Calling Daniel Smith watercolor fans!
Hi everyone. I paint in oils but I have just started playing around with Daniel Smith watercolors. They are so nice. I have a basic selection of primaries, but I want to expand my range. I’m playing around with some abstracts. The color choice is slightly overwhelming. What are you favorite, must have, Daniel Smith colors please? I’d love to hear about what you love. 
Yes, they are nice. I don’t paint with watercolor that much now, but I liked quinacridone series, my must always is quinacridone gold. But anyway I don’t see that much special from other professional brands like mr. graham or w&n. Maybe some “stone” colors selection, but I’ve never been too much on them 
I hope my response is useful:)
You can also purchase Daniel Smith ‘dot’ sheets, which have a small dot of all of their WC colors. Enough to do a small painting (I’ve done numerous using these) and a great way to test colors. Sheets also state the lightfastness of each color, granulated or not, etc. Also great way to track which you like and check when you purchase. Available online or at many art stores. Enjoy experimenting!
I don’t use Daniel Smith, might like to try them, but I’ve run across this artist who might rep for Daniel Smith and is fastidious w/ her study and selection of colors. This link might be of help to you.
https://www.janeblundellart.com/mastering-watercolours-online-course.html
Thank you. Yes, since posting, I’d actually just discovered the dot test sheet online a couple of days ago. I found a YouTuber that recommended it so I have ordered one!
Very excitedly awaiting it!
Thank you for the recommendation!
Thank you, I will check this out.
What I like about Daniel Smith is the intensity of the pigments. They’re so vibrant. Pricey though!
If you are not sure and you have certain colors/palette you use in oil start there. It can be easier to stay with colors you are used to when changing mediums, especially to watercolor, so the learning curve isn’t so great.
Another suggestion is a warm and cool version of each primary and secondary color and 3 or 4 earth colors to start. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber + another
Starting with too many it can be overwhelming and it will take longer to learn or get used to them.
Quinacridone Gold sounds yummy. I will take a look, thanks!
Thank you yes, that is similar to the colors I use in oils. 
Thank you Linda! I hadn’t heard of Nita Engle. I’m always interested to hear about other artists palettes.
My all-time favorite DS watercolor is Amethyst Genuine. I use it in almost everything, it’s a not-garish dark purple and it sparkles! Love it.
Thank you Tonya! This is what I’m finding with Daniel Smith. Some of the surprises you find. I’m loving Duochrome Autumn Mystery. It also has some lovely sparkles. And I love Moonglow which is a kind of purplish gray.
I wish they made exactly the same ranges in acrylics.
They have some oils and water mixable oils that I’m not sure I’m not ready to move onto yet, but might look into it in the future.
DS is the brand I love. I have the standard colors and then started exploring the modern pigments - the quinacridones, hansa, perylene, etc. Apparently DS invented the quins originally. The modern pigments refract light differently than mineral pigments. A fascinating subject…
I love blues and purples so have purchased over time a selection of blues (cool blues, warm blues, green blues, blue blues, violets, purples), so I can go wild…
Oddly enough I find buying them off Amazon usually beats the prices of any of the online art suppliers, because of Prime free shipping.
Thank you Cynthia.
I’ve been using them for 3 months now and I just love them. They’ve made me see watercolor in a new light having been an oil painter before. I have also been investigating other brands and discovered QOR which are lovely too. I won’t say I’m converted to watercolor. I still love my oils. But the watercolors I love for sketchbook work and experimentation with color.
I love Daniel Smith watercolors and us them exclusively unless I am practicing. Then I use Windsor and Newton’s Cotman watercolors. I was predominantly an acrylic artist but I started with watercolors in early 2019. Now I try to do a balance of work between the two mediums. And I find that, if I am doing a series of acrylics, I will get the urge to do a few watercolor paintings and vice versa. Anyone else who use more than one medium find that to be true?
Yes, I have a whole collection of watercolors now since I started this thread. Love them. I do move between watercolor and oil now which in many ways is totally counter-intuitive since the way you use them is the opposite in every way:
Watercolour: light to dark, build up series of washes
Oil: Dark to light, put down a definitive stroke and leave it.
But I do a lot of sketchbook work, now which you cant do in oil and for large paintings I still like the expressiveness of oil.