Review of Daniel Smith's Try It Dots Watercolor paint

For the longest time, I've been eyeing Daniel Smith's Try-It Dots, but I wondered "How much paint would you actually get?"

A couple of weeks ago, a special was run--66 try-it dots and 1 oz. of Waterground Ground (another item I've been eyeing!) for only $2.99 and with free shipping!  (Sorry those of you who snoozed.  I just tried the link, and the item wasn't there anymore.)  I immediately bought a couple and I've spent the entire weekend working to find out how far those dots would go.

Sadly, (but not really) I still can't tell you.  I've painted a butterfly, approximately 4 x 4 inches ; two stamped images, about 5 inches each; two 8 x 6 inch still-lifes and worked on an 8 x 10 inch that I had already started.

I've entirely used up 6 dots, partially used 18 dots, leaving 42 try-it dots still untouched!

The colors included on the sheet have a fantastic range.  Some are iridescent and sparkly--I used those to paint my stamped images because they just screamed crafts to me.  But I can also see them used for sparkly fabrics in a still life or portrait.

What have I learned about the Daniel Smith colors this weekend?
My two still-lifes are adapted from exercises in a Walter Foster Step-by-Step watercolor book.  The colors suggested in that book are pretty standard fare, and the 66 Try-it dot has none of those, lol!  I searched for colors that seemed in a similar range, and just enjoyed myself.

I love the Primatek colors, which are made with genuine earth pigments, and some also have have a glitter and gleam.  Working with the try-it dots, I now know that I find these more satisfying than the luminescents, because they are a darker, more vibrant color (to me anyway).  But I love the Iridescent Electric Blue.  It would be great for an ocean scene with the sun sparkling on the water, or for painting the metallic finish on a car.  The Cadmium hues are luscious.  I was a little disappointed that there was only one Mayan color--but I love the one that was included.

My wish list of colors is burgeoning.  But when I decide to buy, I won't be disappointed because a color isn't what I expected.  I'll know exactly what it can do.

If you've made it this far, here's my work for the weekend:

I used a couple of Kanban clear rubber stamps.  The gal is blue is all glimmery and shiny, and I photographed them against black cardstock trying to get the effect but it would neither scan nor photograph.  Take my word for it, though, the effect is awesome.

With my butterfly picture, the Iridescent Electric Blue shows the gleam a little better, but the Sugilite Genuine which also gleams doesn't show.

I still don't have the values quite right in my fruit basket but I decided to put it aside for a couple of days because I'm  fussing too much.  Sometimes, you get blinded when you work too long on a picture.

 I'm going to revisit this painting in the future.  It needs more work, but I don't quite know what I want to do yet.  A little more practice and I will.