My Favorite Watercolors

 

    • Art Whale - 48 Half Pans
      • Available on Amazon
      • Typically under $45
      • Manufactured in China
      • Company based in Miami, Florida
      • Friendly, helpful customer service
      • Extruded half pans in a traditional size
      • Fantastic, sturdy tin with rolled edges
      • Excellent color selection
      • 83% single pigment
      • 69% lightfast
      • Zero colors ping on my UV fluorescent brightener test (most likely to fade quickly)
      • Tend to stay where you put them rather than dispersing wildly in water
      • "Heavy" and highly pigmented colors, but not particularly opaque
      • The tin reminds me of Paul Rubens, while the paint itself performs more like Roman Szmal
      • Not inky at all
      • Chinese Red (PR254) is especially nice
      • Burnt Sienna and Umber seem to have flip-flopped labels
      • Note: these paints are completely different than Art Whale's tubes which I don't recommend for drying in pans
      • One of the best values in student grade paint sets on Amazon

         

    • Art Whale - 24 Half Pans
      • Available on Amazon
      • Typically under $25
      • Manufactured in China
      • Company based in Miami, Florida
      • Friendly, helpful customer service
      • Extruded half pans in a traditional size
      • Fantastic, sturdy tin with rolled edges
      • Excellent color selection
      • 88% single pigment
      • 79% lightfast
      • Zero colors ping on my UV fluorescent brightener test (most likely to fade quickly)
      • Tend to stay where you put them rather than dispersing wildly in water
      • "Heavy" and highly pigmented colors, but not particularly opaque
      • The tin reminds me of Paul Rubens, while the paint itself performs more like Roman Szmal
      • Not inky at all
      • Chinese Red (PR254) is especially nice
      • Burnt Sienna and Umber seem to have flip-flopped labels
      • Note: these paints are completely different from Art Whale's tubes which I don't recommend for drying in pans
      • One of the best values in student grade paint sets on Amazon


    • Da Vinci ~ Open Stock
      • Tubes available at Blick | Da Vinci's Website
      • Made by a family-owned company in California
      • Most colors are lightfast; refer to Kim Crick's problem pigment lists to cross-reference your selections
      • Available in full pans and half pans (only in sets) along with 8ml tubes, 15ml tubes, and 37ml tubes
      • Tube paints set up nicely in pans with very little shrinking and no cracking; DaVinci pours its pans directly from its own tubes
      • Re-wet easily
      • Wonderfully pigmented colors which are not "inky" at all
      • Excellent, moderately priced, artist quality paints, especially for those living in the US
      • Note: tend to bronze at full masstone, so mix with water on your palette first

       

    • Da Vinci 12 Full Pans Set
      • Available only on Da Vinci's website
      • Typically under $60 including shipping
      • Made by a family-owned company in California
      • Hand-poured full pans in a unique size (same amount as a standard full pan, but a little longer and more narrow)
      • Good quality tin provided
      • Color selection is excellent, including a Quin Rose and Sap Green, but there is no grey so you'll need to mix that when needed
      • 92% single pigment
      • 100% lightfast (I or II; according to pigment numbers cross-referenced with Kim Crick's problem pigment lists)
      • Zero colors ping on my UV fluorescent brightener test (most likely to fade quickly)
      • Re-wet easily
      • Wonderful, very highly pigmented colors which are not "inky" at all
      • Excellent, moderately priced, artist quality paints (especially for those living in the United States)
      • Note: tend to bronze at full masstone, so mix with water on your palette first

    • Isaro
      • Available at Jackson's | Isaro's Website
      • Made in a small studio in Belgium
      • I do not have a set, just an assortment of individual colors
      • Isaro watercolors are only available in tubes
      • Most colors are lightfast; refer to Kim Crick's problem pigment lists to cross-reference your selections (for example, Ultramarine Pink PR259 is rated 8 by Isaro but listed by Kim as a pigment which tends to fade in light washes)
      • Disperse decently in water
      • Dried nicely in pans with just a bit of shrinking from the sides
      • Re-wet remarkably easily
      • Wonderfully pigmented colors which are not "inky" at all
      • Isaro Yellow Light (PY129) makes an excellent, transparent mixing yellow


    • Jackson's Artist Watercolors
      • Available at Jackson's Art
      • Made in France 
      • I do not have a set, just an assortment of individual colors
      • Similar to Sennelier; they can seem subtle at first but are made for layering
      • Limited range of 48 colors, but they are economical compared to other artist-grade brands and are great for stocking up on basics
      • Re-wet easily 
      • Available in full pans, half pans, 21ml tubes, and 10ml tubes
      • Many colors are lightfast and transparent; refer to Kim Crick's problem pigment lists to cross-reference your selections
      • Jackson's Yellow Light (PY154) makes an excellent, transparent mixing yellow
      • My favorite earth tones thus far (all using PBr7 which stays cleaner in mixes than PY42 or PR101)

