Photo of Alvaro Castagnet with photos of DANIEL SMITH Alvaro's Caliente Grey and Fresco Grey Watercolor tubes and swatches

We are so excited to have been working with Master Artist Alvaro Castagnet on the creation of two Gray DANIEL SMITH Watercolors which capture the passion and expression of his paintings!

Alvaro’s Caliente Grey (warm) and Alvaro’s Fresco Grey (cool) Watercolors are New DANIEL SMITH Watercolors and part of our New SIGNATURE SERIES of Watercolors!

Watercolor swatches and property details of DANIEL SMITH's Alvaro's Caliente Grey and Alvaro's Fresco Grey
Watercolor swatches and property details of DANIEL SMITH’s Alvaro’s Caliente Grey and Alvaro’s Fresco Grey

Grays can be so expressive and Alvaro’s Caliente and Fresco Greys, as Alvaro describes them, are about:

“…magnetism, fury, energy…power. You know greys… create a feeling of danger, emotion, passion… mystery…evoke things that are unknown…darkness. I use these greys to create a painting that has a magnetism…energy, mystery, passion…something to discover, entering the unknown, darkness. Both of these colors have just this type of feel to me.”
-Alvaro Castagnet

Alvaro’s Caliente Grey

Paris View, watercolor by Alvaro Castagnet, painted with Alvaro's Caliente Grey
“Paris View”, by Alvaro Castagnet, painted with Alvaro’s Caliente Grey
Alvaro's Caliente Grey DANIEL SMITH Watercolor swatch with its' property details
Alvaro’s Caliente Grey DANIEL SMITH Watercolor swatch with its’ property details

Alvaro’s Caliente Grey, “is a terrific hue, very powerful, excellent to create strong and warm paintings. In monochrome this wonderful Grey is perfect to achieve a powerful atmosphere with amazing glow. This color is also perfect to add dramatic highlights and shadows.” –Alvaro Castagnet

Alvaro’s Caliente Grey, a smooth, warm velvety grey on its own, mixes wonderfully with other colors toning them down and adding warmth. Alvaro’s Caliente Grey is semi-transparent, non-granulating, low staining and has excellent lightfastness.

Alvaro’s Fresco Grey

Genoa, watercolor by Alvaro Castagnet painted with DANIEL SMITH Alvaro's Fresco Grey Watercolor
“Genoa” by Alvaro Castagnet painted with DANIEL SMITH Alvaro’s Fresco Grey Watercolor
Alvaro's Fresco Grey, DANIEL SMITH Watercolor swatch with its' property details
Alvaro’s Fresco Grey, DANIEL SMITH Watercolor swatch with its’ property details

Alvaro’s Fresco Grey “A very powerful and true hue, with no artificial look to it. Passionate and mysterious, great to evoke distant elements of any kind even the unknown…I love the hue.”
–Alvaro Castagnet

Alvaro’s Fresco Grey, a cool midnight in mass tone and a cooling mist in washes, it mixes well with other colors, toning them down and adding a touch of coolness. Alvaro’s Fresco Grey is semi-transparent, granulating, low staining and has excellent lightfastness.

Grays, just like other colors and have both subtle and bold expression when mixed with care. For plein air, having reliable, pre-mixed grays ready to use is key for plein air painting when time is short and light is constantly changing. Alvaro’s Grey’s assist with that, and with fast color mixing with other colors on your palette.

We have two mixing grids showing a few of the lovely colors that can be mixed using Alvaro’s Greys, each mixing grid was mixed with our DANIEL SMITH Essentials Watercolor Set. Coming soon is a Mixing Grid post to help you make your own!

Alvaro’s Caliente Grey mixing grid with the Essentials Set:

Alvaro's Caliente Grey mixing grid with the DANIEL SMITH Essentials Watercolor Set
Alvaro’s Caliente Grey mixing grid with the DANIEL SMITH Essentials Watercolor Set

Alvaro’s Fresco Grey mixing grid with the Essentials Set:

Alvaro's Fresco Grey mixing grid with the DANIEL SMITH Essentials Watercolor Set
Alvaro’s Fresco Grey mixing grid with the DANIEL SMITH Essentials Watercolor Set

This mixing grids show only a tiny fraction of the colors that can be mixed using these two Grays, there is a wide range that can be mixed as you change the color and water ratios. Glazing is another way you can mix with colors!

We love our New Alvaro’s Caliente Grey and Alvaro’s Fresco Grey Watercolors and we know you will too!

Alvaro's Caliente Grey and Alvaro's Fresco Grey watercolor tubes and paint outs
Alvaro’s Caliente Grey and Alvaro’s Fresco Grey Watercolors

More with Alvaro Castagnet:

Photo of the 8 New DANIEL SMITH Watercolors for 2019

Please enjoy these Watercolor Features with more information and images about our 8 New Watercolors!