Palettes Pt.3

Previously I have posted three pieces on palettes, Pts.1 & 2 and `The Craig Young Experience'. This 3rd part was prompted by the enormous interest in the subject and a feeling clarification was desirable. Pt.3 covers empty metal palettes, the principle alternatives to the superb but expensive hand-made Craig Young offerings.

Palettes exist for watercolour by the dozen in plastic, ceramic, aluminium, and there are several types of metal ones, but here I am concerned with Fome, Holbein, the cheaper Scminke type, which appear either with other logos or unmarked. Whether these later come from one basic source or several isn't clear. Prices do vary so quality may also be variable. I've also included the Spanish V.Piera paintbox.

 Scminke 12 Tubes

 36 Half or 18 full pans

48 Half of 24 Full Pans

Alternative (No Logo)

You will note on this last photo the smallest box. This takes 12 half pans or 6 Full Pans. With any of these you can mix and match full and half pans. You can either buy pan paints or empty pans and fill with your choice of tube paints. There are offerings slightly different to the above with a silver rather then black outer finish. Most mail order specialists, Jacksons, Bromley, Great Art sell one or other of the above types. Prices vary  for example with Jacksons the smallest starts at £12.50  to £19 for the 48 pan. Great Art however are even cheaper at £8.60 to £15.65p. Bromley, again unmarked as are the others, go from £15.47 to £24.95p. Quality of these boxes appear similar. They are fine but with hard use after a year or two rust can appear. That's my experience as I have had several. I have a filled Scminke box which was given to me as a present and I can see little difference to the unmarked boxes. 

We now come to Fome and Holbein and I will cover the former first. Up until quite recently I had never heard of Fome, `an Italian company with  a good reputation for the quality of it's products'. They offer several different empty boxes but are not easy to find. I contacted Fome and asked them where I could obtain their products in the UK. I received a prompt reply and t was told I could buy their metal boxes from:

COLOURFUL ARTS

14A Orgreave Close, Dore House Ind.

S13 9NP SHEFFIELD. Tel: 0044 114 288 0777

And

COLART FINE ART & GRAPHICS LTD.

Whitefriars Avenue

HA3 5RH HARROW, Middlesex. Tel: 0044 208427 4343

I suspect they may have thought I was making a trade enquiry because COLART are the company that owns Windsor & Newton. This more or less confirms that the heavy duty filled metal paint boxes (they also offer a lighter, cheaper sort) are made by Fome. The telephone numbers above appear to be those as if phoning from Italy with a country prefix. 

This is the largest Fome box available from Great Art at

£133.40p. It has 48 wells, each with a capacity of 15ml! One for the big brush artists.

Three of the smaller Fome boxes

This completes the range. Some of the above may be duplicated but you can see all are individually numbered.

My pick would be the 12 full pan box 2096. There is adequate space in the centre for more empty pans which would need to be kept in place with a fixative of some sort. A palette of 20 to 30 colours, a mix of half and full pans is easily accommodated in this box. What do Fome boxes cost and where can you get them? Heaton Cooper www.heatoncooper.com/ sell Fome  and they are very well illustrated on the website. Click on `Accessories' and then `empty metal palettes'. Artifolks http://www.artifolk.co.uk/ also appear to sell three Fome boxes. I say this because the website shows three illustrations but clicking on the link only brings up the smallest from £49.99p. Consideration should also be given to buying one of the Windsor & Newton heavy duty filled boxes. They are terrific value for money given the value of the paint alone and are perfect for plein air painting.

We now come to Holbein, long considered of superior quality and priced accordingly. I say this in the knowledge that it is perfectly possible to buy serviceable plastic palettes for 50p. They might stain over a period but at 50p does this matter. When this becomes a problem throw them away and buy another? I find Cif will keep them clean of most stains and also use this on my hand-made palettes.

