MaimeriBlu Watercolors, #250 Transparent Mars Red

We're enchanted by MaimeriBlu, a special line of single-pigment watercolors from Milan. Each of the 90 MaimeriBlu colors features a unique pigment, with zero pre-mixed convenience colors. It's hard to overemphasize how unusual this is in our industry. We don't know of any other manufacturer with this many single-pigment colors, and certainly not of a watercolor line that eschews mixes entirely.

To be clear, other manufacturers use mixed pigments for a good reason: it's difficult, expensive, and in some respects impractical to use 90 individual colorants in a complete line of artist colors. This is especially true of certain staple colors that are virtually always mixes, like Sap Green and Payne's Grey. Artists expect these colors to be within a predictable range across brands, and multi-pigment colors are often the only way to achieve that.

Frankly, Maimeri is not concerned with these orthodoxies. The manufacturer's principle for its watercolor is "an absolute purity of pigments," and following this credo to its logical endpoint, how could any tube contain more than one? Single-pigment colors produce cleaner mixes and are much more intuitive to use than multi-pigment colors.

In consequence, you may be surprised by some of Maimeri's watercolors. Sap Green, since it cannot be the usual mix of yellow and green pigments, is actually just chromium oxide green—a gorgeous, mossy color, but absolutely nothing like other Sap Green tubes in your kit. Payne's Grey is in fact synthetic indigo, a permanent pigment with the depth and intensity of multi-pigment Payne's Greys, bluer and without any hint of muddiness.

Another result of a watercolor line with 90 distinct pigments is that some rare and unusual choices are included here. Even experienced watercolorists have likely never painted with genuine indigo, which is the colorant in MaimeriBlu #422 Indigo. This expensive, lightfast pigment is made by fermenting indigo leaves and has a natural color that is completely unique. Other pigments in MaimeriBlu include earth from Italian quarries, an advanced true neutral Neutral Tint that reflects virtually no color, and a whopping 11 cobalt pigments.

As you would expect from a professional watercolor, MaimeriBlu also offers excellent handling and a lovely, thick paint body that can easily produce dark, intense marks and extremely transparent washes. Every pigment used in MaimeriBlu carries Maimeri's highest (three-star) lightfastness rating, so you can trust any color for long-term display.

12 mL metal tube with easy-open tapered cap. Made in Italy.