If you’ve ever joined us for a Thursday LIVE with John Cogley, you will have without a doubt witnessed Brand Ambassador Angela Barbi playing with COLOR and TEXTURE! There is a quiet confidence in Angela Barbi’s color play—a sense that the pigment knows exactly where it wants to go. Her work is expressive yet controlled, luminous yet grounded, and always alive with movement. Much of this magic comes from her thoughtful (and skillful!) play with DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Watercolors.

You can watch her in action here:

Angela’s painting style invites pigments to travel—drifting, separating, and mingling in ways that feel organic yet intentional.

In Angela’s signature works and thumbnail paintings, granulation becomes motion. Pigment blooms softly, mineral particles drift through washes, and edges dissolve into one another without losing clarity. The result is a surface that feels atmospheric and, as our viewers like to say, romantic.

At the heart of these Romantic Reds are a few powerful, emotionally resonant pigments:

Cadmium Red Medium Hue provides warmth and structure, anchoring passages with body and presence.

Quinacridone Coral brings light and luminosity—its transparency allowing it to spread effortlessly across hot press paper.

Permanent Red Deep adds richness and depth, creating velvety shadows and dramatic focal points.

Alizarin Crimson is a treat to paint with, just the sheer joy of the depth and uniqueness of color is invigorating.

These are some of the reds that the Brand Ambassadors played with during our Thursday Live session, shifting from glowing warmth to deep intensity depending on water, layering, and timing.

The most intriguing textures emerge when these reds mingle with select color companions. While every painting is intuitive, certain DANIEL SMITH Watercolors are natural partners in creating the flowing effects seen throughout Angela’s work:

• Piemontite Genuine introduces subtle wine-red granulation that blooms beautifully into coral and cadmium passages.
• Moonglow deepens values while separating into complex undertones, enhancing shadows without dulling the reds.
• Lunar Black or Hematite Genuine—used sparingly—add grounding, atmospheric texture that quietly supports the composition.

Angela encourages pigments to travel, separate, and converse—creating depth through movement rather than surface texture.

Angela’s thumbnail paintings reveal just how important intuition is to her process. Small in scale but rich in exploration, these studies allow pigment and water to lead the way. Reds are introduced, softened, challenged by granulating neutrals, and then allowed to resolve naturally.

Angela Barbi’s Romantic Reds remind us that drama in watercolor doesn’t require excess. Through thoughtful color choices, intuitive mixing, and an understanding of how granulation behaves on different papers, she transforms watercolor into something nuanced, emotional, and alive.

These are not static reds—they move, breathe, and unfold across the page.