Holbein 250 31/2" x 8"

Holbein 350 4" x 81/4"

Holbein 500 41/2" x 101/2"

These are three of the four Holbein offerings.The missing one is the 1000 model, the largest at 5 1/2" x 12". Prices vary but Jacksons are £31.60 for the 350 rising to £62.10p for the 1000. Holbein are good quality and used by many professionals. Charles Reid used a Holbein until  the  hand-made Craig Young boxes arrived . Availability has also improved recently. My main concern about the Holbein is the layout of the paint wells. When closed one lot are upside down. Several tube colours do not solidify fully and if the wrong way up will cause a huge mess. You need to be very careful about this.

The final metal palette I want to cover is the Spanish V.Piera paintbox. I first saw it at my 2008 Catalonia painting course with Charles Reid. Some of the Spanish participants were using them and we were given the chance to buy one at roughly £18. Several were ordered but failed to materialise prior to the course ending. Just as well considering how many palettes I already had. 

The V.Piera Paintbox

The centre is removable.

I am indebted to my friend Robert Armas for providing details as follows. The box is marketed by Art Materials S.A, located in Barcelona and mainly sold in that city through the well known Vincent Piera store, known as V.Piera hence the  name. There are three colour options, white grey and black with enamelled white inside. It is a heavyweight at 600 grams, open measurements 30.5cm x 19cm x 1cm. The 16 wells are very large , holding a considerable amount of paint, and are ideal for very large brushes, either rounds or flats.

Several Wetcanvas members have obtained them, some through Robert who has relatives over there. The main problem being carriage charges from Spain. This is also a problem for UK artists with carriage charges quoted almost as much as the cost of the box itself which is around £18.00 ($20 USA). As with so many things they are made in China.

Although initially enthusiastic Robert changed his mind, after finding problems, with the enamelled finish prone to chipping and scratching. Robert has since bought a Holbein because the finish is baked enamel rather than painted on as in the V.Piera. Nevertheless a great value box.

I'm not sure what availability is like in the USA, although both Holbein and some Fome boxes are available. I'll try and find out more and post the information in the final ` Palette Roundup'.

Daniel Smith Watercolours (or is it watercolors!)

At long last the good news is that the acclaimed Daniel Smith range of watercolour paints, 247 colours and rising, is now available in the UK via Jacksons http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/  or e-mail sales@jacksonsart.co.uk.
The bad news is that price is a problem, not so much for the professional artist perhaps but  certainly  for the amateur. While this range has a whole raft of unique colours and is widely praised by American artists as ` the best'  UK prices are higher than those in the USA and dearer than Windsor & Newton, as well as ALL  other leading makes. Are they worth it? Time will tell. The other benefits of the DS range, apart from the huge choice  http://www.danielsmith.com/ are a very high number of single pigment paints, high pigment content and a formulation that means the paints can be easily re-wetted.

With Graham http://www.mgraham.com/  now being stocked by Lawrence of Hove http://www.lawrence.co.uk/ and also the new Da Vinci range http://www.davincipaints.com/ we have the three leading American brands. Without doubt they are a serious combined threat to the long standing supremacy of Windsor & Newton. I have already ordered two colours to try, a small sample true but I am very well stocked with paints at the moment! I shall certainly buy more over time but I already have a good number of Grahams.

The ones ordered are Quinacridone Gold (PO49) and Quinacridone Fuschia (PR202). I am told by American friends on the Wetcanvas forums that the Quinacridones are particularly lustrous, but they have many other favourites. DS have apparently  bought  the remaining stocks of PO49 and are probably the sole source of this unique pigment, which has been discontinued by the usual producers. Many of these pigments are developed for the automotive industry and if they drop the colour then demand from the art world is insufficient to keep production going. Maimeri supposedly still offer Golden Lake which proclaims `quinacridone' on the tube but also details the pigment as `PV49'. A question to Maimeri about this went unanswered!  PV49? A  mistake it seems because this is an uncommon violet pigment (DS may offer it|) but what actually is in this paint?The Maimeri version is gritty and slightly greasy not at all like the original W & N version which unfortunately is now a three pigment mix. I still just happen to have two full pans of the original W & N version.

