Rating My Student Grade Watercolors (Best to Worst)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- Hey! These are my opinions, you may like different things and that's OK. Share your faves in the comments below.
Top Brands I recommend:
Sets:
Art Whale tubes: amzn.to/3mRt2GE
Pretty Excellent pans set: amzn.to/43QPKzd
Open Stock
Van Gogh: shrsl.com/418cj
Grumbacher Academy: shrsl.com/418cm
Oddballs I like:
Gansai Tambi large pans: The 48 set is a good price on Amazon: amzn.to/3N11KrX other sets are cheaper on blick: shrsl.com/418cs
Mungyo watercolors (if you like flow but you don't want to layer) amzn.to/3mSQEL0
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#thefrugalcrafter #watercolor #art - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
My favorite is WN Cotman watercolor but when I ran out of Sap Green I reordered a tube without much thought and it turned out to be professional kind , well wow what a difference , I’m now replacing with professional grade when I run out of student grade , it makes a difference ❤
I did the same.
Me too! I still love cotmans even though I tried artist grade watercolors, but now after using them for one year I'm starting to run out of certain colors and slowly will replace them with their artist grade line
Cotman is garbage and the professional line of W&N is mediocre at best, the colors are too dull.
@@omaewamoushindeiru6581I find WN colors to be decent. They are great for layering. :)
They just cost a pretty penny to get.
@@omaewamoushindeiru6581In your opinion.🙄
Van gogh will always be my favorite student line. The fact that they have lots of single pigment, lightfast options is good for beginning artists. I have every single one of their colors and they have a couple of unique colors they just added (like pv55, red shade and blue shade) in their student line. Quality is only a minor step down from the artist grade Rembrandt paints. I also recommend them for beginners because they are a well- behaved watercolor. They stay put pretty well, and if they do move, they do so predictably, so wet-in-wet doesn't tend to get out of hand. They have more lightfast versions than some artist grade pallettes. Paul ruben and shin han come to mind, both of which have good lightfast options within their range, but both my 36 shin han and 48 paul ruben have quite a few colors with pigments that aren't lightfast, and usually as colors I'd consider my workhorse/mixing colors.
Though I have to say, I do love me some chaotic watercolors. My favorite right now are a 22-color pallette I curated of QOR watercolor. 19/22 are single pigments. They are god awful expensive, but I love them. They are definitely paints your style has to grow into. Now I'm off to watch your artist-grade recommendations to see your feelings on those!
I recently bought a set of Van Gogh as an upgrade to my Cotmans and I LOVE them. The only con with them is that I've found the colours very staining and more difficult to lift than Cotmans. But they beat Cotmans in every other way.
I have Cotman and Van Gogh and definitely prefer the Van Gogh, too.
I love my owin/aowen 36 pan set! I also use cotman sketcher box a lot. Student grade watercolor will always have a place in my heart. They encourage me to paint more in my sketchbook; sometimes with expensive paints I feel hesitant to use them.
I have the Van Gogh and am happy with the paints. Based on your video, the comments and the fact that I will never be a pro painter, I think I will just stick to them. Then my paint will never feel too precious to use, and I am happy with the!
I love watching these lists. I don't need anymore watercolours but it's so interesting to see what you think. I've just bought the supervision bamboo palette for no reason other than I think it's cute🤦🏽♀️.
No judgement here 😆
@@thefrugalcrafter 🤣. This is definitely a safe space!
Schmincke Akademie blew my other student grades away (and even some of the "pro" ones too 😅)... But for beginners, Sakura Koi is my "happy" palette 🎨. It's old, can get chalky as heck, and a lot of downs... But for the life of me, when I see that set, I grab it and paint and the output is always relaxed and happy ❤. Another one is Prang, insects eat it, it can get glossy, it fades like no one's business... And yet, same thing, painting with it is such a joy 😂...
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Honestly my suggestion is to pick the palette that makes you want to paint, regardless of grade... And then invest in a pro palette... Having those allows you to both practice (with the cheap ones) and produce art that you can gift (pro paint) ❤
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As usual, thanks for the great video and hardwork teacher Lindsay!!! Much love 😘😽
Good advice!
I love my Sakura Koi box!!! I'm kind of surprised it didn't make the cut here. Everything you said is on point, but that might be the most fun set I have (and sadly, I could give Lindsay a run for her money).
I only had Van Gogh, I like them, they are reliable and they have a surprisingly lightfast PB27 that has not changed in a year in sunlight. However, they are a bit too opaque and it’s difficult to mix the darkest darks with them as with any student grade paint.
