Avoid these watercolors (probably)
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The thing that upsets me the most is the fact these cheap brands usually claim their paints as "professional quality" when they are very far from that. There's great cheap paints out there, but it's a matter of being able to recognize decent paints from bad ones
Or when they say excellent fade-resistance or lightfastness when there are no lightfastness ratings because there's been no testing. Don't make false claims.
@@SmillyDonut Maybe most of them aren't even made with pigments, perhaps dies, which would explain the lack of pigment information. I know kids paints are made with dies so...
@@Anweshamishraaa Actually I want to try prang and crayola (hello, european here) I know they are kids paint but they don't seem chalky and for sketchbook it's fine
When a cheap brand says it's professional quality, they usually refer to their own range. As in, it's the top of their range. That's how they get away with it, in terms of advertising regulations, for decades.
@@didi7074 Very true.
This is a great look at these types of sets as well as inexpensive paper. There's such a big difference between the first and last painting that really illustrates how fewer, high quality supplies really make for a better painting experience in most cases. Thanks for sharing, Arleesha!
Thanks, Denise! :D I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :3
When you painted over the second painting with black... I felt that XD
Not me making my portraits green when they don't turn out well because then it doesn't look like a mistake
ME TOO HAHAHAHHAHDHAHA
@@queerartperson5397 mooooooooooooooooooooooood
I have an ongoing gripe with student-grade art products - particularly for watercolors. I think the cheap materials give beginners the impression that watercolor is difficult and beyond them, not knowing that it's the cheap materials working against them. As someone else mentioned, it's also really frustrating some of these companies use "Professional Quality" to describe what are actually student-grade products.
And many times even below student grade.
Those aren't even student grade, they're CRAFT grade
It really is amazing how much of a difference high quality paints make. I think a lot of beginners pick cheap sets with a lot of paints, as opposed to higher quality with fewer paints. It’s better to have paints that help you, and also learn color mixing with a smaller set.
Right?! and ESPECIALLY with watercolours you only need like 8 paints TOPS in order to create every colour you would ever need. Like instead use that money to buy a split primary set around the same price from an artist quality brand
I disagree, as a beginner you should solely enjoy art, not be thrown into a learning process. Learning color theory is inevitable, they should do it it when they're more serious or experienced , not on the first day,month, year of trying something new.
@@Jayariee I agree to an extent, but my point was more that cheap paints will fight you and make it so you don’t enjoy art as a beginner. Buying a higher quality, smaller set means the paints work with you, and you’ll learn color theory. The point is that you don’t need a large set to succeed.
I've never really agreed with the "a truly great artist can make any supply work." Sometimes you really are only as good as the supply you're using lets you be. It's amazing how much a bit of an upgrade in supplies can improve the quality of your work.
i agree! to some extent, that statement _is_ true, but only because the skilled artist makes adjustments according to the materials they are using; and uses them in a different way to get smth out of them. STILL, it's much more work, for a result you could achieve easier with nicer quality supplies. and it is definitely discouraging for someone who doesn't know much about "tricks" or "hacks" you can use to make a shitty medium work for you. it's much better to invest in a small range of decent quality materials, than get a large amount of bad quality for cheaper and being discouraged with the result
(this is especially true for watercolour paper!!)
They're only two different approaches. One is "make the best out of what you already have", and the other is "i want this exact specific thing that i can do easily only with this"
None of them are wrong. Just different
Mark Crilley made a good analogy, he had a TH-cam series of drawing with household items challenges, things like a lump of charcoal for BBQ. He said if you're a stand up comedian, a good microphone won't make you any funnier, but a bad mic could ruin your set if it keeps cutting out/making static. Poor quality supplies can make learning to draw way harder but professional supplies won't make you a talented artist on their own.
The other thing about professional supplies is sometimes it's not the performance you're paying for but the archival properties. So if you're not painting to sell or display your work, you don't necessarily need that.
@@inkypunk exactly!!
@@alessiaagazzi8605 that's the perfect way to say it and i agree
I can see these low quality paints being okay for artists who do line work heavy art with no overlapping of colors. And for them, probably only in sketchbooks due to light fastness. Younger kids do really have so much fun with cheaper pretty sets but 30 dollars for a set of paints for kids is a bit of a stretch. There are super cheap sets that do more for kids who are learning color mixing. Thanks for sharing.
when my teenage cousin got into art, even though I didn't know wether or not it is just a phase, I got her the winsor & newton cotman set, I think it's a good value for the price and she years later still enjoys painting, and I'm glad. like you said, the quality does matter sometimes and especially as beginners bad quality products can influence if you keep going
I got spoiled rotten when i tried white nights and daniel smith for the first time! I immediately donated all my other wartercolours away to friends. I have fewer colours, but boy is it a delight to paint with real quality materials!
I use my cheapass Shinhan tubes as much or more as the Daniel Smiths I have. I also have the Artistro set she reviewed, and I think they're super fun. Guess it all just comes down to what you like to paint, and the way you do it.
Even though I wouldn't call them my favorite watercolors overall, I really do think White Nights have the best value for price and are the best paints for beginners. Personally I started out even more extreme, with only a few primaries - but by Schmincke. Lol. I never regretted it though. I was already a decent at painting back then, even if I was inexperienced with watercolors, and some of my early works I still like and some are even on my wall. I'm happy to know that they won't fade any time soon and I'm also happy I spared myself the frustration of trying to practice with subpar materials back then.
I actually use to hate using watercolor, and now it's my favorite medium. I started out with the prang watercolors, and still use them now. I remember getting another set from a brand I never heard before called Biyano. They were pretty opaque, but needed alot of water. Every time I tried making a flat wash with them, they would come out looking really streaky and uneven, and where pretty difficult to blend and make smooth gradients with. I felt so annoyed and frustrated using these watercolors lmao, it reminded me of children's paint, but less chalky. I stuck to the prang watercolors and continue to use them now, but I might look at other brands to try out like the Sakura Koi watercolors.