A Change of Mood

White Ladies 12" x 12" Waterford Not

Recently I have been agonising, possibly too strong a word, about what to paint. Certainly portraits in the general style of Charles Reid are high on the list but what other subjects? Like many would-be artists I began with landscapes but the attraction of these has dimmed, although not entirely. I do like painting out of doors because there is nothing quite like it and old buildings, particularly those with thatched roofs, hold a strong appeal. 

Still lifes also interest me, again in the manner of Charles Reid, incorporating flowers, fruit, cups, and other objects, sometimes in association with a  portrait. The other day I decided to suspend the portraits, at least for a day or two, and have a shot at flowers with associated fruit. Gathering what flowers remained in the garden I set up a still life and off I went.  The result was so so but my wife didn't care for it and, after reflection, neither did I.  Feeling somewhat depressed I decided to have another try with a different approach. A company called  `Whistlefish'  have opened a gallery in Bath, adding to the already large number. How they will fare remains to be seen but they are an interesting company originating in Cornwall with several newly opened outlets. http://www.whistlefish.com/ . What is the connection? On browsing the Bath shop, and also the one at Looe in Cornwall, I noticed they were selling very attractive self-assembly frames complete with everything including mounts. These come in three frame sizes, small, medium and large, with white my preferred choice. I rather liked the medium size, cost £20, the large, interior 51cm x 34cm, being £25. The interior of the medium is 12" x 12" and it struck me as a good size for flower painting, concentrating on the flowers and omitting the rest. Above is the result. I used pan colours and mine are a mixture of W & N, Schminke, Maimeri and Rembrandt with W & N predominating. I also, almost a first for me, made the drawing and painting standing up at my `Alvaro', as opposed to the  table easel. Brushes were Sizes 9  and 6 Rosemary series 33 Kolinsky, plus a size 4 long handled W & N Cirrus and a small rigger. I rather like the result. What do you think? I invite comments as I do on all my posts.

Shot-in-the-Eye

Shot-in-the-Eye Oglala Sioux 1898 courtesy  www.firstpeople.us/

Shot-in-the-Eye was an Oglala Sioux who fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, where he was wounded and lost an eye. What he was called prior to this battle is unknown. This was the famous battle in which General George Armstrong Custer, a very controversial figure in American history, was killed together with nearly 300 troopers of the 7th Cavalry. The Sioux, with some Cheyennes and possibly Arapahoes,, amassed a huge force of several thousand warriors and overwhelmed the numerically inferior cavalry. Custer had earlier split his force for which he has been heavily criticized. This was the last desperate attempt by the plains indians to maintain their traditional ways and within less than two years they were confined for ever more to reservation life. The above photograph, which has been edited, was taken at the US Indian Congress Trans-Missisipi and International Exposition in 1898. He died about 1910.

My initial drawing together with  work on the features and skin tones.

Shot-in-the Eye. Waterford Not 16" x 11"

I used Cadmium Red Light and Yellow Light together with Ultramarine Blue plus Cerulean for the features and skin tones. The red colour is Windsor and Newton Permanent Carmine, otherwise, Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Gold (Maimeri), Raw Umber and touches of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna plus some Viridian (Rowney), Brushes used were nos 2, 4, 6 Kolinsky sable plus my Da Vinci Artissimo 44 Kolinsky mop.

Palettes Part One

I joined the wetcanvas forum a few weeks ago www.wetcanvas.co./forums/  and an interesting discussion has taken place about palettes, driven by some of the posters discovering the Craig Young hand-made versions. Several appear to have ordered them and according to one poster the waiting time is now a year and the prices he quoted (in dollars) indicated they had risen steeply compared to when I purchased mine.  Some of the contributors appeared a little confused with what to buy when balancing cost against functionality. As a result, and due partly to new information about what is available and where I decided to do this piece.