Great list! Thanks to your reviews I haven’t bought any duplicate white labeled sets. My favorite student grade watercolors have to be the original 2 sets of Jane Davenport watercolors. I reach for them all the time, even though I also have Cotmans and Gansai Tambis.
I love my Art Whale's watercolor tubes. It's my go-to set. I gave my Pretty Excellent pan set to my younger cousin who's a budding watercolor artist and she loves them. 😊❤
I just picked them up myself and I LOVE them as well!
@@AcuarelawithBlanca Yes, they're fun to use and I don't stress using them! (ignoring the cerulean blue issue when i got them lol) I end up using them more than my Mission Gold set. 😂
Nice!
Hullo, darling! Thank you for this. You're so awesome at helping us to make good decisions when we buy art tools and supplies. I followed your advice years ago and bought the Pretty Excellent set. I adore them! I am getting better and better at this craft and I have since purchased the Art Nouveau set from Gansai. I LOVE these paints! (I know you're not reviewing them here, but I wanted you to know I am so grateful for your guidance.) We love and appreciate you so much, Lindsay! From one Lindsey to another Lindsay 😉 - Love and Bless my dear xoxo
Thanks so much!
my favorite cheaper set is art whale ,i have painted many beautiful artworks with them ,i have bought alot of these sets.i got gen craft tubes they are not very good but im trying to love them ,thank you i love these videos.
Thanks Lindsay. Always enjoy seeing these different sets. Comes in handy when i want to buy a gift .
Thank you Lindsay , just sitting down to watch this , very excited to see your review 😊
For student grade I absolutely love Pretty Excellent. I have lots of paint, mostly professional grade, but boy do I like the Pretty Excellent. I have to slap my hands to keep from ordering a backup when the price slides down 😂😂
😄😄
Lol! I do the same. I have bought at least 5 of them already. Getting them when they are around $15 partly as a backup, but mostly to give away to anyone that shows interest in getting into watercolor. My mom and aunt have already gotten theirs, and I gave away another two at a beginners watercolor journal sketching course I took recently just to meet other people in my community with the same interests. I’m holding on to the 5th as a backup currently, but probably should have given it away at the course 😅. I also have many sets of various professional watercolor paints, from Turner, to Rembrandt, to Lukas, Shinhan PWC, Mijellos Mission Gold, and Daniel Smith. But Pretty Excellent holds a special place in my heart… and my sketchbook’s.
Hihi ! l'avantage de Pretty ou Meiliang sur Van Gogh c'est qu'elles sont TRANSPARENTES ! Alors que VG est très opaque. J'ai donc les 2.
I am hoping Walmart starts carrying the Grumbacher Academy watercolors. They already carry their acrylics which I quite like. They also have their watercolor paper.
That would be handy.
Shhh! The Grumbacher 9x12 watercolor wire shetchpad with 30 pull-out and re-insert pages fir under $9... is my best-kept secret.
Oh, thank you, Lindsay! I'm so grateful you ranked the student grade for us, too.
Great to watch this Springtime masterpiece Lindsay! Thanks much.
My favorite student grade definitely has to be the Lukas Studio paints. I’ve used many over the years and to this day Lukas is still the best I’ve used, in fact I still use my student grade set in conjunction with my artist grades as they look identical to their Lukas 1862 artist grade counterparts. I even prefer them to my Daniel Smith paints sometimes! Though I have heard their quality has gone down recently, and I can’t confirm or deny that myself I do hope that isn’t the case as I don’t know what I’d do if I ever ran out of them :(
I bought a new set of Sennelier La Petit right before Christmas 2022 and I’m really impressed with the set. They are easy to rewet and the colors are bright.
I'm glad they are good. I'm hearing mixed reviews if recent paint.
Van Goghs are certainly my favourites!
Very interesting about student grade watercolours! I have winsor and newton cotman I like their paints. I am saving up for the senellier petite watercolour set!
I like W.N. Cotman field pocket set with the water bottle. I have tried soooo many and this one rocks it.
Thanks Lindsay! My son gave me two tubes of his old cotman watercolors. Both made in England! The color is really nice! Turquoise and Sap Green. Though I would not buy them now since I watched your video that they are made in China now. But the old tubes are really nice.
So many things have declined in quality.
@@thefrugalcrafter just about everything!
Good day to you all. I have a really mixed pallet : Cotmans, Art Whale, Art Philosophy, Van Goghs and I loved them all 😊
Thanks for another great comparison! It would be so helpful if you would do similar reviews of watercolor paper.