    • Niji 12 Half Pans or 24 Half Pans By Yasutomo
      • 12 half pan set available at Amazon | Blick
      • 24 half pan set available at Amazon | Blick
      • Keep an eye on current prices and shop between sites; I think the 12 half pan set is a good deal when it's under $30; the 24 half pan set is a good deal when it's under $50
      • 58% of the 12 pan set are single-pigment; 54% of the 24 pan set are single pigment
      • 100% of the 12 pan set should be lightfast; about 79-88% of the 24 pan set should be lightfast (according to pigment numbers cross-referenced with Kim Crick's problem pigment lists)
      • Zero colors ping on my UV fluorescent brightener test (most likely to fade quickly)
      • Excellent, versatile tin provided; accepts standard-sized pans from other brands
      • Color selection is excellent overall including a Quin Rose, Sap Green, and Payne's Grey -- but I find the reds in the 12 half pan set a little weak compared to other brands; the 24 set is better
      • Re-wet easily
      • Transparency is prized; few fillers are used, so your rinse water will go a long way before needing changed
      • Designed by Yasutomo, an art supply company based in California
      • Manufactured in China
      • Note: the Niji tins look exactly like those made by Phoenix, and both are probably made in the same factory; Yasutomo opted for more transparent pigments so their sets offer a better color selection 



    • Schmincke Horadam ~ Open Stock

      • Pans available at Blick | Jackson's
      • Tubes available at Blick | Jackson's
      • Made in Düsseldorf, Germany by a family-owned company which has been in business since 1881
      • Today's employees have been with the company for an average of 18 years
      • Schmincke is dedicated to using renewable resources as raw materials and prioritizes consistency, occupational safety, and environmental protection
      • I do not have a set, just an assortment of individual colors
      • Available in 5ml tubes, 15 ml tubes, half pans, and full pans
      • Most colors have accurate lightfast information; refer to Kim Crick's frequently-updated problem pigment lists to cross-reference your selections 
      • Disperse well in water
      • Tube paints dried perfectly in pans
      • Re-wet remarkably easily
      • Wonderfully pigmented colors which are not "inky" at all
      • The best way I can describe Schmincke is to say they always do exactly what I ask of them; they are a joy to use!
      • May Green (PG7, PY151) is one of my favorite, most versatile colors of all time; it's hard to find a transparent, lightfast green with this much brilliance
      • These are top-of-the line watercolors and my favorite brand overall; they're also quite expensive, especially in the United States
      • Note: Schmincke Akademie is the student-grade line; Schmincke Horadam is the professional line

    • Yasutomo Sumi-e Metallic Watercolors
      • Silver available at Amazon | Blick 
      • Exceptionally large, 2.25" wide ceramic dish which is reusable
      • Silver: nice coverage on its own, but truly amazing mixed with your existing pigments; you can effectively make endless combinations of shimmery, metallic colors from your other watercolor sets using the Yasutomo Sumi-e as the base
      • Designed by Yasutomo, an art supply company based in California
      • Manufactured in Japan


    • White Nights (35 set in lavender tin)
      • Sometimes available on Amazon
      • I specifically recommend the 35 set in the lavender tin; it's the newest and most versatile
      • Best-in-class value for the quality 
      • Hand-poured, filled-to-the-brim full pans
      • High quality tin with rolled edges
      • Color selection is fantastic, including a nice Quinacridone Rose and one of my favorite Sap Greens along with cools and warms of all primaries, helpful earth tones, an especially transparent cool yellow (Aureolin, PY151) and several really nice convenience colors like Cobalt Turquoise, Quinacridone Violet, and Ultramarine Violet) 
      • 89% single pigment
      • 89% lightfast (only four colors are possibly not lightfast, and all of them can be mixed using other colors in the set instead)
      • One color (Orange, PO64) pings on my UV fluorescent brightener test (most likely to fade quickly)
      • Stay in place in water; great for illustrators
      • Re-wet extremely easily
      • Vibrant, highly pigmented colors
      • Not "inky" at all
      • Color selection is excellent, including a Quin Rose, Sap Green, and Payne's Grey
      • Re-wet easily
      • Manufactured in Russia by a longstanding brand called Nevskaya Palitra which is favored by Eastern artists
      • This is my favorite watercolor set of all time, but the war has made them politically frustrating and also difficult to source in the United States




🌿 more of my favorite supplies & resources




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