Granulation isn't something that all watercolour artists like. Some in fact don't like it at all, but if you do then the Daniel Smith Lunar colours are worth considering. These colours, five in all, are Lunar Black (PBk11), Lunar Blue (PBk11/PB15), Lunar Earth (PBr11). Lunar Red Rock (PR101) and Lunar Violet (PV15/PBk11). They are not alone in that many other Daniel Smith colours have this characteristic, especially the Primateks, but here I am only considering those with the prefix `Lunar'.
Lunar Black
Lunar Blue
Lunar Earth
Lunar Red Rock
Lunar Violet
If you prefer bright, vivid colours stop, here. The Lunars are earth colours and like most are fairly dull. I need to qualify that as Lunar Blue has PB15 Phalocyanine Blue as one of it's ingredients and Lunar Violet PV15 Ultramarine Violet so they are not strictly earth colours. I have all but Lunar Red Rock and recently experimented with them to see how they granulate. This is the result, a mismash of paints but the granulation effects are very obvious. I have tried Winsor & Newtons granulation medium with other colours but so far not very successfully, probably due to me rather than the medium.
I used plenty of pigment and water and let them mix by tilting the paper in several directions. together with blowing the paint around using a straw. Without doubt if you are after textural effects then these paints will help enormously, especially for old walls and buildings. They can be used in a much more controlled manner with rather more caution than in this illustration. In order to see the granulation more clearly right click on the photo to enlarge. A better illustration of what these paints can do is on Yvonne Harrys blog www.watercolourflorals.blogspot.co.uk/ under the `Club Exercises' post. The painting to look at is the row of hats.