First of all watercolour palettes come in various shapes and sizes from small to (very) large. If you are painting on say half sheets or larger and use big brushes size 16 and above and large flats, 1" or more, then it is obvious you need a big palette. Not everyone uses conventional palettes and various sorts of flat trays are used by artists, including some top professionals. Butcher's metal trays of different sizes and/or the flat plastic ones sold in some kitchen shops can be perfectly adequate. With such trays you squeeze out paint from tubes. This method is normally associated with limited palettes of 6 to 9 colours.  You can mix large quantities of paint but it can be wasteful with what remains and is then washed off.

The above selection of palettes includes two of the largest, the John Pike (A) which is on the left hand side complete with lid, which can also be used as another mixing area. The Robert Wade Palette (B) is at middle bottom with the lid, also used for mixing, touching to the left. Top centre is a muffin tray (E) (as used by the artist Trevor Waugh) and to the left (D) is a plastic palette of a type commonly available. Centre is the Zoltan Szabo palette (C). The three remaining palettes in the top left hand position are top a cheap aluminium version (F) commonly available and underneath the smallest palette, a Windsor and Newton plastic one (G) with an empty metal palette (H) of the sort commonly available but in this instance filled with empty full pans. I have labelled each palette with a letter A to H, but you may need to click on the photo and enlarge it to see the letters clearly.

What you need and what you should obtain depends on how you paint and whether you use tubes or half/full pans. The other criteria is how large you paint because in my experience most amateurs paint fairly small. These are only a selection of palettes that come in four basic materials, plastic, metal, ceramic and porcelain. There are other sorts but not usually used for watercolours. The John Pike palette is American  and all the information you need is here http://www.johnpikeartproducts.com/. The Robert Wade palette is obtainable in the UK from www.apvfilms.com/ . The JP palette is very popular with professionals like Mel Stabin www.melstabin.com/ and in his book `Watercolor, Simple, Fast and Focussed'  is illustrated more than once as he uses it for everything including his plein air painting! I'm not sure about the Zoltan Szabo palette as he is deceased (as is John Pike) but it is probably still available if you Google it. Added Note: Yes it is. Try www.ZoltanSzabo.com/ Wade and Szabo palettes are vacuum formed whereas the Pike palette, those from Herrings and several others are made from much stronger materials.

What is readily available? In the UK we have Ken Bromley, Jacksons, Lawrence, Herrings and several others possible suppliers. Great Art are German but have a UK telephone ordering number. Great Art have palettes from 85p up to a `professional' box with 48 large wells (!) costing £133.40p. Try Great Art http://www.greatart.co.uk/ . The enormous catalogue stretches to nearly 400 pages. Jacksons, who tend to be the most popular supplier amongst my artists group http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/  list a large number and have recently added the superior and more expensive Holbein metal palettes. They are not yet in the catalogue but are on the website. Bromley http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/ also list a good number including the plastic Maxwell palette `designed by artists'. Herrings are interesting because the Herring brothers (and family) are enthusiastic artists and have introduced a range of artists products `designed by artists for artists'. These include several palettes plus other items like easels. Herrings also sell two `professional' metal empty boxes. Herrings have a website http://www.frankherringandsons.com/ but it is still under construction and art materials are not yet on it. Most of the above also sell various empty, lightweight, metal boxes, cheaper and not to be compared with the more expensive heavy duty `professional' sorts.   

Here are three typical metal boxes, purchased empty and filled with a mixture of half and full pans. I suggest half pans for the least popular colours and full pans for the colours you use most often. You can purchase empty full and half pans at both Jacksons and Bromley and some of the others and fill them from tubes or  half and full pans from manufacturers like Windsor and Newton. Not every paint manufacturer offers both half and full pans.  One of my local art shops in Bath (Minerva) also sells them in packets of ten. You may note two of the boxes above have the Scminke Logo. Some of these boxes, very similar whatever the source, have logos like Scminke, Rembrandt and Lukas. others nothing. They are basically cheap enamelled metal so don't compare them with the more expensive heavy duty palettes I shall cover in Part Two. They do the job if price is an issue but won't last more than two or three years with heavy usage.

