Brand Overview: Rembrandt

Brand Overview is a series where multiple posters give their opinions on a brand. Thus far, we have covered Schmincke Horadam, Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Holbein, Roman Szmal, Rosa Gallery and White Nights.

Rembrandt Artists Watercolors are a professional level watercolor made since 1899 by Royal Talens from the Netherlands. They also produce a student line, Van Gogh. Paints are sold in both pans and tubes, which they sell in both 10ml and 20ml sizes and are very reasonably priced in many parts of the world. In some stores you can still find 5ml tubes. Rembrandt uses pure Gum Arabic as a binder and is known for a high pigment load, easy rewetting, and creamy texture. Their 120 colors include traditional and modern colors as well as interference (coated mica) and  chameleon (multi-pigment coated glass) hues. Rembrandt cites 113 of the 120 colors as having a lightfast rating of 100+ years under museum conditions.

Our hot takes and favorite colors

Sandra

I don’t have a strong opinion about Rembrandt. It’s a very solid brand with good watercolors. They don’t have as many specialty colors as other brands. They are really inexpensive. Because of that, I buy them as a replacement for my Schmincke colors when they are empty. So far I own 11 of their colors and their dot card. 

My favorites:

Usually I try to recommend colors that are special to a brand. For example I can live with any Magenta (PR122), I don’t have a favorite brand for that. But in Rembrandt I mostly own these standard colors. So these might not be my all-time favorites, but really solid versions of these colors.

• Transparent Yellow Medium (PY128) is a lovely yellow. It is really transparent, similar to Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150). Sadly my lightfastness tests showed that it’s not fully lightfast, but it’s not as bad as other fugitive pigments such as Alizarin Crimson (PR83) or Benzimidazolone Violet (PV32). Roman Szmal is the only other brand that I know of that carries this pigment.
• Azo Yellow Deep (PY110) is an especially nice version of this pigment. Compared to Schmincke, it is deeper and compared to Rosa Gallery it is more transparent.
• Ultramarine Deep (PB29) is my go-to for my outdoor palette. Other versions of ultramarine blue are more granulating. For outdoors I don’t want the heavy granulation, but still the option of some granulation. So this is a nice option for that.  
• Spinel Grey (PBk26) is probably the blackest black you’ll find in watercolor. It’s hard to get a really dark black with the usual black pigments. Not with this one – it’s just black… at least in the mass tone, of course it gets grey when diluted. I haven’t seen this pigment in other brands.

Avoid:

• Benzimidazolone Violet (PV32) is a beautiful deep red. I fell in love immediately when I swatched it on the dot card. I was heart broken when I saw how quickly it changed in my lightfastness tests. It fades really quickly. The tint vanishes completely after some time.
• Quinacridone Orange (PO48) is a particularly weak version of this pigment. Daniel Smith‘ version is much stronger. But as this is a discontinued pigment, Rembrandt is one of the few brands where you can still get it from.

Lynne

I found Rembrandt Artists Watercolor via their student brand, Van Gogh, which I had purchased to meet recommendations for a workshop. I loved some of the hues but was frustrated by the VG pigment load as compared to other brands I was using at the time. When I learned that Royal Talens made an artists’ grade brand and that they carried some of the same pigments/colors, I switched. I found a significant difference in the Rembrandt paints, and was happy I made the move. I was painting with a limited palette of 8 colors, and doing a lot of mixing, so the higher pigment loads made a huge difference. I wouldn’t say that Rembrandt is amongst the top of my preferred paint brands, but it’s a well-made, easy to rewet, and smooth flowing brand for the most part, reasonably priced and easy to use with pleasing results.

Favorite Colors:

• Transparent Yellow Medium (PY128)  is a lovely, completely transparent mid yellow that leans cool. It has some of what I describe as a metallic texture, similar to PY150, but does not lean gold. It mixes beautiful transparent greens and oranges, and mingles nicely with burnt sienna to make a transparent but more earthy yellow.  I find it to be a near perfect triad yellow. 
• Transparent Red Medium (PR255)  is one color that carries plenty of pigment in both the Rembrandt and Van Gogh lines (Transparent Red Light in VG). I have not found another transparent scarlet, and I love the hue, a beautiful balance between a medium red and orange which dilutes to a pinkish blush. It fills the warm red spot perfectly in my palette.
• Turquoise Blue (PB15/PG7), as the name implies, is bluer than many hues made from this pigment combination. It is a transparent  and less staining cyan than Phthalo Blue GS, which I would usually keep in this palette slot, and fits the bill for mixing bold bright greens, lovely violets and beautiful deep blue greens with burnt sienna. 
• Yellow Ochre (PY42/43) is not a color I typically enjoy due to its opacity, but the mixed hue as opposed to just PY42 or PY43 brings both a soft golden glow and a little transparency. I quite enjoy it for landscapes and sunsets, and especially to mix a dusty violet. 

Colors to Avoid:

• Burnt Sienna (PBr7) is one that I just can’t get behind in this brand. The hue is a constant workhorse on my palette, used for mixing ranges of browns, greys, and greens as well as functioning as an orange/warm red in a very limited palette. This one is very hard to rewet making it very difficult to get enough paint. 

Christer

From all the brands I use on the regular, Rembrandt is one of the brands I have accumulated most paints from. I got familiar with them because it is one of two professional grade paints that are available locally for me, the other one being Daniel Smith. I also have this condition where I walk past a fine art supply store and have to pick up a tube of paint. My local store, which is not a chain, is well stocked and keeps the full line, although it is 5ml and 10ml tubes.

I like Rembrandt as it is a cheap alternative here in Norway. I can get a 20ml tube for about half the price of any other brand’s 15ml. The only problem I have with them is that paint has separated in the tube, so I always push a pointy thing into the tube and mix it up. Like so many others, I pour my own pans from tubes. The colors rewet well and don’t crack.

I have no problems recommending Rembrandts. I would especially recommend them for someone who’s just starting and doesn’t want to go with student grade paints but still has a budget. 

My favorites

• Gamboge (PY150, PO48): I love this color and I use it a lot in landscapes for sunsets. It has a nice range from deep warm yellow to very light.
• Prussian Blue (PB27): This is a rich Prussian Blue and I like this version better than the version I have from Schmincke. It is very pigmented. I use it a lot for landscapes, shades, and skies.  
• Cobalt Turquoise Blue (PB28): I am usually not a fan of cobalts, as I prefer transparent paints, but I like this one. I like to use it for oceans.  

Colors to avoid:

• Cobalt Turquoise Green (PG26): I find this one a little dull. I don’t mind dull greens and they are definitely necessary, but there are better non toxic options that are also transparent.
• Davy’s Grey (PBk11, PBr7): It’s a grey with a low value range. It’s easy to replicate while mixing as both of the pigments are already in my palette.  

Do you have opinions on watercolor brands? We are still searching for people who have an opinion about MaimeriBlu, Mission Gold and other brands. 

Do you have other brands you want to write about that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know in the comments below or contact @sandravink.art on Instagram.