Ok, so I may be in the minority but I don't ever think beginners should start with "beginner" products. I think that you should *always* start with artist quality, regardless of the medium. Like Arleesha said, just get *fewer* colors. You can't really know what a medium can do unless you start with the good stuff, especially good paper if your medium is watercolor. Even good paint can be a struggle on crappy paper!
If you're trying an inferior product you'll struggle and not enjoy the full range of what your product can produce. Inferior watercolor may be chalky, won't flow or will easily make mud. Inferior pencils will have little pigment or won't layer or be unenjoyable and scratchy. Inferior acrylic will have little pigment, may be jelly like or be totally transparent. Inferior gouache will be streaky, again low pigment and also gloppy and transparent. You get the picture.
Instead of buying a gazillion colors get 10: a split primary, yellow ochre, burnt sienna or umber, sap green and an indigo or Payne's grey. Viola!! If 10 is too much just get the split primaries like Daniel Smith makes, with a warm and cool red, yellow, and blue.
The paper comment 100% because the hot press canson paper she used in this video _did not_ do her White Nights paints any favours
I agree with you both, I was taught from the beginning of my early watercolor days at a school to buy quality supplies but don't buy more than I need . At first I though my teacher was just being a rich snob but as I gained experience I could see what she meant. If you have a set of say 40 cheap paint that are so grainy and the colors don't even work, it is very discouraging and can lead a person to become discourage. I thought color theory was something to put off and I regret that I didn't learn it really for a long time. I used to buy expensive sets of 24 or more paints, now I usually don't buy more than six or eight colors. One last thing, those first watercolors were so bad I laughed at the "flesh" color that was the same shade of yellow as The Simspons characters,lol, guess that set would be good for cartooning.
This is also a great way to know your medium in such a way that you can venture into cheaper or less known brands and recognize the same qualities as your professional medium. I felt spoiled starting out with Copic Sketch markers, but starting out on those high end markers has helped me find other less expensive brands with the same or very similar qualities that Copic is so known for. Saving money gets me more great markers/mediums!😁
What I've actually really enjoyed with the cheap sets is just extracting the crap paints and reusing the container for other paints. That tin looks like it would be amazing if you just pulled out the cheap paints and the plastic liner holding them (that I assume is either just hot glued in or similar,) and replaced it with half pans with magnets on the bottom, and a small mixing tray. You have the sketching supplies in the lid, making it a nice compact set.
I do that as well. I avoid the plastic ones, though, because they tend to hold stains permanently. I did experiment by using an enamel paint spray on a plastic set after sanding it a little. And yeah, it wasn't that successful. I even tried a photo frame with a hinged lid with its glass as the base. It was interesting, but too risky to use.
I also repurpose vintage-but-generic cigar/cigarette cases as palette tins. It does pain me when I remove an elastic band or metal strips ("What if this is an antique rarity?!"), but the guilt vanishes once I see all those pretty pans in place. But I digress.
@@okane9417 If you can get one of those little sample pads of Yupo, it works pretty well for a mixing area with little fuss. No raised sides for it, so it can escape the paper a little bit, but when I've used it in the lids of small tins, that hasn't been a bother at all.
@@FranNyan Such an elegant solution! I'll give it a try. Many thanks.
@@FranNyan what a great idea!
Yes, there are so many lovely and unique tins at the budget level that are very easily repurposed for housing your own pans. A bit of craft foam to level out and raise the base slightly and they can even be used as active palettes that don't destroy your brushes.
The cotmans were my first set and they honestly turned me off of water colors for a long time. I got frustrated because I felt I was scrubbing my brushes so much and getting no pigment. Recently I got the white nights and I love them so much more and feel I finally enjoy water colors.
Same. The worst part was the professional line wasn't that much more. But I didn't know at the time.
Cotmans are overhyped. Less pigmented than most student watercolours and dry, very dry.
@@curiouscolour8336 I didn't know that, in the future if I ever go professional im gonna get m Graham or something like that.
Same, especially the red is so pale
@@pudelnudel6915 exactly and the sap green
This was something I was discussing with my wife as we've moved from amateur level to profressional. With higher quality stuff it less fighting with the material and you can just focus on doing your creating. You can see it in the last painting you did. As you lay down the paint is stayed where you put it. Train on the best you can get.
Cheap paints can be very useful, you just have to see what they are good at. Some cheap paints are chalky and chalky colors/paint usually are kinda opaque, making them really good for children book illustration projects for light layering and nice texture
Exactly! I use one of the sets shown in the video and I just use it for a coloring book. I’m a beginner so idk what the heck I’m doing BUT the result is like a nice combination of a watercolor and a marker. The colors are bright but are also a bit translucent.
With that said, that set is crap for anything else that involves serious work (like typical beginner exercises seen in tutorials or courses). It was just impossible to follow along and I felt like a horrible idiot. 😔This never happened to me with other media.
I never agreed with “a truly great artist can make a masterpiece outta terrible supplies.” I’m a printmaker, so I work with putting ink on blocks. There are some inks that are cheap, but they don’t last long and they dry out too fast. If I’m gonna spend days carving a wood block, by golly, I want ink that doesn’t dry on my block within 20 seconds, because then I’m fighting to clean it.
What’s the brand?👀
Your bookmark paintings are just gorgeous. When I started painting seriously, the more I painted, the more I was able to realize that it was a quality of supplies issue when my painting didn't turn out well or were difficult. I can especially see that as my skills have improved. Thanks for the important advice.
Bookmarks are such a good idea! I love painting small! I totally agree with you about the quality of supplies, for a long time with some materials I didn't realize how much I was struggling til I switched to a better made brand. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, I agree that artist quality watercolors will give the best results, as they should. But I do think that as long as you use good paper, pretty much all of the student grade paints by the big brands will do mostly fine. By this I mean brands like Schmincke, Winsor & Newton, Lukas, Royal Talens, Sennelier and so on - they all make very good student grade paints, and I still use them a lot inspite of also using various artist grade watercolors. Now as for the budget paints, be it by the various Asian brands you can usuallly find on Amazon, or by brands like Reeves or Arteza, I think it always depends on the individual case. There are some useable budget paints out there, but personally, I think budget paints should not be one's only set. The reason I am saying that is because of the following: When you first start out, I think you do best with a typical student set that gives you all the proper color names and everything you need to learn, something reliable. And when you already know how to paint, you need something that will not hold you back at any point, and will be able to keep up with your ideas, and budget sets do tend to have limitations, even if they are fairly good. So I think that overall, budget paints can be a nice addition for fun and sketchbook work, but I personally would not recommend them to rely on.
