🌿 My Favorite Watercolor Samples

🌿 Here's another awesome gift idea for artists of all skill levels -- including you! Dot cards and small paint samples are a fantastic way to try professional-level watercolor brands without a huge investment. 

Some companies are more generous than others with their dot samples, but in any case you should at least be able to get one nice swatch so you can decide which colors are best suited for your workflow. If you typically prefer very small formats -- like artist trading cards, miniatures, or little illustrations in your journals and planners -- you might even be able to get several paintings out of each dot.

Etsy has several sellers who go further and offer hand-poured, itty bitty pans of popular brands. In addition to letting you make swatches on your favorite watercolor papers, these will give you an even better idea of how certain colors react with water and mix with one another.

These are a few of my favorite dot card and hand-poured sample choices:

DA VINCI

• 110 dot samples in ingenious cartons; free shipping for a limited time (at Da Vinci)  
• Da Vinci watercolors are made in California

DANIEL SMITH

• Watercolor Confetti Cards (36 dots, at Amazon)
• Watercolor Confetti Cards (36 dots, at Jackson's)
• Mineral Marvels Cards (36 dots, at Amazon)
• Mineral Marvels Cards (36 dots, at Jackson's)
• Try It Card (66 dots, at Amazon)
• Four Full Dot Cards (238 dots, at Amazon)
• Four Full Dot Cards (238 dots, at Blick)
• Four Full Dot Cards (238 dots, at Jackson's)
• Hand-poured sample pans (from Sisi at Etsy)
• Daniel Smith watercolors are made in Seattle

HANDMADE

• So. Many. Dot. Cards. from indie watercolor makers around the world (at Etsy)

HOLBEIN

• Dot cards with 54 colors (at ArteMiranda)
• Hand-poured sample pans (from Sisi at Etsy)
• Hand-poured sample pans (from Chloe at Etsy)
• Holbein watercolors are made in Japan

MAIMERI BLU

• Hand-poured sample pans (from Sisi at Etsy)
• Maimeri Blu watercolors are made in Italy

ROSA GALLERY

• Dot cards with 40 colors (at ArteMiranda)
• Rosa Gallery watercolors are made in Ukraine

SCHMINCKE HORADAM

• Dot Cards With 140 Colors (at Amazon)
• Dot Cards with 140 Colors (at Blick)
• Dot Cards With 140 Colors (at Jackson's)
• Super Granulating Dot Cards With 40 Colors (at Jackson's)
• Super Granulating Dot Cards With 40 Colors (at Blick)
• Super Granulating Dot Cards With 40 Colors (at Amazon)
• Hand-poured sample pans (from Sisi at Etsy)
• Hand-poured sample pans (from Chloe at Etsy)
• Hand-poured sample pans (from Rosi at Etsy)
• Schmincke watercolors are made in Germany

SHINHAN

• Dot cards with 84 colors (at Jackon's)
• Shinhan watercolors are made in South Korea

VAN GOGH

• Dot cards with 72 colors (at Blick)
• Van Gogh watercolors are made in The Netherlands

WHITE NIGHTS

• Dot cards with 108 colors (at ArteMiranda)
• White Nights watercolors are made in Russia

WINSOR & NEWTON PRO

• MANY reviews commented about the scant amount of pigment included in W&N dot cards, so I am not including them here
• Winsor & Newton watercolors may be made in China or France depending on the product

Happy painting,
Ann

Ann is an artist and writer from Ohio. Follow her on Instagram and YouTube for fresh journal flips and reviews.