When Viviva Colors reached out to me to see if I would be interested in reviewing their water colors, I was thinking how even though I love watercolors, I had already written posts on watercolors in previous posts. However, when I explored their website and the inspiration behind it, I was smitten with the brand and I was excited to try them out!
They were even able to personalize it for me by engraving my name on it and wrote a quote that I chose, “Breathe, Create and Be.” I made up this quote for me, to serve as a reminder to first breathe, then create, then be. I think i would paint all the time if I had the time to– art was something I always enjoyed doing from a very young age- being creative and creating a piece of “work” that was never “wrong” because I truly believe that there is no mistake in art- and that’s what makes it beautiful, unique and remind me of who I am as a human being, who is perfect, though far from perfect-almost like a validation that it’s okay to just be me.
I loved the packaging and how fun it was to receive in the mail! The wood case was easy to use and I was able to put my colorsheet pad in there easily– it was sturdy, yet light. I was filled with joy!
These days when most of the things I order are for my girls, I was proud to have something so special, just for me (though I told them I will share!). It’s been awhile– I don’t think I recalled any time where my name was put on anything since I became a stay at home mama–except to fill out forms for school. The water brush pen it came with you twist open and you squeeze the watercolor pen underwater and it fills up the barrel. The bristles were great quality at first use. I’ve tried several brands in the past and often times, I find the brush already spraying apart after the first use. The cap stayed on well and the pen was comfortable to hold. It takes a little more pressure than others to squeeze the water out to set the brush, but it was rather a good thing since some pens, get wet too easily by accident when the barrel is too easy to use.
A Little About Viviva Colors
Aditya, co-founder it Viviva Colors founded Viviva Colorsheets in his dorm room while in Med school. He talked about often times, it was bulky and inconvenient to be out and about carrying tubes of paint and palettes; and so, his mission to create a portable paints on paper started brewing from there. After 2 years of research, some crowdfunding and with the help of his brother, Rohan, they were able to bring their idea into fruition and now they’ve been featured in Country Living, Design Insider, Martha Stewart and Buzzfeed.
Their mission (taken from their website):
Our mission with Viviva was clear from the beginning: We wanted to share with the world the same joy that I felt by being able to paint anytime without a mess.
I especially appreciated the name of their brand, stemming from their grandma:
The name for the brand was an almost obvious choice: Vi Vi Va are our grandmother’s initials. ‘Viva’ or a minor variation of it in almost all Latin based languages means – Lively. That perfectly described our colors and the woman they are named after.
After spending half an afternoon painting, exploring and playing with their watercolors, I would say the namesake of the brand holds true– as it is most definitely the most vibrant and lively watercolors I’ve ever used (even compared to some other even more expensive brands I’ve come upon).
Here are some up close snippets from my painting process! I haven’t sat down in ages to relax and do something just for me and I found this paint set to be such a treat and a great way to free my mind to relax and enjoy. My kids wanted me to make a rainbow and my husband wanted me to draw plants– I love both plants and rainbows and thought that their suggestions were created, so I created what I was feeling at the time and ended up creating a piece that had rainbow flowers.
As you can see the colors are indescribably vibrant! I must say when I first started the painting, I was not so impressed with the vibrancy if colors- but as I added later after layer and stretched the colors out, I didn’t have to use much paint at all to create this painting.
My absolute favorite color in the whole pack is the Peacock Blue, my second favorite would have to be magenta; these two colors bring every other color to life! The green and yellow, when crossed with the blue become such a unique shade of green- bright and one of a kind. I thought it was so interesting that the block of watercolor labeled as peacock blue looked so dull and almost brown, but when I swiped my brush over it and put it on paper, it was a whole new color. The blue was so livid it was surely almost- as that type of vibrancy, I usually see on a good HD TV!
Here are more photos of the process:
When I added magenta to the red, it gave a shade so bold and beautiful to watch the work it can do to other colors by waking them up.
I loved starting with the lightest color of the set and adding one layer at a time more colors to the painting, resulting in a pretty balanced price of art. The fluidity of watercolors are another reason they are my favorite type of paints. The way they can dry and when you add some water to the same patch, they wake up and spread more colors; and each time the colors will spread different. I love how it feels like a go with the flow kind of art; and how it reminds me of water that start at one place then ripple outwards when something touches the water.
I love how it reminds me of our world and can’t help but feel we are all connected to each other in society. One act of kindness can ripple and impact others and their lives in ways we would never even know, but together, we can create a harmonious rainbow when we look for way to live, balance and hopscotch our way though this thing called life.
Conclusion
I really do love these watercolor sheets! They are portable, light and a little really goes a long way. I will update this post when I run out, but from initial impression, it will last a long time (on their website it says they last as long as a half a pan of watercolor paint set).
They seem to be eco friendlier than the thick and heavier plastic paint sets as well . These colorsheets are very light weight and easy to put in the back of your pocket or purse for anytime you want to pass time too.
If you feel you need some time make an excuse to have to take time to relax for yourself, engrave you’re name on this nifty art pad with out of this world vibrant colorsheets, get this for yourself or a friend you think that would from this. It is such a stress reliever- almost meditative and you let the colors take you on trip depending on how you feel at that moment.
If you know someone who loves colors or want to buy high quality paint orients for your little artists, engrave their name in it and let them explore until their heart is content.
This would make a great graduation gift too and you can engrave whatever message you’d like on it.
The personalized wooden case is optional; you can opt to just buy the watercolor sheets if you wish.
You can help support Hopscotch Mom using my affiliate link when purchasing!
“Breathe, Create and Be.” – Hopscotch Mom
Disclaimer: Hopscotch Mom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Thank you for your support! Hopscotch Mom received Viviva Colorsheets for free in exchange for an honest review- all thoughts are my own.