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I’d say they are different. Manganese is a little brighter and a more of a sky color. Phthalo reads darker to me. Also, Manganese granulates more, while Phthalo is more of a flat wash.
I’m biased though, Manganese is my go to blue. Phthalo used to be, but it was replaced.
I have WN Manganese Blue Hue, but I suspect the same applies to DS MBH:
This paint attempts to behave like Manganese Blue, rather than just have the same colour. Genuine Manganese Blue granulates and is non staining. Pthalo Blue is a non granulating and staining pigment, just about the least granulating and most staining pigment there is! In order to make MBH less staining, there’s a lot of gum arabic in the paint formulation. How successfully this approximates Genuine Manganese Blue you might have to decide for yourself, but I have a tube of WN MBH for sale if anyone wants it
But it is Phthalo Blue. The pigment is the same, albeit, a version of PB15 that’s chosen to be somewhat similar to the unavailable MB. The vehicle is different, more gum arabic.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather companies just discontinued paints when pigments become unavailable, rather than trying to replace them with other pigments. New Gamboge replaced Gamboge, until its pigment became unavailable so was replaced with… New Gamboge made from a new mix of pigments (which varies from brand to brand). It’s misleading, confusing, and serves no one. Or at least, it doesn’t make much sense to me.
Rant over, as you were!
I live in Seattle about 20 minutes from the Daniel smith store. I think I’ll go down there today, they have a demo station set up so you can actually try the paints out. I’ll see how they handle there and probably buy some — ok let’s be real I’ll probably buy more than just that.
Kathryn in Seattle
It was already dry so I figured I’d go ahead and post. Here’s the comparison side by side, both on terrible paper (sorry), as well as a closeup of the MBH. The MBH does indeed granulate; it also dispersed into the wash in a much more measured and stately fashion. Phthalo blue always seems to me like it dissolves into water like food coloring. The MBH also didn’t seem to stain the way the phthalo blue did.
The hue is pretty similar, though not identical. I’d say you don’t *need* to have them both, but there are enough differences between the two of them to justify having them both if you want to. The MBH is a series 1 so there’s no difference in price.
Kathryn in Seattle
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