That's so true, when I was starting out, I was wondering why my art doesn't look like pics on insta, or in yt videos and all I had to do was to change paper. And it all started to working out like magic. Now I use cheap supplies sometimes if I want to play with colour but paper needs to be decent.
I started out by the melilang 36 set, it was amazing, cheap, transparent, pigmented, not chalky at all and it also gives pigment information, it was a great set to learn, they also have a smaller set of 24, i think if you are a beginner painter its very important to limit the color variety as well, so you mix for yourself, I personally was already into painting so i didnt have this problem, i now have passed my set to my sister, who likes to paint for fun, but wants to get better with watercolors, but she never really had the supplies, i can only recommend that set, its amazing for beginners and even for professionals to just play around with, and its pretty cheap, 36 colors are around 20$ :D
The 3rd and 4th ones are PEAK Arleebean artistry. I could see you and your style in them. It’s crazy to see how much the materials made a difference in the product, your mindset and the experience of painting.
Loved when you brought out the white nights 😂 using mine right now.
the paper makes so much difference ! I was mesmerized by your two lasts exemples !
And honnestly, White Nights and the professional serie of Winsor and Newton are my go-to for european watercolors ! I also enjoy the kuretake gansai tambi, but it's such a different painting experience !
While they do have pigment information, and the sets do come with mixing areas in metal tin, Mungyo watercolours are usually bundled into the category you speak about here.
True, about 1/3 of 48 set is only "good" lightfastness and all three "metallics" are terrible, but I absolutely adore Mungyo. They are vivid, mix extremely well, not chalky, and not expensive.
Of course White Nights are almost same price for full pan and Rosa Gallery is even more affordable full-pans and highly lightfast, but Mungyo are more portable and last forever.
I'm glad for watercolor beginners who have access to this information and can avoid that initial struggle of chalky frustrating watercolors. I had a sakura set before and i thought it was cool at first but as i wanted to do more advanced things, it proved very frustrating cause they didn't apply evenly, they were chalky and opaque, not good for layering. I think as a beginner it only makes sense to start with cheaper supplies so you don't potentially waste money on something you might not want to use again but with watercolors it's definitely a better idea to invest. And it's really important to have a helpful attitude toward your supplies. Cotton paper is very expensive so it might feel like a waste to practice on it but you can't get better unless you sacrifice some of those precious sheets for messing around and experimenting. I struggled with that before and almost never painted anything because of it. So to any new watercolorists out there, keep these things in mind as you begin exploring the medium cause it will really benefit you :) and for those of you who want decent paper to start with that's not as expensive as like arches, i highly recommend either bee paper (100% cotton) or fabriano studio (25% cotton but still is a dream to paint on for me). Get you some decent supplies, you deserve a good first impression of this incredible medium!!
Because I didn't have much to spend, and a set like this seemingly offered so many pretty colors, I bought a set similar to this. Not only did the paints get in my way, they almost led me to give up painting before I ever really got started. I thought "oh, it's just me. I'll never get watercolors." Then I got a Ladoga set from the people who make White Nights, and it cost the same as the awful chalky set. I still am very much a beginner, but at least now I don't doubt myself so much. The Ladoga paints are a joy to use, a tool to be honored. It makes me feel a little angry at how these chalky sets are marketed. How many others have given up painting because "professional" quality art supplies got in their way? Just market them for kids. Everybody wins that way.
The only test you didn't do was those cheap paints with good paper and your preferred brush. As your good paints came out chalky too then perhaps the cheapo ones might do better on better paper.
i agree!
I couldn’t stop rewatching this video for some reason. Something about it is so relatable to me and the editing and atmosphere of the video is very calming and inspiring! Thank you for making this as always :)
all my life i have HATED using watercolor. i’d only used watercolor in art class and the feeling of the product in my hand and on my paper just didn’t vibe well with me. But last night I tried using some Choosing Keeping watercolors and i absolutely LOVE them. My entire view on the medium was changed within minutes of getting good quality watercolors.
I have bought the Winsor and Newton Cotman. They seem very high quality to me and i was a little confused seeing reviews "bashing" them. BUT i think that i like them so much because i have been using Ebay no brand ones quantity over quality.
Yeah I have them too and I don't know what the problem is j know there are better ones out there like with pigment but I still use them now and I have some higher quality watercolours like Daniel Smith that I use less. Idk I just think they're really good!
As far as student grade paints go, Cotman are pretty solid and very close to their professional counterparts on a 1:1 basis. But paint is very much a "what's your preference" medium. Cotmans don't really have granulation like Daniel Smith tends to, doesn't have the always moist and ready to go that honey based paints do, don't have the insane flow that things like QoR do, etc etc. W&N in general is one of those "solid middle" type paints and the Cotman reflect that just as well. To some people, that solid middle nature is just something they can't stand.
@@FranNyan yeah I get that I judt think for a nice well rounded paint they're pretty good like if you just want a basic painting for me they're my go to :)
@@millieb3823 Oh yeah, totally get that. I have a bunch of both cotman and pro-line W&N paints in my hoard, not saying anything bad on them, just pointing out why people might not like them.
@@FranNyan yeah yeah I got that I agree with the points too I spose it depends on the type of painter that you are :)
This again shows that for painting, it is important to have material that can be handled well and does not work against one's own style/way of working.
For beginners, I think it is important to have paint that do not run very much, which can be the case with these dye based colours.
With the very cheap sets, it is relatively difficult to get a set that is not chalky or probably dye based that run a lot.
For beginner, I think it is important to find out if a paint are manageable when they run a little and to learn the nature of the running and how to use it to advantage.
