Northwest Watercolor Society’s Tour to See How DANIEL SMITH Makes Artists’ Paints

Deborah Burns — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:19:33 +0000

Dave showing members of the Northwest Watercolor Society (NWWS) where on the map Purpurite Genuine comes from

Last Wednesday, 13 board members of the Northwest Watercolor Society visited the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store to tour the on-site manufacturing facilities where the DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Watercolors are made. The same manufacturing facilities are also where the DANIEL SMITH Original Oil Paint , DANIEL SMITH Ultimate Acrylic Paint , and DANIEL SMITH Printmaking Inks are made.

The tour was in four parts:

Since this was a VIP tour, it began with KT, Manager of the Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store introducing John Cogley, owner of DANIEL SMITH, to the NWWS board-members. The group met at the front of the store where the video of “How Paint is Made – The DANIEL SMITH Way!” plays in the foyer of the Seattle Store. John talked to the NWWS group about what was happening on the video by explaining some of the processes, sharing stories and answering questions. It was really interesting to find out a few new things I had not previously learned before since John is very involved in the entire process beginning with being active in finding new minerals for DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Paints .

David Pruneda, who works in the Seattle Store, took over for the next part of the tour by leading the group through the store to the room where the weekend FREE demos are held, it’s also used as a Gallery. The group took seats to listen to David talk about the minerals used for making DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Colors by showing and passing around some of the corresponding minerals such as Azurite Genuine . There were “rocks”, and jars of powered minerals and examples of PrimaTek watercolors painted out on watercolor paper. There was also a map on display showing where some of the minerals come from…literally all over the world!

The next part of the tour was conducted by Ron Harmon, the long time DANIEL SMITH Chemist, who took us back into the manufacturing room. There Ron showed us the the 5 large to huge mixers that the pigments are mixed with the various liquids. Watercolor with Gum Arabic and water, Acrylic with acrylic emulsion, Oil with either safflower or linseed oil, and Lithographic ink with litho varnish. Next, are the various three roll mills that “take the pigment particles and tear them down” to transform the mixes into DANIEL SMITH paints and inks. While we were there, one of the mills was being used to refine DANIEL SMITH Quinacridone Gold Watercolor , so it was extra cool for the NWWS group to see. Lastly Ron lead the group over to see the two filling machines, one for watercolors and the other for acrylics, where the tubes of paint are filled. The inks are actually too thick for the fillers and the cans are hand filled beside the mills. Here is a trivia question for you…how are the labels applied to the tubes? Answer: by hand! Bonus answer: by Ron’s daughter’s hand!

Next, David lead the group back to the demo room to answer more questions…there is always so much to learn!

At the end of the tour, most of the group were amazed that while they “knew” that DANIEL SMITH manufactures its’ name brand paints and inks, they had not realized that the DANIEL SMITH Watercolors , Acrylics and Oil Paints and the Printmaking inks are actually made in the same building as the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store.

Next time you are visiting the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store to pick up more art supplies, just remember that a couple of walls over on the south side, is where the magic of COLOR for your paintings is made!

The tours are now resuming after a long hiatus, and DANIEL SMITH Manufacturing Tours are available by appointment for groups of up to 20.

Boardmembers of the Northwest Watercolor Society, thank you for coming, we were happy to see you, and show you how our DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Watercolors are made!

********************

Originally published May 30, 2008

http://danielsmithart.blogspot.com/2008/05/northwest-watercolor-societys-tour-to.html

Updated August 10, 2009:

Here is the link for the DANIEL SMITH Video: “The Art of Making Paint”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Every Day, Express Yourself with ART….

~Deborah Burns

Follow DANIEL SMITH on Twitter
Become a DANIEL SMITH Fan on Facebook

Welcome to the DANIEL SMITH Blog!

Deborah Burns — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:36:57 +0000

Art…here at DANIEL SMITH… we are all about helping You to express the creative, artistic side of You. Our blog will be an evolving place to share information, and creating conversations with You. I will be exploring lots of different topics on subjects that I find interesting about making art, DANIEL SMITH and our products, especially the ones we develop and manufacture, as well as subjects and questions You may have.

To begin our journey, we’ll start at the DANIEL SMITH Seattle store where the DANIEL SMITH corporate offices are as well.

This is also the location of the Call Center, where telephone catalog orders are taken, and where DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Watercolors , DANIEL SMITH Ultimate Acrylics , DANIEL SMITH Original Oils , and DANIEL SMITH Inks and Printmaking Supplies are Manufactured .

We also have our DANIEL SMITH Bellevue Store , where I will also be visiting as well. The Warehouse where all your orders are full-filled, is in another location nearby. I will be visiting these places in the future to let you in on what’s happening, and how it all works.

There are also many FREE demonstrations as well as workshops at both stores. I will be attending some of them, and sharing some of the tips that the Artists share in their demonstrations. This is a place to learn, and I will be learning right along side of You the things about making Art that I have myself have not done (yet!). I studied painting and lithography in school, so there is much for me to learn about watercolor, acrylic, and other mediums as well. We will be on a journey together!

********************

Originally published March 19, 2008

http://danielsmithart.blogspot.com/2008/03/welcome-to-daniel-smith-blog.html

DANIEL SMITH » * DS Ultimate Acrylics

Northwest Watercolor Society’s Tour to See How DANIEL SMITH Makes Artists’ Paints

Welcome to the DANIEL SMITH Blog!