A Conversation with Daniel Smith Artists' Materials

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I still remember the first time I heard about the watercolor paints made by Daniel Smith Artist’s Materials. Without an art supply store in my small northern town, I spent as much time reading the ads in the watercolor magazines to which I was subscribed as I did the articles! The beautiful names and descriptions of the paints was captivating; I think my first “I have to have this” color was Duochrome Cactus Flower, and while the duochrome colors haven’t really found a permanent place in my palette, I found as I added to my collection of Daniel Smith hues that certain colors just seemed to lend themselves in a beautiful poetry to my watercolor painting process.

Over time, the majority of my palette has been taken over by Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors, and that’s just fine with me! Color is the language of emotion in painting, and I choose the colors that match my emotions about my subject and partner with me to flow across the page. View my 18 favorites & shop online here.

It was a thrill and a privilege to be offered the opportunity to partner with Daniel Smith as a Brand Ambassador later in 2018, and since that first connection I’ve been able to share paint with my workshop students and lend my name to my Daniel Smith Dot Card featuring 18 of my favorite colors. (The dot card isn’t available for purchase, however they do pop up in art stores across the globe, and, when I can, I include them in my workshop student kits.)

Recently I had the chance to spend time in conversation with Daniel Smith owner, John Cogley. It was a real treat (and I was ridiculously nervous) to invite him into my studio via live video to talk about my painting process and share my workspace. I look forward to meeting in person one day!

You can watch the video chat here, and don’t forget to check out the Daniel Smith YouTube channel for interviews with watercolor artists from around the world. It’s so fun to see into their workspaces and see how we create in such diverse and interesting ways!

If you’re a bit of a paint nerd, John has been doing weekly live video streams on the DS Facebook page, and he is a wealth of information about color and very generous in answering your color and pigment questions. Broadcasts happen on both Thursday and Friday, and you can see the event schedule by following their page here: https://www.facebook.com/DanielSmithArtSupplies/