I love the Van Gogh paints! By the way, Royal Talens makes the Rembrandt line of paints. They’re made in Holland, I think. My second favorite student grade watercolors are the Mungyo paints. I love those too! 😊
My favorites are Lukas Studio and Sennelier La Petite. I do practice a lot with the Artsy palette though.
I have both the Art Whale sets and there is very little overlap in color. I love both of the sets but the tubes seem to re-wet just a touch easier than the pans. I use them more than my Sennelier professional grade paints.
Thank you for your video. Lindsay.❤.💞.
I always love watercolors, beautiful art always,your videos make my day so calming😀❤️👍🏖️🏝️
I brought the pritty Excellent paints and I love them too. I am new to drawing and coloring crafts thank you, for sharing .Happy crafting xxxx
Thank you for this! I'm ready to try watercolor with a minimal investment, so this is a great piece of information!🤗
Thanks to you I tried the Art Whale set and I absolutely love them. I have added in some professional convenience mixes and changed a few out but most of my 48 half pan set that I use is still mostly Art Whale.
It is such a steal!
I have the big Cotman palette and the Gansai Tambi as well as several of the Prima Marketing tins that I got more for coloring stamps and as crafter. I quite love all of them for different purposes. I find the Prima have some great pastel colours that go well together for doing coloring for example. I have complemented the two Pastel tins they have with some extra pastels from White Nights and they go so nicely.
I got a hand cramp with that one...I take notes with videos like this that way I have the information on hand at any time..
I just checked and I have some Daler Rowney from a big box store so I guess I am kind of happy about that...I am looking to upgrade my water colours and now I have a great list to work from...Thanks Lindsay I really appreciate your videos, they are always enjoyable, light hearted, informative and entertaining and that includes Sat Chat...HUGS HUGS HUGS from Nova Scotia Canada HUGS HUGS HUGS You can never have too many HUGS
I agree!
Great share 🎉. Very informative for purchasing the best watercolors
I have the Pretty Excellent and they are just that. I also have the Lukas student grade in the 24 pan set which are pretty good.
I like your watercolor! It’s nice to know you sometimes struggle like all of us. I enjoyed watching you paint this!
Thank you!
Thanks for this informative video! ❤
I like your list. Admittedly, I was surprised that Van Gogh was lower on the list, but I guess when you look at the ones in front of it, then okay, I could get behind that. I still have a few of these brands in my watercolor drawer that I need to try, so it should be a fun experiment. Thanks for a fun video, Lindsay, and the shout-out!
My pleasure! Btw several people commented the newer Sennelier student grade was weak. Did you see there is a 36 set now?
@@thefrugalcrafter sad that they changed the formulation. I didn't see the 36-set yet. Luckily my palette is full, lol!
I’m honestly surprised Art Whale was your favorite. And Cotman didn’t rank within the top 3! I’m not buying more any time soon but this was interesting
Hi Lindsay! I had 8 colors of Sennelier professional tubes. I wanted to add to my set and decided to get the La Petite Aquarelle. Mostly because of cost, and I thought they would be at least close to the professional grade. I got 11 colors. They are awful. They don’t rewet well. They are “gooey” and I’m used to honey based watercolor….these have a very weird texture. You can get pigment on your brush, but you have to work at it. The artist grade are fine, but no more student grade! Thanks for all you do!
Oh no! I wondered if they changed the formula since I bought mine. Did you get tubes or pans?
@@thefrugalcrafter I got the 10 ml tubes… trying to save a buck….that didn’t work out well….I’m like you, I have more paint than I’ll ever use till I die, but, it’s still disappointing
They look so different in the palette. Even though they dry down, they look liquidy …like they have no body. I’m sure you know what that means…but they just aren’t good at all…Love my Art Whale…I have two sets of them!
Cotman/Phoenix is my favorite. Would like to try Van Gogh, Paul Rubens and Sonnet in the future. Your reviews are really helpful when I want to buy paints. Thank you for sharing.
Evite Sonnet : elles sont bonnes mais il faut enlever tous les rouges, roses, mauves, violets + 2 jaunes + l'orange qui ne sont pas résistantes du tout à la lumière. Choisis plutôt Meiliang (Pretty Excellent) à la place : il faut juste en retirer 9 ou 10. Sur 36 il reste 26 couleurs résistantes à la lumière. Van Gogh est très opaque. J'ai eu les 3 et je conserve toujours Meiliang (Pretty Excellent) qui sont transparentes.🙂
@@lenimagrove8517non condivido la tua opinione sui Sonnet. Ho fatto test sulla resistenza alla luce della mia tavolozza da 21 colori Sonnet e sono tra i più resistenti tra tutti gli acquarelli accademia che ho testato, più di Pretty Excellent. Poi la loro vivacitá mi sembra uguale alla linea professionale White Nights, tanto che mi sono domandato se ci sia davvero alcuna differenza tra le due gamme di colori. Per me Sonnet sono i migliori tra i colori di livello Accademia.