Too many colours can seem overwhelming and a lot of time is spent choosing colours,
too few colours and a lot of time is spent mixing, and mixing is not the easiest activity,
not that someone gets stressed out with mixing colours and gives up in frustration.
I think at least 6 colours and a maximum of 24 depending on what is a comfortable amount for someone without being overwhelmed.
I also gave up in frustration years ago, because the watercolours I had from Schmincke Akademie ran heavily, and I couldn't control the amount of water, either desert or flood,
it could also be that the synthetic brush I used contributed to this.
I hated it.
With other watercolours that didn't run, so heavily I might not have given up in frustration and would be further along today.
later I was able to practise applying the colours and the amount of water separately because I got a set of watercolour pencils for my birthday.
My first watercolour set that I really liked was from Pelikan which I got as a present later on.
The colours were not as intense as the ones from Schmincke, but they were easier to handle with the amount of water and the colours didn't run and bleed right away
and I could build up the intensity slowly.
Of the well-known Student grade Watercolour paints, I would recommend the Cotman and Van Gogh watercolours rather than Akademi and Aquafine.
Even though Cotman is not the most intense, I find it easier to handle than Akademi and Aquafine.
I can spray them with water before painting, but unfortunately they are used up sooner than Van Gogh and therefore cost more in the long run.
I sometimes like these lower quality, more colors pallets to have in my collection for sketchbook painting and fast/expressive painting when i dont want to mix or think I just want to draw and put color down. I dont know if I explained that well but yeah I use my professional paints for commissions and finished pieces and ones like these to play with, almost like a kid would use paints.
This video, what you said about it making you lose your drive and interest, that hit hard. I've not actually picked up a brush and painted in almost 20 years. I've recently just got interested in painting again, but I've been terrified to pick up and start. I've been watching all sorts of videos for inspiration, your videos are helping a lot. Thank you.
Tbh I prefer the colours you picked in the first and third painting. Orange-red and cool blue are just a really nice colour scheme
I agree! When I was first starting out I was super impatient and wanted watercolors so I went to Hobby Lobby to grab a student set and I was so frustrated! That and I was using Canson XL watercolor paper which I personally don't care for. I was just about to give up until I found your channel (along with a few others) that inspired me to invest a bit more in my brushes, paint and paper.
Because of one of your videos that I've watched over a year ago, I purchased the White Knights 24 set and was thrilled! I also got Arches cold pressed paper and one of my favorite brushes (Black Velvet) and had a renewed love for watercolors!
Now I have a wonderful collection of watercolor paint, paper (I like hot pressed the best because I like using ink and colored pencils too) and brushes! I've even ventured off into the world of acrylic and oil 🥰 Thank you for always inspiring and teaching.
BTW, do you get your Canson hot pressed paper at Jackson's Art Supply? I've tried ordering several times but it always seems to be out of stock.
Thank you 🙏❤💛💛💚💙💜
Why so many people call it Knight? XD
@@soon_to_emerge came here to ask the same thing lol. It's named after one of Dostoevsky's novels "white nights" but I guess people don't know that
I’m in love with the idea of watercolor bookmarks! I absolutely want to make some
This was a really interesting video! My very first set 15 years ago was the little field Cotman set which I still have today and would never get rid of for sentimental reasons. It was very well loved. I’m in the process now of setting up my first DS palette and it has been challenging!
i love that you did this - huge difference between the first two and the last one. quality does make a difference and as a watercolour artist i just can't make good art with crappy products.
I think some people make the mistake to throw them self to fast in a new medium and are just buying the next near materials which aren't to expensiv. But if they just let them self have more time to proberly learn about this new medium they could avoid soooo many mistakes and make their life easier. There are enough really good watercolor sets who arent to expensiv. You just need to find them! Watch you tube videos, read some articals, keep the comments in mind (expecially on amazon products) and you can get really good supplies. Im using the van Gogh Watercolors and here in germany they are only about 12€. And for the price they are really reaaaaally good! I can make so beautiful paintings with it and its not frustrating at all! :)
The finished piece on the cheap paper doesn't look too bad compared to the more expensive professional paper. The colours look just as clear and vivid and it took layers well. Perhaps not the best for wetter styles of painting as cheaper papers buckle much more easily, but how you used it seems to be perfectly serviceable. But I absolutely hate the surface texture of really cheap paper. The uniform lines really bother me and I feel like they easily ruin otherwise lovely art just by being there. I've never seen a professional paper with such an awful pattern pressed into it and I have no idea why so many budget manufacturers still choose it over a more standard cold press surface texture, which is also widely available at the budget level.
This was such a much needed video and so insightful too.I 've always felt you should buy what you can afford when starting out,and as you get more comfortable with watercolours (or indeed other mediums) then investing a little more money in better quality paints.I think in watercolours you do get what you pay for. There are some cheaperper paints out there that are actually good like say Arteza or the Cotman series,but there are a lot of these watercolour sets that offer a lot of colours at really cheap prices and their quality is not good.But I feel it comes with experience being able to really tell the good from the bad.Even with a brand there can be differences in say tube watercolurs and pan watercolours.I sense a lot of these companies that sell these cheaper sets and label them as professional quality do actually believe they are,but also on the other hand some companies use the term 'professional quality' in a slightly misleading and exploitive way, if a potential buyer sees the word professional attached to the product then they will be more inclined to buy it.I think it can be damaging,in that if an artist has a bad experience with using these budget watercolours it could put them off exploring that medium in the future.I have a feeling in the counrties where these heap watercolours are made theyis no reulation as to how they are labeled,where as in the Uk and U.S.A there are.It is worth maybe saving up some money to invest in better quality paintseven if it means only being able to purchase a few at first,but you will benefit from this investment.There is a place for these cheap paints, but maybe not in the professional realm.It's the same with papers too,all I have said about paints I would say about papers too.
This video will be a really helpul eye opener for future artists or artist wanting to take up watercolours. You always impart such amazing and indepth knowledge in your videos Arleesha,would you ever consider wrting a book about watercolours.
