I own a lot of different paints from a large variety of makers, but my largest collection comes from Roman Szmal. I really enjoy using this brand, especially when I am in Europe (being partly honey-based, they are not the most suitable for tropical climates).
Over the last week, I have redone all my Szmal swatches, and I thought that this would be a good time to share this collection with fellow paint obsessives. (I know I like to look at swatches when plotting my purchases; surely others feel the same.) I’ll say a bit about my experience with the paints, too.
To begin , let me explain my swatches. They look like this:
Behold three unusual earth pigments! O86 is a rare pigment, a mildly granulating orange. Potter’s Pink granulates crazily as always; this version is a bit pinker than my Schmincke and Maimeri ones. PO206 is a quinacridone I used to love when I first discovered it, because it is a great neutralizer for many blues and greens, and because I enjoyed using it as the red in landscape triads (it is the perfect colour for e.g. Scandinavian farmhouses). I use it less now as I have come to prefer granulating earths.
Each swatch is a piece of Arches cold press paper of about 5cm by 7cm, with a thick vertical line drawn on to showcase opacity. I begin painting them by putting down a gentle gradient wet-in-wet to demonstrate tint and (some) texture. I then throw down a little salt, mostly to force out any colour separation that might exist. After a day or so, I paint a stripe of masstone up top; after another day, I do the lifting tests. There are two: one stripe is created by running a damp, firm brush (the Rosemary eradicator) across the paint five times, then dabbing. (I feel like this demonstrates the worst I can do while overworking a painting.) The second stripe is created by repeating the same action five times. (This shows how far a paint can be erased.)
I will begin with the yellows, and work our way around the rainbow.
Roman Szmal offers a lot of yellows; this is only a small sample. My absolute favourite is PY151, which is bright and mixes nicely in both directions. Note that, to my eye, most of these are semi-transparent, except for transparent PY128 (another favourite). PY168, Aquarius Yellow, is a brand exclusive: a bright cool colour, but I have heard that it has inferior lightfastness to the other options. I am testing it now.A special section: devoted to Azo yellows, earthier and more transparent than the basic yellows above. The PY129 and PY150 paints are pretty good examples of these pieces. Apart from that, Roman Szmal offers three Quin Gold substitutes of subtly different hue, although the PO48 one is discontinued now that this pigment is gone.Heading into the orange-yellows and oranges now! I do not have all that many, as it did not take me long to find a decided favourite: the pigment-number-less Aquarius Orange (based on the same pigment as WN Transparent Orange). I also really liked the old PO73, which is transparent and almost-red — but discontinued.I use PR209 and PR264 a lot, and think these are decent examples of these pigments (although PR209 is hard to photograph correctly). I also like the pigment-name-less Quin Scarlet (here labeled with PR??) because of its transparency and appealing (to me) hue. PR214 is another Aquarius exclusive, one I would describe as a darker and more transparent PR254.Of these pinks and purples, I use PV16 the most, for its texture, and usually have either PR122 or PR202 around as a mixing magenta. The PV49 is not the weakest cobalt violet around, but Holbein and M Graham have stronger versions.Here are some ultramarines and friends. Roman Szmal offers four different PB29s. None are really insanely granulating, although French will bring some texture to mixes. Intense is the smoothest and best for people looking for the bright hue, not the texture. Light is nice for skies, and Green Shade mixes the most vibrant (but still warmish) greens with various yellows. Texture is available from PV62, which I love to add to mixes, and PB74, which I only just got and haven’t really tried out yet. Lawenda is pretty, but I rarely use opaque mixes. I know it is good for clouds, though.The PB60 here is of the less-purple kind I like less. I still use it for shadows,. The number of PB15s (three) is dizzying, but… PB15:3 is the standard one (a green mixer for me), PB15:4 is a touch brighter but gets less dark, and PB15:6 (red shade) is a great sky colour if one doesn’t like skies to granulate. Look, it even lifts better than the others, so some cloud cleanup is possible if you move fast. PB16 is another favourite green mixer for me, and Ocean Blue is great for, you know, oceans. My swatch doesn’t really do justice to the slight sandy separation it can yield. Blue cobalt lineup! I have two swatches of PB72, Aquarius Cobalt Blue, because I think the hue has changed between batches. Oh well. I am ambivalent on the ceruleans (PB36 and PB35) as skies rarely look like them, to my eye, but I love the cobalt light for the same purpose. PB28 teal is one of my core colours; this is not a very granulating version.Green cobalt lineup! I like the two darks, PG26 and PG17 (Note: the PG19 is a typo!), especially, for adding a touch of texture or just for shadows. They also allow a little lifting out of highlights and leaf shapes–more than the phthalos, anyway. The other three, hmm. PB36 is liked by many, but after years of trying to love it I just cannot find a good usecase. PG50 is a weak mixer. And PG23 is… well, it is the only paint here I regret owning. I just have no clue what to do with it. (I think Logan wrote the same thing in his review of the colour.)The PG7 is solid and has some dark separation; the PG36 feels weaker to me than other versions (not that this is necessarily bad–it’s easier to mix with, probably). PBk31 is a fun foliage shadow colour, but I usually mix my darks. I also usually mix my greens, so I rarely use these mixes–except for Aquarius and Autumn greens, with their amazing texture and separation. I really recommend Autumn in particular.
Okay, onto the earths!