Latest Indian Portraits

I'm still beavering away and here are the latest:

Big Bear Cree Chief 1895

Waterford 16" x 12" Rough

Big Bear was involved in the Riel rebellion of 1895 in Canada. He actually tried to prevent his followers from taking part but to no avail. He was captured and imprisoned for two years, dying one year after release. The painting depicts him after capture, actually in chains in the original full length photograph.

 

Wanduta Lakota Sioux. Waterford 16" x 12" Rough

This was my second attempt at Wanduta and I think it much better than the previous one on the blog.

Apache Warrior 1880's 16" x 12" Waterford Rough

This is better than  the previous one shown on the blog but I am still not entirely satisfied - not that I ever reach 100% satisfaction far from it - and may try again.

I painted the features with my usual mix of Cadmium Red  Light and Cadmium Yellow Light but actually used a colour new to me, Windsor and Newton's Gold Ochre (PY42). This was used quite a lot instead of Cad Yellow and Raw Sienna. I rather like it. It is a rich golden yellow and was introduced in W and N's most recent changes to their colour range. Blues used were Cobalt, quite a lot of Ultramarine and a little Cerulean. I used the Ultramarine to get a darker face mix. Notice `Waterford Rough'. I normally use NOT papers but these Indian portraits do seem to suit it. On the Apache portrait I introduced Quinacridone Rust from Graham (PO48) in the clothing on the right hand side. It is rather brighter than Burnt Sienna - a lovely colour. Other colours used, other than in the features, include Ultramarine Violet (PV15 Rowney), Burnt Umber (Maimeri), Quinacridone Gold (PO49 Maimeri) and Permanent Alazarin (W and N). I forget to mention a touch of Hookers Green in the eye sockets and Black for the pupils.

As for brushes for the features I used two long handled Windsor and Newton Cirrus, Nos 2 and 4, Either Da Vinci or Rosemary Kolinsky No.6, and for the rest my Da Vinci Artissimo 44 No 2 Kolinsky Mop. This latter is a lovely brush roughly equivalent in size to a normal number 14. I also paint fairly upright.

Latest Amerindian

This is my latest effort.

Apache Warrior Circa 1800s Waterford 16" x 12" Not

I continue to struggle to produce a photograph fully representative of the painting, despite trying several settings. The original has slightly more contrast than the photo and the colours are darker.

Compared to the photo the likeness is only fair and I haven't quite been able to get the hostile expression of the original. I painted the face and features, using pan colours, with mixes of Cad Red, Cad Yellow Light, and various blues, Cerulean, Cobalt and Ultramarine. I also used a touch of Ultramarine Violet and Hookers Green around the eye sockets. Other colours (mainly tubes) used in the remainder include Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Viridian, Quinacridone Gold (PO49 - the orignal W and N formulation not the current three pigment mix) and Raw Sienna. Also touches of Avignon Orange (Maimeri). 

I am reasonably pleased with the above painting. It could be better, as can all my paintings, but I feel I am progressing and I have kept a number of my failures to prove it! It is tough producing paintings from these old black and white/sepia photographs.

Second Attempt

This is the second attempt at the Acoma Indian Woman. This is the initial loose drawing

This is stage one initially painting the face.

Acoma Indian Woman 18" x 14" Waterford Not

Photographed 29/06 using My Nikon DSLR with 55mm lens. This is more accurate.