So I at the moment really love my Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections. I got the sets Decadent Pies and Woodlands, and feel really comfortable with those, even though they're not as cheap in Germany as they might be in the US. I just use the Arteza Premium Sketchbooks, which are not meant to be for watercolors, but for me it works with light washes and I don't feel the pressure of doing watercolors on every sketch which I would have with a watercolor sketchbook. So probably not the best options to take if you want to learn how to really use the medium. I have the sonnet watercolors too, but since I'm still kind of forcing myself to use colors at all, because i often am too afraid when I like a sketch, I feel kind of overwhelmed with mixing these. The Primamarketing have some colors that go more into a skintone ready to use. Guess it sometimes really depends on your goal. I right now am just happy, if I used colors and at some point I might lears the right techniques as well. I hope that at some point I am able (or better said brave enough) to use a lot of different colors in the skin as you do :)
Lots of Love, Lin
I started with a W&N Cotman set. First a massive 45 half-pan (because little me thought "more colors, the better"), then with a smaller 12 half-pan. Now I'm down to 5 Roman Szmal pans (the 5 color starter set). Added a black and a white from the cotman set just in case. I'm hoping that with a limited palette I can learn color mixing better, and I used to travel a lot so a smaller palette is more convenient.
I love your videos, they are always so informative! Take care ♥️
You know, that first one is the one that stands out to me. It’s kind of skewed which makes me interested .
wish i knew this before i ordered that weird pallete from the no-name company with 0 information about them. but i hope that many artists who start to get into watercolours or buy another one will be guided with this video and do not get confused by the wide variety. thanks for the video.
Tbh, I think it's the case of companies buying their paint from the same manufacturer. They only difference seems to be the box. I belive morphe did this with their bushes at one point (Or they still could be).
So don't get me wrong because I am still new to art ( only 6.5 months into this) but this is a story about my first 6 weeks.
I bought a similar amazon set of paints with 105 colors 3 set of 3 books of artistro watercolor paper and 11 pack of antegria watercolor brushes all from amazon with plans of becoming somewhat of an artist. And I say somewhat because I'm already 56 yrs old. I knew that my goal was to paint beautiful watercolor flowers. I also knew that TH-cam was a way that I had learned many other skills. So immediately I searched beginner watercolor flowers and found artists Jenna Rainey and kristy Rice who both are wonderful and both said leaves are tricky and practice is the only way to get better at painting. And all I can say is 2 things about me. I'm cheap and will do whatever I can to save money, and I'm a very determined person who will work diligently to learn anything and be the best at it. Which it has always applied to work skills and hobby related skills. So I worked with these materials for 6 weeks only trying to get a decent leaf outcome. Every flower has a leaf so I felt if I couldn't get those to look good than what's the point?? I practiced every single day and sometimes for multiple hours and even skipping meals and still my leaves had water marks and no points where I needed them and my colors were dull. I had bought a pricey pad of paper with a coupon at hobby lobby that a customer swore was the best but I was saving it for the day that I could at least paint an entire flower that was a recognizable type. By this time I had watched Jenna Raineys 2 full series as well as many of kristy Rices videos and thought it surely has to be my brushes so I bought the 3 Princeton brushes that Jenna swears by and the dagger that kristy swears by and at the same time I knew my paints were hard as rocks and tough to get any color from and thought it would be easier follow Jenna if I used the same pigments so I got a set of winsor and newton professional watercolors both arrived the same day. Then I thought what the heck let's try the fancy paper also. Wow! My leaves were suddenly amazing in comparison!! Just the vibrant colors and more uniform shapes made me feel like an artist even though I had never spent any time on learning to paint a flower, I had spent 6 weeks on page after page of leaves and leaf vines. So let's just say that I did vine after vine with amazement. SUPPLIES ARE A BIG PART OF THE EQUATION. I wanted to give up multiple times but I just refuse to be that way. I'm too strong willed. And in this instance I'm really glad I didn't quit. I've never enjoyed a hobby so much.
Interesting. I am curious - did you try out the other watercolor paints with the better paper?
I just built my first artist grade palette (mostly Mijello) to upgrade from my Sakura Koi’s and it was amazing to see how many things I was struggling with melt away as soon as I had paints designed to achieve what I wanted. My Koi’s taught me so much but I was really pushing their limits towards the end there.
Thanks for this review! I'm always tempted by these kind of sets purely because of all the pretty colours - generally I try to resist temptation, but this is useful in helping keep me away from them, haha.
I started with the Cotman watercolours and loved them for a good long time, but now when I look back at all the work I did with them it all has a really pale and washed out look to it. I still pick them up occasionally but there are definitely colours which are incredibly weak. My main palette now is Mijello, but I have a smaller tin of White Nights colours which I love, I think it's their 2019 range?
I did try a set of the W&N professional half pans but while they're better than the Cotman, they just never really grabbed me (which wasn't aided by getting a pan of one of the dark blues - I think it may have been indigo? - which was just flat-out impossible to activate). In contrast, my mind was BLOWN when I got my Mijello paints.
I started watercolor painting about 6 months ago. My first kit was Shprirerr Farben which is I think 48 colors and look similar to your second kit you showed with the white plastic case and an actually nice arrangement with palette inside the case. I mainly use this one even today because it is convenient. It's been a nice learning kit, and while the paints are the best out there, and the paper is horrible, it gave me a good start without spending hundreds just to find out I didn't enjoy watercolors. I have been trying other brands now too just to compare. I started with much better paper and that makes a HUGE difference no matter what paint I use. And I've bought, Shinhan tubes (meh) which are similar in quality to what I have, I got some Kuritake pastels, which I think are meh. And I got some basic Winsor Newton and David Smith paints (limited color selection) and those are obviously getting in the better range. I have a small White Knight kit on the way too. Once I get that I will try and decide which of the better paints to invest in. Other than having too many boxes of paints laying around I don't regret buying inexpensive paints first. I do wish I could've started with better paper. So, my suggestion would be, if you have the money, by all means go for the expensive stuff first. But if you are on a budget and not sure you'll like wc, going some cheaper isn't that bad. Just maybe splurge on some decent paper. Everyone has to start somewhere. And everyone's means are different. I've seen some great art done with crappy supplies. And some crappy art done with the best supplies. :)
I forgot to mention that even if I get much better tubed paints I might use the SF case to put them in. I like the layout that much.
