Beside the use of brush and nip the new formulated paint is also suitable for using a glass pen. Create exclusive accents in your art with our newest generation of the FINETEC pearlescent colours. Opaque & Transparent watercolors. Our transparent and opaque watercolors are highly pigmented and are characterised by quick and smooth dissolving. FINETEC Coliro 12 Pearl Colors - These gorgeous pearlescent colors are handcrafted in Germany and dissolve with water and a brush, just like traditional watercolors. Lightfast, pigment-rich, and can adhere to a variety of surfaces, including paper, wood, cardboard, clay, and stone.

PEARLESCENT COLOURS

The pearlescent colours are water-soluble artist colours of a very high quality. These colours are manufactured with carefully selected raw materials of the highest quality and a very large amount of manual work to guarantee highest quality standards.

The newly developed formulation of this paint is based on a special purified all-natural gum arabic and on modern pearlescent and iridescent pigments. The used raw materials are considered non-toxic and the formulations conform to ASTM D-4236. Because of the special manufacturing process, the colour cakes get their characteristic and individual wavy surface.

Based on their good lightfastness and high pigmentation these colours are suitable for calligraphy, painting, graphic art and many more. The new formula also allows for a very quick activation time, no waiting for the paint to dissolve.

There are no limitations imposed on your imagination and creativity. The colours can be mixed with each other as well as with other paint media. The colours adhere to various kinds of absorbent surfaces – even to wood and stone.

We offer two different types of paints:

Iridescent colors

Finetec Pearlescent Watercolors Alvin And The Chipmunks

The iridescent colours appear nearly transparent on a light background and they shimmer magically or fairy-like depending on the point of view and incidence of light. On a dark surface they show their exceeding colourfulness. It is a real eye-catcher.

The new formulation was developed with artists and with calligraphers. During the development special attention was paid to create a quick activation time. Beside the use of brush and nip the new formulated paint is also suitable for using a glass pen. Create exclusive accents in your art with our newest generation of the FINETEC pearlescent colours.

Opaque & Transparent watercolors

Our transparent and opaque watercolors are highly pigmented and are characterised by quick and smooth dissolving. Their high lightfastness is owed to the use of finest pigments. These colours allow creative watercolour painting techniques like wet-in-wet painting on a moistened watercolour paper and many more.

Our transparent watercolours are certified by the ART & CREATIVE MATERIALS INSTITUTE (ACMI) and conform to ASTM D-4236.

Made in Germany

For more info on DRAW.TEC or the Finetec family of products check out www.drawtec.biz

Pearlescent watercolors have been increasing in popularity in recent years. Research scientists have discovered our attraction to shiny things comes out of our inbuilt desire for water. We now have a better understanding why we thirst for all things that sparkle!
Todays post is a pearlescent watercolor comparison and tutorial using various pearlescent watercolor brands. Who doesn’t love shiny things?

Pearlescent Watercolor Comparison

Pearlescent watercolors range from inexpensive to pricey depending on the brand. All of them vary a bit in their ability to dissolve in water quickly, shimmer and opacity. It may surprise you on how my collection of pearlescent watercolors compared!

Finetec pearlescent watercolors alvin williams

I evaluated my pearlescent watercolor collection using three qualities.

Sparkliness
Visibility on light or dark papers
Granulating quality

Pearlescent Watercolor Brands

The brands I swatched are pan or cake watercolors. I plan to compare tube pearlescent watercolors in another post.

Niji Pearlescent Watercolors 21 color set
Prima Marketing Metallics 12 color set
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Gems 6 color set
Paul Rubens Pearlescent Set 12 color set
Finetec Metallic and Interference watercolor 12 color set

All sets were swatched on black and white watercolor paper with equal amounts of water and activation time. The differences of pigment quality and shine were worth taking note of. They were all very nice and I don’t regret buying any of them.

Niji Pearlescent Watercolors

Niji Pearlescent watercolors come from China. They have twenty one colors in large round pans in a convenient hinged plastic case. These watercolors take a little more time to activate with water. They look smooth and bright on light and dark paper with little or no granulation. Niji Pearlescent watercolors have a soft pearlescent sheen on paper. They become creamy in texture with the addition of more water. A thicker consistency allows the watercolor to used with a stencil. It’s the best bargain in this collection at under ten dollars for twenty one colors!

Prima Metallic Set

The Prima Marketing metallic set made in China comes in a pretty sturdy plastic case with an assortment of twelve generous pans at sixteen dollars. The lid opens from the opposite side which is a bit strange. I removed the label and flipped it over which resolved the issue. Prima watercolors are more sparkly than Niji watercolors. They look great on light and dark paper and the colors dry nice and smooth on the paper with little granulation. I think the Prima Marketing Metallic set is wonderful if you are on a tight budget and want a more metallic effect.

Kuretake Gansai Tambi

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Gem set from Japan comes with six rectangular loose pans in a cardboard box. The box isn’t very convenient as the pans will fall out if the box top isn’t on. They are very expensive for a limited range of colors and are brilliant on light and dark papers. After drying I notice a bit of granulation which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Kuretake watercolors are formulated for use on rice paper.

Paul Rubens

Finetec Pearlescent Watercolors Alvin Kamara

Paul Rubens is a fairly new brand from China that caught my attention. It costs around thirty dollars for twelve unique colors.
This half pan set is packaged beautifully and comes in a cute pastel pink tin. The color may turn off some of you. The quality of the paints were excellent as it didn’t take much time to activate them with water. The color range and sparkliness were outstanding and they look wonderful on light and dark papers. They dry on the paper with no granulation. The only thing negative I can say about the Paul Rubens set is the small pan size. Larger brushes can’t be used easily with this set.

The Finetec Metallic Interference set is the most expensive for twelve colors at around thirty dollars. They are manufactured in Germany. The colors are generously poured into round pans which makes it very convenient to use with a variety of brushes. The colors activate quickly in water and boast a generous amount of sparkly pigment with no granulation. These watercolors look fantastic on dark paper and the most brilliant of the other sets I’ve tried.

The downside of this set is the interference colors hardly show at all on the white paper which makes it the least versatile out of the group.

Pearlescent Watercolor Tutorial

I’ve been practicing painting flowers with triangle brushes and thought it would be fun painting flowers on pearlescent watercolors on black card stock. The triangle brush allows us to create interesting petal like shapes. When used correctly, the flowers turn out beautifully. It takes some time to get used to it’s odd shape and I do love a challenge!

Supplies

Niji Pearlescent watercolors and Paul Rubens Metallic Colors
Rosemary and Co Triangle Brush or Silver Triangle Brush
Small round watercolor brush
Strathmore Coal Black Greeting Card
Washi tape

Finetec Watercolors Website

Steps

Apply washi tape around all four edges of the card to make a border. Spritz water into the pans to activate colors.

Finetec Pearlescent Watercolors

Dip the brush into the pan and gather as much color as possible all the way into the brush. Choose an entirely different color and pick it up with the tip of the brush.