo many brand name shetchbooks like Moleskeine, Global, Stratmore etc,, and they really are only good for sketching where you don’t use much water.... Seriously you don’t know what you are missing by not using 100% sized, cotton watercolour paper of m minimum 300GSM - it is pure joy to use...

The sennelier 18 pan metal set was on sale on Amazon in November for $26. I bought 1 now looking back I should have bought 4 or 5 lol

😳😳😳 I can NoT believe how crunchy the Daniel Smith paint sounded! That sucks! I’ve been curious about some of the primatek colors but I worry about binder issues. Ps- I just placed an order for Winsor Newton cobalt violet. I can’t wait for it to arrive. 💗🌈

Qor is my absolute favorite. I have tubes and the mini pan set, which I can highly recommend. That mini pan set will last a long time b/c you need so little of the paint to get strong colors.

84 to be exact! Didn’t need the insert and all my paints in it are tubes

Would you be interested in selling the robox palate?

if it dry out.. cut it open (or into small pieces like half pan) and I think you can rewet and use it, i did it with the vintage watercolor that dried out i bought from ebay.; soak it in water over couple hours and mix it, the quality may not be the same but It usable

Maybe its good I'm broke lol, I never would have learned how to bind my own sketchbooks with so many beautiful (but expensive) ones on the market.

Irit don’t through the tube, as you can cut open the tube and it will still rewet really well. Once you cut the tube open you can normally chop up the dry paint and transfer it into a pan 🤗🤗

I agree re expensive products - especially paper - being ‘intimidating’, or an unwanted barrier to the creative flow. And I like a bargain. My most useful - but also most expensive - medium is currently W+N granulation medium. Would I buy it again? Nope, I want to use it more liberally, so I am concocting my own - cheaper - version.

hello irit, hope you are having a great day.

I once bought two QOR watercolour tubes. I imagined they were expensive but not at 15€ per tube. I practically never use them and they are so overpriced. Thanks for this video, Irit :)

would love to try that paper but... ouch lol

Cut open the tube and put it in a pan, it's the same thing

mix the dried daniel smith with glycerin or honey and you can re use it like fresh paint. ohhh don't toss it :) send it to me :D

you can still use your dried paints dont toss

I have the Robax🎉🎉🎉

I dislike DS because it tends to crack and go all over the palette, the floor, the desk. I only use it only directly from the tube