Your channel is like therapy for me. I always feel so good and comfy when I watch your videos. Thank you for the free therapy. Love your channel so much.
I’ve never had a non-kids watercolour set of more than like 12 pans... ordered schminke horadam colours (my first proper artist quality ones!!!) yesterday and I only got 9 half pans lol I don’t know the luxury of having like 30 convenience colours
I started out with the Sakura watercolor when I started playing with watercolors, they are fun, but I kept going back to digital because it was just so much easier for me to control my work.. I got a 24 quarter pan set of hand-poured Holbein off of Etsy and I just can't stop painting. The difference between better paint, better paper, and real brushes from when I started is just fantastic. I love watercolor so much now.
I was thrilled when you pulled out the WN set. It's my favorite.
seems like im an unpopular opinion the comments but i actually really enjoyed using these types of paints when i was beginner. i stress, though, only as a beginner. i wasn't aware that they weren't supposed to be chalky or weren't supposed to have [insert difficulty caused by being cheap], but because i knew they were cheap i still really had fun with them. using expensive supplies as a beginner to a certain medium can be really daunting, because you don't want to waste the precious material. starting out cheap also made me so much more grateful for higher quality supplies haha! leveling up was so rewarding. however i will be a little hypocritical and say i never want to use cheap paints again lol. once you realize how nice higher quality supplies are it can really be stressing to try and go back to that lower quality, like you experienced here
I have just recently started watching your videos and I love them! They are veary informative and just all out great! So take care and have a good day!
What your saying is very true I recently have being switching to Winsor&Newton and I didn't know how much of a difference it makes but the cheap water colours are really not worth the money you spend because I spent 30 to 50 on W&N I've the same money on cheap like 30 and more because I thought I couldn't afford it and it does make a big difference 😃❤
I struggled a lot when I first started using watercolours because I was using cheap paints, and it ruined the experience for me. From there I got the winsor and newton cotmans, which were definitely an upgrade, but I started to realise that having a LOT of colours made the painting experience more difficult as a beginner because I didn't know enough about transparency or colour mixing yet. I've upgraded to professional paints since then and they have made the experience far more enjoyable, but I definitely wish I knew to just get fewer colours of a better quality to begin with, might have made the learning process way easier! Thank you for this video! :D
I clicked ad fast as the notification pops up
Sameeeeee
I recently bought some prima 12 half pan palets and definitely enjoy working with them more than the cheap Walmart watercolor.
ahhh, little tip just have a single arrow in the thumbnail I had to look rlly closely to figure out what was going on and my eyes kept going ⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️↖️ bc I didn't really know where to look at and thought the top pics where read left to right and the bottom ones right to left when both are left to right so
yeah please be careful with that kind of design 😵
I'm an absolute beginner, I started painting in mid-March this year and part of the struggle has been looking for the right beginner level tools that aren't too costly. Thank you for providing me with your perspective. I'd be so glad to hear what you think of watercolor paper (another expensive necessity) and stretching. How often do you stretch paper and do you have any helpful tips?
-- love,
Reisa
I can totally agree myself that I'd rather spend money on quality products than the same amount for 30 more colors with half of them potentially being useless. HOWEVER I think there are times where I do want to test quality of different brands just to feel out the differences and reassure myself of my original choice. I TOTALLY think these quantity based paint sets are more appealing for children or teens who are interested in watercolor.
I DO want to also consider painters who... maybe the amount of colors and price-point is all that matters because they're not really looking to be a watercolorist or maybe the paints purpose ISN'T to make archival work. I know many hobbyists who go overboard about their paints pigments and single pigment paints and lightfastness, which are all well and good, but the works they do might have very little color mixes or they just make prints of their work instead of selling original works.
Also, just my opinion.. the notion about a master making any paints work for them I think applies more to people in difficult circumstances making what they have work for them no matter what it is.
HOWEVER! If you have the supplies that make your life easier, go ahead! We have much too little time on this planet to be bogged down with materials that work against us. I don't envision many professional painters using poor quality materials and intentionally making their job harder when they have better supplies. UNLESS you wanna be some niche artist who only uses cheap supplies and wanna make your life harder on purpose, then that's an ok choice too!
I'm broke (even student grade wc is expensive for me), so i buy this kind of set to cover my base and get student grades tubes from reputable brand like W&N for the colours that i often use. I do use decent quality paper though since i find that the quality of paper matters a lot than the paint. I've drew great works using what i have. My profile pic was a drawing i made 5 years back using very cheap wc when i just started out and i have much improved works now with just a slight paper and few tubes upgrade
I use Sonnet watercolor set (of 18? 21?) that I supplemented with some White Nights additional colors, although by use I mean I keep making sheets of swatches because I'm scared of trying to do anything else.
I got a similar set when I wanted to try out watercolors. The colors were chalky and dried so flat, the paper that came with them actually made them more flat and I was sooo frustrated when painting along with a sunset scene over a lake tutorial and nothing turned out right. Of course it was my lack of experience as well but Even simple washes or gradations looked nothing like in the video. I pulled them out recently after discovering St. Petersburg and my most beloved qor colours. And I can say now it was the paint and the paper. It is a miracle I did not just give up...
Great job with a difficult brand of the medium!!!
I like using them in sketchbooks that aren't watercolor sketchbooks. I've had some interesting experiences where they actually look better on the paper not meant for watercolors than on actual watercolor paper at times. It's also usually very loose and sketchy things where I'm just blocking in colors and not trying to blend because the paper can't take it. One $20 set the exceeded expectations was the Pretty Excellent watercolors because I did contact the seller and they basically told me they are the Paul Ruben's paints but just in a cheap plastic tray inside of the tin. So I have both good quality paints with lots of colors for a cheap price. They even provided lightfastness ratings!
such a huge difference once you invest in a professional materials. i know some people like to shit on someone for not being able to execute your skills on a cheap set bec of the mindset that any artist can make beautiful art out of cheap art materials but i completely disagree. if a supply gets on your way, it can be deefeating experience and thankfully bec of your videos, i was able to purchase artist grade paints by Roman Szmal and cannot look back on student grade set, except for my Prima collection - I absolutely love them
I literally have no idea what quality of paints I'm using because they used to belong to my mum back when she was my age, and as such they're about a decade older than I am and the label has worn off the tin! But I'm assuming they're fairly good quality because I enjoy using them. I doubt they're highly professional quality, and several decades of disuse probably hasn't treated them kindly either, but I still enjoy watercolour painting so they're evidently doing their job!
the bookmarks look like each season of legend of korra
I thought so too!
