Product Spotlight: Dr. Ph. Martin’s Radiant Watercolors

For any of you who might know me, you will know that I am an absolute art junkie!!  I love art supplies and colors, papers and pens.  I adore sketching and playing, and most importantly, I LOVE to color!  I think my favorite coloring method is watercolor, followed by pastel, Copic/Color pencils, then everything else. 

Watercolor though, is like a kind of magic.  It flows with a certain unpredictability.  The colors mingle on the page, the pallet is limitless, and everything has the potential to look beautiful, even mistakes.  So when I first came across Radiant Concentrated Water Colors in my University days (translation: long ago), I was enamoured with the bright beautiful hues, and the luminous transparency of this medium.

Radiant Watercolors are a dye-based ink which is watersoluble (unlike India Ink which is permanent). This ink was created with Comic writers, and designers in mind.  Anyone who did work which would not be permanent (used to make prints), would use these inks to add vibrant color to their work. 

 Now of course, with the lines between crafting and art becoming more blurred, I find that these colors would be perfect for anyone  who desires bright punches of color, with beautiful blending of color, and little or no chance of muddying in their work.  These colors are probably some of the brightest on the market, producing vibrant washes and fills.  They are of course meant for the artist, but if you appreciate the significant improvement which artist quality can bring to your work, then you are sure to love these.

Like any dye based ink, they are not lightfast, and will fade under direct sunlight or Fluorescent lights (this includes energy savers).  Under incandescent light though, they will remain true.  Fading is not fast, and under indirect light they will be fine for years (as in the production of cards).  For items which are not exposed to light often (such as art journals, sketchbook journals and Scrapbook pages) the color will remain true indefinitely.  Because of this lack of lightfastness (which all dye based inks share), bottles must be stored in a dark cool place for optimum preservation. 

So why pay more when you can use dye-based ink refills (the kind used to refill stamp pads)?  While I do love my stamp pad inks for coloring, I find that it cannot compare to the vibrance of these colors, and they don’t always mix as well in producing new colors.  I find that Dr. Ph Martin’s Radiant Watercolors  just flow really nicely, and they can easily be mixed with my watercolors to give me clear glazes over heavier colors.  The example above and the one below will show you how beautiful these colors are (and yes, the colors are actually pretty true to the originals in my book). 

For more information on these products, check out the complimentary video on Paper Crafter’s Library which introduces you to what each color looks like, and what it can be used for.  For more information on the manufaturer and their other products, check out this website.