@@gunther744 Hello Gunther, moi aussi j'aime Sonnet avec ses belles couleurs vives, très fluides à utiliser, et Meiliang (Pret.excel) est semblable, mais je comprends maintenant pourquoi Van Gogh ou Schmincke akademie sont meilleures : c'est une qualité des pigments qui se voit sur le papier. Le rendu est plus profond, plus présent, ce n'est pas "plat". Et pour le prix Van Gogh en tubes est le moins cher de toutes (en France).
My fan palette and tubes are both made by Royal and Langnickel. I like them both. The tubes work better painting straight from the tubes but they do re-wet. I live in an arid climate so I don't like to dry tube paints down.
The fan palette is actually made by Chinese company Superior, and Royal Langnickel just put their label on it. Not sure about the tubes, though. Maybe they're from the same company or made in R&L's facilities. Btw tube paints: you can always add a drop of honey or glycerin when filling a pan with them to make the paint easier to rewet.
how fun, thanks for posting
Grumbacher Academy tubes are still sold at Michael's and Hobby Lobby (though Blick has a better price). I love their reds.
Thank you for the information. Blessings and hugs 🤗
I watched an art channel do a match up between Schminke Akademie, WN Cotman & Meiliang. Meiliang blew Schminke & WN out of the water. So, I grabbed the 52 color pan set with brush, paper & fineliner. Love the variety and their cotton papers.
I was lucky to get lots of Van Gogh tubes when they were clearances from Hobby Lobby several years ago. I recently bought a second set of sennelier laquarelle and they weren’t bad. I haven’t noticed a big difference from the set that came out first. I got my first set when you did the review originally.
Embarrassingly I have a ridiculous number of sets since i don’t paint! Pretty Excellent, Gansi Tambi, Van Gogh, White Nights, and a set of Schmincke Akademie in the limited edition rainbow tin! Uggh...I have no business owning this many for the amount I use them, yet here we are...I tend to reach for the Van Gogh the most, and Pretty Excellent next, but I hope to use my collection more often rather than allowing them to continue to collect dust! Thanks for a great review!
Don't worry, people collect plates to hang on their wall and don't use them bit they enjoy them still. Paint pallettes can be like that I think.
Thanks for trying to help me feel a little better. They spark joy right?
You sound like me 🤣🤣
Another excellent informative video, Lindsey, thank you! I very much enjoyed the sennelier student grade one and schmincke akademie - being from Europe they are easier to get and more affordable. It's wild to me though that your Schmincke Akademia colors here are more vibrant than your professional Horadam ones 😮 Please do contact Schmincke and show them the swatches because something is definitely off with that professional set. I hope they will replace them for you ❤️
Art Whale, Aquafine, and I still like my Cotmans. I’ve been using a water mix with glycerin and either gum arabic or Qor Watercolor medium with the student grade paints ( saw this on Gabriella Rita’s channel) - it makes the paints easier to rewet and the better binder reduces chalkiness. Using the Qor WC medium gives some flow too. I have a set of Van Gogh, but for some reason I never reach for them, even though they are very good for student grade.
That's so cool to know.
Thank you for your comment. I found it useful! Bless
Great tip!
Great information. Quite enjoyed both of these on watercolour paints, could you do one on papers as well? Um like my top 5 picks on paper for … watercolour…. Pastel …. Alcohol pens etc? Maybe this would be to much work, would love your thoughts on pencils as well. Yep look at me finding jobs for Lindsay when you have more than enough to do. Great information imparted here, thank you for doing these for us. I’m a fan pallet girl, yep love me fan, lol favourite is the two sided one, always take this with me when I’m out and about and think I might have a chance to paint supper versatile and I have way to many to chose from, found an old car in native bush used the metallics on this, such a fun warm happy paint.
😆 I'll add those ideas to my very long list!
I found a wrist watch type palette on Temu with the superior watercolors in it. They are the same as the fan palettes. They even had extra pans 6 in the 12 set and 6 in the 24. I just love your watercolor collection videos. Inspired me to go through my stash. Forgot that I had some of the same sets
Thanks for the tip!
