Diopside Genuine -andnbsp;Diopside Véritable

Diopside Genuine is a rich gemstone green you’ll reach for time and again. Also known as the Russian Emerald, the mineral is usually seen in fine jewellery. We are proud to be the first to offer it as a watercolour. Exquisite in hue, it brushes out evenly from deep bottle green through clear Kelly green to the palest mint. The chromium-rich stone from which its ground is green with brownish inclusions. In washes, hints of the brown mineral settle out, adding an earthy nuance perfect for landscape work.

• Pigment name:andnbsp;Diopside Genuine - Diopside Véritable
• Lightfastness: 1 Excellent
• Transparency: Transparent
• Granulating: Granulating
• Staining: 2-Low Staining
• Series: 3

The DANIEL SMITH PrimaTeks are gorgeous watercolours that mix beautifully with other colours. Since they were introduced, artists worldwide have been thrilled to paint with these unique mineral watercolours, and you will be too!

What are PrimaTek Watercolours?

DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek watercolours are unique paints made with mineral pigments; many are semi-precious minerals, mined from the earth, ground finely and made into the beautiful PrimaTek watercolours for artists everywhere!

There are 37 exclusive DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Watercolours made into paints from minerals such as Amethyst, Bloodstone and Jadeite. The raw mineral specimens DANIEL SMITH finds worldwide are ground into pigments, mixed with gum arabic and milled to make those gorgeous watercolour paints! Nearly all PrimaTeks have granulating properties, giving those watercolours wonderful texture and depth, which some artists have described as “magical.”andnbsp;

People have been making paints with earth mineral pigments like ochre in yellows, reds and browns for thousands of years.andnbsp; While many natural pigments run to the “earthy” colours like the ochres we all know, some are unique to DANIEL SMITH, like Hematite Genuine, Bloodstone Genuine and Tiger’s Eye Genuine, the “Genuine” after the mineral name for the watercolour usually means that the paint colour is made only from that particular mineral pigment. When made into paints, nearly all of these minerals have beautiful granulation, giving artists extra painting effects. A few have a hint of sparkle or sheen from the crushed crystals, such as Amethyst, Kyanite, Red Fuchsite, Sugilite, and both Bronzite and Burnt Bronzite Genuine watercolours.

Many DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Watercolours are made from minerals that produce vibrant, luminous colours, like Amethyst Genuine, Serpentine Genuine and Rhodonite Genuine. Most artists are surprised that “rocks” can become such brilliant colours in watercolours!

DANIEL SMITH has a mineralogist who, like Indiana Jones, searches the world, sometimes to remote locations, to find minerals with the potential to become DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Watercolours. Once he finds the raw mineral, the DANIEL SMITH chemist rigorously tests it for colour capacity and reliability, how the mineral performs as a paint, its lightfastness and more. Once a mineral proves itself to meet DANIEL SMITH's high standards and what artists expect, it is made into a watercolour that will delight artists everywhere.

To make the minerals into the watercolours, DANIEL SMITH breaks them down from large rocks called “massives” into smaller rocks, then continues breaking them down and removing impurities until the minerals eventually are ground down into pigments. Once the pigments are ready, the DANIEL SMITH manufacturing team mixes them with gum arabic; the mixture is then put on a 3-roll mill and, after some time and tests, is made into DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek watercolours. The milling process for each watercolour is specific for that particular mineral pigment; mill (or grind) the minerals too small, and the colour becomes dull.

The key is to ensure the particle size of each mineral pigment is large enough to refract the most light for the best colour and small enough to paint as watercolour. Every batch of watercolour is tested to meet DANIEL SMITH’s standards for that particular watercolour, and the tests are kept to ensure the colour consistency artists expect.