The more I looked at the first painting  the more I realised how poor it was. This is my second attempt and while not perfect feel it is better. Colours used for the face were Cad Red Light (PR108) and Cad Yellow Light (PY35) together with Cerulean (PB35-W and N), Ultramarine (PB29) and Cobalt Blue (PB72) both Rowney. For the headdress I utilized Cerulean, Ultramarine Blue and  Ultramarine Violet (PB15-Rowney)  with some Viridian (PG18),. The hair was Quinacridone Gold (PO48)  and Raw Sienna (Pbr7) both Maimeri. Also touches of Burnt Umber here and there with some Cadmium Orange (Maimeri PO20) to warm it up. I think the painting is actually better than the representation in the photograph. I once again add the disclaimer that I am not claiming this a great watercolour, just my watercolour. I studied several of Charles Reid's paintings before deciding how to tackle it. Looking at it I decided not to overdo the darks and only used the original photo as a guide..

Footnote Added 29/06: Looking at this photograph and then the original painting it seems it looks somewhat lighter and possibly `washed out' compared to the actual painting. My ad hoc photography is probably responsible. I have now made another attempt to photograph the painting and the result is above.

Quinacridone Gold - Pigment PO49

This colour, described by the Australian watercolour artist Robert Wade, in his 2002 book `Robert Wade's Watercolor Workshop Handbook', as the `best thing for years',  has had a rapid rise and - apparently - fall. Described by Handprint as a`mixed crystal form of PV19 Alpha and Beta' - I've no idea what that means - pigment production ceased in 2001 due to lack of demand from the automotive industry. This is again from Handprint who also say most paints with this pigment were discontinued in 2005. Initially there appeared to be four, two from Daniel Smith, the others from Winsor & Newton and Maimeri.

Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Gold became very popular in the UK. I can't speak for Daniel Smith which is still, as a brand,  only available in the USA ( recently extended to Canada).Note:20/10/12 Now available in the UK. It is possible (a little bird tells me) that  Daniel Smith, the largest range of watercolours in the World with over 200 paints, and highly acclaimed by American artists, may be available in the UK in the not too distant future.

Winsor and Newton reformulated `Quinacridone Gold' as a mixture now containing PR206, PV19 and PY150. All excellent pigments but don't expect the same results when mixing with others.

Maimeri continue to offer their version, called `Golden Lake', although the tube states it contains `quinacridone PV49.' I can find no trace of a `PV49' so assume it is a misprint that Maimeri have failed to correct - it has been like this since introduction. I contacted Bruce McEvoy about his comment that the paint was discontinued in 2005, which is what  Maimeri told him he says, and his reply was `the tube  may say that but....' .
An initial enquiry to Maimeri was promptly answered saying `Golden Lake' was still available and indeed they had supplied some to Jacksons, one of the largest UK art suppliers, in January. Following Bruce's comments I contacted Maimeri again and asked what was in the paint and why PV49? My e-mail was acknowledged but nothing further has been heard since. Hmmmmm!

Is that the end of it? On checking through lists of paints from several leading makers I came across this from Sennelier, the French manufacturer. According to their current pigment information PO49 is listed in five paints, all mixtures. Quinacridone Gold (with PG7), Mars Yellow (with PBr7), French Ochre (with PG23,PY3), Yellow Lake (with PY153), and Chinese Orange (with PR209)! No shortage of PO49 there it seems but no pure pigment paint either. I believe, until recently at least, Daniel Smith was still offering Quinacridone Gold in it's huge range. However since writing this I note that the new Great Art catalogue http://www.greatart.co.uk/ has a watercolour chart for Sennelier with one difference. Quinacridone Gold, as a name, has vanished and under the same number 445 is something called `Brown Pink'.Note: 20/10/12. Sennelier reformulated their range in 2012.

I only have experience with the W & N and Maimeri versions. Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Gold  was lighter and handled better than `Golden Lake', which I have not been impressed with. I like Maimeri paints, which are excellent value, but this colour is darker and grittier than the original Winsor & Newton paint. What actually is in the tube? The silence from Maimeri makes me wonder.Note:20/10/12. Information from Maimeri to Handprint said they had replaced PO49 with PY43 `a similar pigment'.

