Since the science of pigments has been linked to the particle size of pigments, watercolor pigments, which are most transparent and most affected by particle size, are no longer dominated by traditional brands. Founded in 1976, Daniel Smith is a rising star who grew up at this stage, focusing on fine grinding of pigments, matching specific pigments to specific particle sizes, and testing the lightfastness, tinting strength, particle size and density of each batch of products, perfecting the scientific ratio, and quickly gaining a good reputation around the world.
 
Daniel Smith only started producing watercolors in Washington in 1993, but as of 2019, 258 colors have been released, all of which are artist-quality, with a single pigment ratio of 86%, which is unmatched by global watercolor brands. According to the ASTM light fastness standard, there are 223 kinds of watercolor pigments that have reached grade 1, 26 kinds of grade 2, and only 2 colors are not lightfast, which is an ideal pigment for the creation of works of art.
 
Daniel Smith's 258 color compositions are complex, including vintage mineral colors from the PrimaTek range, special colors such as lightfast orange-red, pearlescent, and metallic colors of quinacridone pigments, almost each with its own originality.
 
Vintage mineral colours are Daniel Smith's preference, and all pigments are collected by a mineralogist who specialises in the world, and to date 36 unique minerals have been photographed and pigmented. The PrimaTek watercolors are mostly made of semi-precious minerals, with fine abrasive grains, but they have a good granulation effect under impasto, especially suitable for dry painting, and can show a subtle jewelry luster. Unfortunately, Daniel Smith changed hands nearly a decade ago, and the PrimaTek series has not been expanded since.
 
Quacridone is a highly durable, tinting organic pigment that was first developed for the automotive industry because it is extremely lightfast. Daniel Smith was the first manufacturer to turn quinacridone pigments into art pigments, and the cumulative release of 14 pigments is also its golden signature, reversing the history of orange, yellow and red pigments that are generally intolerant to light. Among other brands, quinacridone pigments are the most common 9 of Smink, while the rest of the brands are not very common.
 
Daniel Smith's watercolor paints don't add much binder, and the watercolors in the tubes are exactly the same as the fixed color formulations, reflecting the confidence in the concentration of the pigments. Its filling technology is highly praised, the watercolor in the tube is less delaminate and bubbles, and the solid color is poured in 3-4 times in a few months, which ensures that the color block is evenly dried and the pigment is evenly dispersed. Under the targeted formula, the diffusion and tinting strength of various colors have good performance.
 
The fly in the ointment is that there is no official set of tube watercolor, which can only be purchased alone, and there are only 37 colors in total, and the set with the most color numbers is only 15 colors, and it is not recommended for novices to blind test. If you really want to buy, you can refer to the color scheme shared by others, and novices are recommended to choose more than 18 colors, so as not to cause the picture to be gray due to immature color mixing technology. In most cases, the watercolor mixed color gray has nothing to do with which brand of watercolor you buy, using a single pigment watercolor, mixing within 3 colors, the gray situation will be greatly reduced.
 
Daniel Smith was very strict about the distribution of goods, and the factory only had direct contact with distributors, which made it difficult to buy outside the United States. The price is also high, ranging from $7 to $11 for 5ml, depending on the value of the ingredients.