This is making me rethink the paints I bought 🤔 I’m new to watercolor and I was really excited to try them so I bought a set around $30 with 36 colors. They didn’t seem low quality to me, but again I’m not that experienced with the paints... so I wouldn’t really know.
Consider the St Petersburg Classics set of 36 on Amazon. It's the same paints as White Nights, but using cheaper pigments, so the set is overall cheaper (but the manufacturing process is the same). It's good student grade paints, rather than craft quality, as these other Amazon cheap kits are. Another good set is the Mungyo set of 48 for $40 (which is the same paints as Art Philosophy's Confections sets, but in one place -- that Mungyo set of 48 includes all the colors found in the Classics, Tropicals and Decadent Pies sets by Art Philosophy). Yet another option is to buy individual pans from Jackson's Art (their own brand). These are all professional Sennelier paints, rebranded by Jackson's Art. And if you want cheaper, but truly professional paints, there's always the DaVinci brand (made in California, from 3 generations of paint makers). Their paints are available on their site and DickBlick only (they don't use amazon). Finally, if you want to go all in, you can get the 6 primaries set by Daniel Smith for $33. These include 3 warm primaries and 3 cold primaries, so almost all kinds of colors can be mixed out of these. It's probably the best mixing set one can buy for that reason. Most primaries sets include either warms or cold primaries, or mixed together, but they don't include both of them as 2 sets of primaries.
I would second most of the suggestions above, but idk about Mungyo. I had all of the prima watercolors when they were really popular and it was terrible to work with!! Chalky, didn’t mix well, dull and so many more problems. I struggled so much with those and would not recommend getting the mungyo as I heard they are made in the same factory (so similar quality).
I really liked the Jackson watercolor paints and white nights as well. I would search the catalog on Jackson art (located in UK) and buy individual full pans (Jackson’s) and tubes (white nights). I’ve heard that the Jackson brand tubes are a hit or miss but the pans are totally fine (I have them at home and they really remind me of my sennelier watercolors). White nights’ has some nice sized tubes for a great price! You can pour them out into a half or full pan, let it dry and have so much more paint available. If you want only a couple colors from white nights, I would go with the tubes. But if you want a lot, and have a budget, then the full pans is a better deal (white nights).
I would prolly not go for Daniel Smith if you are a beginner as they are VERY expensive and not at all worth the price for certain pigments. If it is a super rare pigment that DS does better, then I would buy, but for common colors I would go with a cheaper artist grade brand (white nights, Roman szmal, Jackson’s) as it is more affordable and you get the same result.
Oh to add to the comment above, I would also recommend Roman szmal watercolors (sold by Jackson’s) if you want rare/unique pigments sold in full pans. I got a huge selection of them for my bday and was amazed at the quality. Good luck with your watercolor journey!
To be fair, the $20 kits are meant for kids. It’s for fun, throw it away tomorrow artworks. Nothing you’d want to keep.
I enjoy playing with my cheap paints. The pressure of using the expensive stuff is too much, I’d rather mess around with a cheap set without committing expensive supplies to junk. To be fair, I’ll use up an entire watercolor pad in one session - if I only used Arches, etc, that’d be $20 a day in paper alone.
I like cheap paints for concepts or mindless sketching. I’m not dishing out good stuff until i’m contempt with the brainstorm
For me, its the Winsor and Newton Cotman Set you've mentioned. Its got a great color choice, they layer absolutely fine (I daresay perfectly for how I build up color... unlike with van Gogh, oh I was so frustrated with van Gogh :,D) and on top of it, the Sketchers Pocket Set is very cheap! I have it for 9 years by now and even though I also own a tweaked version of the little Sennelier Pocket Set, the Winsor and Newton one is my trusted travel companion I enjoy so, so very much!
I am not very interested in such sets as the watercolor cakes already look... displeasing to me? Like they already promise me a chalky, bad time if that makes sense.
As always, your video was so relaxing to watch!
Thanks sooo much for sharing your knowledge. Which set would you recommend I try of the white nights?
Hi Arlee, didn t get which kind of brush u use in the end... I do love wnights... Waiting for your eye video today, bravo
I begann painting with three watercolor pants (primary colors) from white nights and I think I learned so much just with these colors
this was a very thoughtful video to make!
i use a set very similar to the one you showed at 0:26 except the brand name is called "ezigoo" or smth like that. altho i know it's a cheap set, it has NEVER gotten in my way. the paints are not chalky, they don't get muddy, they are pigmented and transparent, flow well, etc etc. i have used this one set as a beginner and now in my intermediate stage (2 years later lol) and i have never once hated working with them. ig they're one of the good guys then! haha.
though, i must add, i only paint in a sketchbook, as a hobby, and have no interest in selling my work - thus why i don't care much for lightfastness or stuff like that. for someone looking to do professional work, definitely higher quality paints are a better idea. thank you for this video!
I use the exact same set! It has fewer colours than those shown in arlee’s video and it’s never given me grief. I sell the work I use with them occasionally as they really suit my fairly cheap watercolour paper to a T.
@@mickeywickeywooo oh wow someone else who uses the same set!! right it's such a decent one. although i wonder, do you seal your work/make prints of it before selling? or have you tested to see if the paints are lightfast?