As a footnote the closely allied Quinacridone Orange PO48 is also heading for the exit due to `lack of demand from the automotive industry'. This is another lovely pigment and the Graham version, Quinacridone Rust, is a gorgeous colour.  The new Da Vinci (USA) range also includes paints listing this pigment. Both Graham and Da Vinci are only available from T.E Lawrence of Hove in the UK http://www.lawrence.co.uk/, while Maimeri from Jacksons  http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/ and Turnham http://www.artistmaterial.co.uk/ , possibly a few others. Jacksons also sell Sennelier.

Artist or Student Quality?

I found this the other day. It is a series of swatches I did quite a while ago. The top three rows are Cotman and the bottom three Windsor and Newton artist's quality. The Cotman are from tubed paint and the artist's quality pans. Since I did this I believe Cotman has changed slightly, possibly for the better. If only Windsor and Newton did the right thing by UK artists and gave us the same deal as the Americans enjoy on the Cotman range. Certainly food  for thought given the increasing cost of buying artist's quality paints.  Do most amateurs, particularly the once-a-week hobby painter, need to spend these eye watering sums, approaching anything from £8 - £10 ($12 - $15)  for 14ml tubes even for lower series?  The figures quoted are mail order and prices are even higher at local art shops.

Many members of local painting groups have limited means yet are exhorted to buy `the best materials' by book after book and article after article. Ron Ranson was scathing about this and used Cotman paints, a few, very few, synthetic brushes and Bockingford paper. He also painted on the reverse side of `failed' paintings. You can paint on both sides on most makes. I'm afraid I'm sceptical about the motives of some of these professional artists who push this theme. I'm sure some are genuine but others have commercial links with manufacturers. Having said all this I confess to being one of those who have fallen for the `buy the best' chorus. Do they make me a better painter? I'm not at all sure.

Value or Tone

Value describes how light or dark a colour is. This is relatively easy on a grey scale, basically starting with white and finishing with black. Between six and ten steps seems to be the norm. I have used six. However how and  what value do you ascribe to different colours? The following is a value chart I made up using as guidance the `artist's value wheel' from the  Handprint site http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color11.html#wheel .

Apart from black the darkest value is Indanthrone Blue (PB60). Windsor & Newton, Daler Rowney and Rembrandt call this `Indanthrene Blue', Maimeri `Faience Blue, Scminke have two paints using PB60. `Delft Blue' and `Dark Blue Indigo', Holbein `Royal Blue' and Graham `Anthraquinone Blue'! Neither `White Knights nor Shin Han list this pigment, which is at the expensive end. Confusing isn't it which is one reason why manufacturers names have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Most manufacturers now put pigment information on tube paint, not usually pans, but often so small as to need a magnifying glass to read it.  I have taken  Bruce MacEvoys spelling as the correct one but will investigate further. On my chart while you can't read the letters (try clicking and enlarging ) indicating what each paint is the colours are clear enough. I wouldn't claim it to be 100% accurate but I think reasonably so.

Amongst the very darkest values is Diozazine Violet ( PV23) called  Windsor Violet and Rowney Permanent Mauve and so on. Check the pigment information on the tube or hunt it down from the various manufacturers websites. One excellent commercial source is DIck Blick Art Supplies http://www.dickblick.com/  Dick Blick has a huge number of watercolour paints and if you click on the individual paints it will lead to pigment information. This has to be done with every single paint separately and needs a little patience.

Other very dark colours are Prussian (PB27) and Ultramarine blue (PB29), Burnt Umber (PBr7) and Quinacridone Violet (PV19). There are others so if you wish to pursue this any further, and I can understand many not wanting to do so, then get the Handprint value wheel. It can be downloaded and printed.

At the other end of the scale, apart from white, Cadmium Lemon (PY35) is the lightest value with all yellow and yellow shades coming into the lighter half of the chart and the reds, blues and greens in the darker one. This is a generalisation as there are variations so get the chart for specific details.