Yellow earths are a core colour category for me, but what to choose? My faves here are PBr24 for an opaque earth (this is actually my favourite version of this pigment, for its warmth and subtle granulation) and Venetian Yellow Earth for a transparent earth, because of the gold hue. Natural Siena Monte Amiata (here labeled MARS) is not as bright as the DS version, and the Goethrite is not as granulating. The latter is still very cool though, with that separation. PBr48 is like a duller PBr24, and Gold Ochre almost never gets used.I go through a lot of Burnt Siena-type coulours, mostly to mix neutrals with Ultramarine and to give light brownish tints to things, so I have tried many from the brand! First, the outliers: PBk11 has the right hue but is too insanely granulating for neutrals. This is a specialized ‘mix me a separating colour’ paint. And the discontinued PO48 doesn’t quite get neutral for me — I think I should save it for mixing greens. And painting rust, I suppose.
I use the others almost interchangeably; the differences of hue matter less when mixing. The Monte Amiata one has the brightest tint (the Blue Hills one has the dullest) and my old pan of the Italian Burnt Siena had the most fun granulation. My replacement is sadly smoother, however. And the Transparent Red Oxide is less exciting than Daniel Smith’s version, but still separates very nicely.The Umbers section is pathetic compared to the Sienas: I like the Cyprus Deep Raw and Burnt umbers so much that I haven’t bought much else. Although, the greenish umber is nice if one wants that hue around. Transparent Brown Oxide is a bit boring, in my opinion: no texture, plus a drying shift. Finally, October is a special edition colour, a purplish brown that makes me think of bare tree trunks.I feel like I have a lot of the many Roman Szmal earths, but this selection of PR101/102s is pitiful! Part of it is that I have moved away from untextured earths. Terra Pozzuoli is a beautiful colour, as is the Indian Red (which is not as purple as the Daniel Smith one, but does dilute to pink). Caput Mortuum looks nice here, but takes a while to rewet, so I tend to stay away. I like the Violet Hematite better: it gets darker, too.Finally, some neutrals. I used to use a lot of the buff colours, but have since stopped (and feel a Paints I Hate post coming on). It is sad that the Lapis Lazuli is basically a grey, but not unusual. PBk11 is a black I do actually use, to add texture. The others are all pre-made mixes. I love Misty Morning, and Urban Black looks nice here too. I can imagine people who do not mix their shadows loving Shadow Violet.
And that concludes yet another post I thought would be quick and easy. I hope it has helped people pick out some colours to try. Or not to try, although, as I said, I regret only one of these purchases. The other paints all spark joy, even the ones I do not use much.
Comments
7 responses to “A Review of My Roman Szmal Collection”
agreste
Hi,
Where do you get PG19? I do not find it. It is a long desired color.
agreste
Hanna
I usually get Ronan Szmal in Poland where it’s cheaper, bit it’s sold in various online stores as well, like Jackson’s in the UK and Peters Art in Berlin. I just checked at Jackson’s and they seem to have it in stock.
agreste
Could you please telling me the real name of the color? I have just checked it but only found Cobalt Green Deep PG26 and Cobalt Green light PG50
Hanna
Oh, I am so sorry! I just rechecked this, and the Roman Szmal paint I really like is actually PG17, Chromium Green Oxide Dark. I had mislabeled the swatch, and did not question the label as the colour is so different from the other PG17s I have.
Embarrassingly, I do actually own a PG19 watercolour, from Kremer pigments: Cobalt Green Blueish A, which is much lighter (and sort of powdery). I also know that Michael Harding makes a PG19 watercolour called Cobalt Green Deep, which I have never tried, but which I do see on Jackson’s under the right pigment name.
Again, so sorry about this!
agreste
A pity. Thank you for you feedback.
Plese Mr Szmal, A PG19 color would be wonderful (and a PR88 one)
Hanna
Actually, Schmincke has PG19 too, marketed as Cobalt Green Pure!
agreste
Well, It would be nice to have that information since I love that color in oil, and in watercolor, the one in Daniel Smith is rated as too weak for some people
Kind regards
Comments
7 responses to “A Review of My Roman Szmal Collection”
Hi,
Where do you get PG19? I do not find it. It is a long desired color.
agreste
I usually get Ronan Szmal in Poland where it’s cheaper, bit it’s sold in various online stores as well, like Jackson’s in the UK and Peters Art in Berlin. I just checked at Jackson’s and they seem to have it in stock.
Could you please telling me the real name of the color? I have just checked it but only found Cobalt Green Deep PG26 and Cobalt Green light PG50
Oh, I am so sorry! I just rechecked this, and the Roman Szmal paint I really like is actually PG17, Chromium Green Oxide Dark. I had mislabeled the swatch, and did not question the label as the colour is so different from the other PG17s I have.
Embarrassingly, I do actually own a PG19 watercolour, from Kremer pigments: Cobalt Green Blueish A, which is much lighter (and sort of powdery). I also know that Michael Harding makes a PG19 watercolour called Cobalt Green Deep, which I have never tried, but which I do see on Jackson’s under the right pigment name.
Again, so sorry about this!
A pity. Thank you for you feedback.
Plese Mr Szmal, A PG19 color would be wonderful (and a PR88 one)
Actually, Schmincke has PG19 too, marketed as Cobalt Green Pure!
Well, It would be nice to have that information since I love that color in oil, and in watercolor, the one in Daniel Smith is rated as too weak for some people
Kind regards