My first watercolor set was off of ali express ( which I no longer buy anything from them ) and they were incredibly chalky and I also used a 3 dollar pad of paper from Ross. I wanted to improve so I bought arches paper with a 40% coupon and loved the effect! I then bought a winsor and Newton student grade set, I loved the colors and only switched to Daniel Smith to replace my cool yellow
I'm two years into watercolor and Daniel Smith is my favorite out of winsor and Newton professional, m Graham, and grumbacher paint, I like them all okay l, but Daniel Smith has beautiful granulation and layering 💜 i like videos like this that explain why you discourage these brands but don't just shame them without any info as to why you don't like them
I had the exact same feelings with that Artistro palette! I think I was nicer in my video haha but this video speaks to my soul
Can you give any recommendations for mixing trays, like the one you used in this video? I paint a lot with gouache and tend not to like to use palettes with divided sections as I find that to just inhibit mixing.
Just get a plain white plate from Ikea or from a thrift store, get one with a relatively flat bottom that's a good size for your desk and don't spend a ton of $$ on it :)
so will need a video wiyh good guality watercolors but chip :( any recomendetion?
I really love these eye paints are you going to be selling prints
I dunno i personally love the "sloppy" aesthetics of cheaper supplies/watercolors, like the super clean look is really beautiful but if im using watercolors thats not usually the sort of look im going for anyways haha
A few years ago I bought my first set of 12 colors by Renesans (Polish brand), I had White Nights from my grandma that bought them 30 years ago so not all colors are that good quality. Even though I really enjoyed learning how to mix colors with just a few of them at the start. Still 12 colors is just right amount. I know how much bad supplies can make me miserable. This cheap paper texture looks like Canson Mix media 250g cellulose - my first and worst watercolor paper. I might try to use cotton paper but they are so expensive! Now I use canson montval (cellulose) which is ok, but man, these differences..
If painting is not enjoyable then mostly painting wont look good. At least it's true for me.
You should try beam paints
I have a Van Gogh set, and gave one of these to my bf cuz he was destroying mine. Now when he comes over he complains that I don't have light enough colours . I told him to dilute them but didn't work. Don't know how else to explain to him that his set is cheap and that way he will never learn how to mix and dilute properly.
I low key like the first one better, the "don't do this"
my mom bought me a set almost like the first one and ofc i was so happy because i was planning to buy a watercolor and learn how to use it. i want to thank u for making this vid because i now know what i should avoid. i also have a question: will it still be effective to learn how to use watercolor through that kind of watercolor (1st one)? because i dont want my mom to feel bad if i buy another one that is way better
hi! im not arleesha, but still thought i could help.
yes you can get a use out of them. you can use them for stuff you wouldn't like "wasting" your higher end paints on, like colour mixing, learning watercolour texture techniques, etc etc. also, these kinda paints will still give you a nice result on good quality watercolour paper, so try out that if you are willing to. you can also use them for work with less layers and more lineart, and other stuff like that. it's up to you!
@@howlswind tysm! and you're right that it could still help and i still enjoy it too. maybe i worried too much but thanku!
@@erincalsom3702 no problem! i can understand your concern and it's very heartwarming to see you care about your mum's feelings if you went out to buy a new one. i hope you enjoy working with them ♡♡
I just bought the first one on amazon lol
I bought one set like these (all-in-one) couple of months ago, but only 12 colours. There was no pigment info, no brand even. I just wanted to repurpose it by removing original paints and filling it with my White Nights watercolours from tubes. But still I wanted to try those and made swatches. Hoo boy. They just melted from water, also they dried on the mixing area as some sort of membrane. And they smelled like gasoline. The worst thing is that this particular set was bought on Jackson’s Art, and I kinda didn’t expect it from JA :(
I think waterbrushes are nice for limited palette with 2-3 colours. This way you shouldn’t worry about cleaning your brush too much.
Since then I upgraded quality of my paints by making new palette with 24 colours from Daniel Smith, Schmincke and Rembrandt (btw, it’s professional grade paints from Van Gogh manufacturer), and my experience now is so much better even in comparison to White Nights. I finally started to love ultramarine and browns xd But now I’m also nervous to use them because of the price...
I finally know what I’m doing wrong! 😅 Wrong paint for what I intend to do! I have the same set that comes in that white case. It is actually great for coloring books and you have to use it in a different way. The result is like a combination of watercolor and markers. So it gives off an illustration vibe just like an earlier comment pointed out😊
BUT I would not consider it as a true watercolor. I could not follow along any tutorial or course on watercolors using that set snd and felt like a dumb idiot for not being able to. I understand how frustrating it is to FIGHT with paints, tools, and paper.
Stay away from the cheap stuff if you want to do actual watercolor techniques! You’ll spend double the money, effort, and time when you start with the low-quality ones. You will also progress veeeery slowly when your stuff work against you.
That was a very interesting "flesh" color :p
Oof, I wanted to comment on that in the video and forgot! That's definitely something that needs to not exist anymore. XD Thanks for pointing it out! Calling any one color "flesh" is just no good.
@@arleebean At first I thought they just mixed up the names because it looks more like lemon yellow than the color labeled as such. Agreed that "flesh color" should generally be a thing of the past, though I'll be generous here and assume they had no real malicious intent here and were just like "well, this is as close to a white-ish peach as we can get so let's just roll with it" xd
I love watching watercolor art but I have a set of van Gogh watercolors and I just cant get into them. The process isnt as fun as markers or colored pencils. I guess Im not suited for watercolor, but thats okay :)
It may also be thst the watercolours don't suit you you might enjoy white nights as I don't know many people who have a problem with them. Also if you like coloured pencil you could try using them with the watercolours which might help you enjoy them more! But even if you don't like them after that it's still okay we can't like everything!!!
@@millieb3823 are you talking about the set that comes in a pink tin palette? I almost bought it :/
@@millieb3823 i also have some ecoline liquid watercolor/ink but still find them very stressfull to use. Maybe I will give them a try again :)
@@MoniDmajor No those are the Paul Rubens :) Which are quite nice quality paints actually
@@godzandheros aaaah, I always confuse the two. maybe it’s the logo
love your videos
Every thought of cleaning out the pans and refilling with your professional paints? I’m a sucker for a good tin/box/pallet...
If nothing else cheap sets and paper are good for practicing brush strokes.