M. Graham 1/2-Ounce Tube Watercolor Paint, Quinacridone Rose (33-156)

This isn’t my first M. Graham pigment, but I typically reach for Daniel Smith or Da Vinci watercolors, so it’s been a while since I painted with this brand. I picked up M. Graham’s Viridian after getting increasingly frustrated with the rewetting performance of the Daniel Smith and Da Vinci versions. Viridian is a notoriously weak pigment that dries very hard, which becomes a hassle when working from poured pans in a travel palette.I tried M. Graham because it's known for staying soft and creamy in the pan (because of the honey, I guess?). That trait can be either a benefit or a drawback depending on your setup, but in my case, it’s been a plus. While the paint doesn’t harden fully, it has a dense, paste-like consistency that stays put even when my palette is packed away.As for the paint itself, I find M. Graham’s Viridian slightly stronger in tinting strength compared to the Daniel Smith and Da Vinci equivalents. It offers beautiful granulation, excellent transparency, and controlled flow. The price on this paint seems to fluctuate quite a lot on Amazon, and as a series 3 pigment it isn't exactly cheap, but I think that if are able to find it at a similar price to the competitors it offers decent value.Overall, this version solves some of the practical frustrations that come with this tricky pigment while still delivering excellent painting properties. Highly recommend for anyone who tends to paint out of pans and doesn't love the phthalo greens.

A great set. All the basic colors. You’ve got your primaries to start and then the best convenience colors. You can get right to painting. No need for extensive set up! Beware that these paints never dry (honey based), so do NOT put them in a travel palette that will not remain flat at all times or you will have runny paint all over your palette.I do highly recommend M Graham. These are beautiful paints!

It was delivered quickly and quality paint. Just know it does not dry well if you plan on using in pans. You should use straight from tube

M first try with M. Graham Watercolors and love them. First discovered M Graham when looking to replace my old W/N Titanium White Gouache. And when I saw the price of a replacement with W/N brand, I said "let's try M. Graham, the price is right and how bad can it be?". And am thrilled I did as the Gouache is fantastic and mixes perfectly with watercolor.So that's the backstory. Now for these paints.The consistency of their Watercolors (and gouache too) make them a pleasure to work with. Creamy. mix well on palette or paper (the painting surface). Plus they are USA made :) by a small company in Oregon. Gotta love that!So now about this set of "basic" colors. I really didn't have high hopes because usually, the "primary" sets (or basic sets) usually lean too warm or too cool, or in the case of Daniel Smith 5ml starter kit, too extreme for me (though certainly contain lovely colors). But this set is a great "primary" set with some surprising extras.The details for the "primary colors" in this set:- The Azo yellow is a very pure primary yellow and has great tint and mixing strength which "yellows" often lack.- The Ultramarine Blue is not the "warm" blue that you get with the French Ultramarine Blues that always lean to purple. I would classify this as fairly pure "primary blue" category. And when mixed with the Azo yellow you really can have a great range of really very pure greens..- The Permanent Alizarin Crimson is the "good stuff". Leans cool, as expected, but mixes really well with the Ultramarine Blue for very rich purples and definitely is more "red" than purple. Surprising ability to mix this with all the colors in the set to create neutrals as well as purer color.Now for the last two "bonus colors" (at least that is how I think of them)- Burnt Siena - This is a very rich and creamy middle brown. It does not lean to the "red" and does not lean to the blue. It is really a neutral brown. So for this set, by itself, it is very pleasing, but mixed with any of the other colors and you are able to achieve rather remarkable neutrals and very interesting greens, reds, purple/blues, etc- Sap Green - A fresh sap green and definitely a bonus color in this set, You could call it a "convenience color" as the ability to mix greens from the other colors is phenomenal. And when used a "base" green to add the other mixes in it really comes alive with variety and richness. No worries on even adding the Permanent Alizarin Crimson to this to mute your greens easily... it all works!What else am I trying with these basic colors?- I have also been playing with the Daniel Smith Neutral Tint watercolor with these and the mixes are wonderful, subtle and rich- Also using White Gouache (M. Graham brand) and the "tints"are clean and pure. (I paint thicker than most watercolor peeps and work with both the transparency of watercolor and opacity of gouache in the compositions. Google Nathan Fowkes for examples of what this technique can yield)Couldn't be happier with this set!Highly recommended if you are:- New to watercolors and want to try out a great mixing affordable set (professional grade)- New to color mixing (easy to get it right and also easy to see where you went wrong)- You want a very simple palette of base colors for Plein Air usage (I use this set + white gouache + neutral tint and have all I need which replaces my previous field set of 14 colors... ah simplicity!)

This is a lovely color. Good quality paint.

I’m going to start by saying that brand selection is an extremely subjective process. We all have our unique preferences. As you know, or will come to learn, Payne’s Gray is a workhorse on your palette. It can be used in a myriad of ways.When shopping for watercolors, I usually check out some comparison videos on social media. I did not do that this time. I liked this MG version of Payne’s Gray very much. However, when I saw the WN version, I preferred that one because it (to me) seemed to contain more blue. In light of that, it also appeared to have more saturation.If I wanted more gray tones, I think I would definitely go with MG. As I said, brand selection is very subjective. I recommend you do your homework, enjoy the fun of shopping for new colors and, most of all, enjoy the marvelous tranquility of watercolor artistry!

It seems my tube was opened prior to sale & shipping. It seemed less full and some paint residue near the cap. In the factory, the tubes are sealed with the cap and filled from the bottom-side up and crimped. So there would be no reason for any paint residue unless the tube had been opened. Still I’ll keep the tube as it doesn’t look like too much was missing.