I go for Art whale, pretty excellent or Sonnet! Sonnet wasn’t mentioned here but my guess is Lindsay would probably put them either in same rank or below pretty excellent because she said so in one of the watercolor tour videos. Only trade off with Sonnet is, cardboard box but then you get full pans! Please correct me Lindsay if you’d rank them differently.. ☺️❤
How did I forget those! Yes! They are very good, right up there with pretty excellent but more fugitive colors. Same with the pail rubens student half pans. Thanks for mentioning them!
I have White Nights in a cardboard box, and I must say that I really like it that way, and wish other brands would do the same. I can use whatever little porcelain or ceramic dishes I have, or pop them into a metal palette, without juggling an additional palette. 🙂
Thank you this was great !
Glad you asked for opinions about new formulation in the Sennelier 24 pan set. I'm following to find out. The newest AMZ reviews say they are amazing, but now I wonder. And someone said Pretty Excellent may be different, too....oh, no.
My favorite student grades have been Schminke, Paul Rubens, Mijello and Kuretake. The worst have been WN Cotman and Sennelier La Petite. If I can suggest anyone to something in the price range but professional quality I’d say White Nights and Paul Rubens. They were the best sets that I learned on and still use and love to this day. That’s a personal opinion and I’m sure everyone has heard different ones and probably have heard of these brands before.
Pretty excellent is my favorite for student grade. I always keep an extra pallet or two to give away to people just getting into watercolors. But I must say I also like the Shinhan “Professional”. They give a dreamy look to my paintings, probably due to their opaqueness. I like that sometimes, even thought I tend to mostly go for the more transparent watercolors.
I started out with Cotman but since I tried artist grade watercolors there is no going back. Though I love my Prima Confection sets too.
I have the La petite set of 24 and they’re great. I wonder if the TH-camr that you mentioned wet her paper before putting the paint down. That always dilutes results. They glaze beautifully and I like how easy they all are to rewet. And I might be in the minority but I love the palette 😂. I usually use professional lines of paint but when I work in my sketchbook or if I ever paint outside- this set is perfect. I feel less nervous about getting sand etc on these paints.
I remember your review of these. You highlighted all of the qualities that make them a great choice. I think my favorite paintings of yours were all done with sennelier (pro and student) and winsor newton professional. Thank you for these overview videos, Lindsey.
I like my set of 24 pans too but I think they may have changed the formula.
I bought this set two years ago, and they were just awful, so very weak, and I used them wet-on-dry.
@@OhJodi69 that’s so strange!! I posted my swatches on my Amazon review along with my sennelier professional set. They look great. I checked- and I purchased mine more than two years ago so I wonder if things changed.
Re: the hearts on the Marie’s Masters were your recommended “pick and choose your colors”. I recently rewatched your review and made notes, because I had a Jerry’s gift card for my birthday and they were on sale.
Makes sense!
I love this review!! And even more that my favorite student grade palette come in at number 2!! I'm all about quality and price! I recently purchased a subscription box watercolor kit from craftamo. I have received 5 monthly box at this point and each month I hate switching the paints that come in the sub boxes. They are hard to rewet, sticky, don't blend well even or spread like you would expect watercolor to. So I did some digging and with the help of your review and a few others I'm forming the opinion that they are the same as phoenix brand for sure the color number match down to the name and number. We were told the paints would be professional grade which I was expecting and excited about. But I'm disappointed and feel like we got a craft grade instead. Anyways, in watch thus I was curious to know where you would end up ranking the phoenix brand. I'm happy to see Mei Liang Pretty Excellent out ranked them by a long shot and that I'm the only one that would rank phoenix brand on the lower end, well I would recommend them at all really unless it's the only option. Thanks for always being so honest and thorough with your reviews!! It has helped me so much and I have learned more than I could ask for!! Honestly at this point. I'm wishing I would've skipped the craftamo subscription box and just joined your Critique club. It certainly would be worth more than what I'm getting from craftamo. Thanks so much for all the behind the scenes work as well!!
Yeah, they are for sure Phoenix.
I’m not an artist and know my art will go in the garbage after I’m gone so I’m happy using my Koi by Sakura paints. 😊
My favs are WN Cotman, Grumbacher Academy, and Kuretaki Gansai Tambi (48, Art Nouveau, and Opal sets). I just bought a set of neon from Komorebi (MozArt) and really like them so far, but haven't used them much yet. I also have tried Koi CAC set and Aqua Fine. They're both ok, not terrible, but not great. I like my WNC and GA better. The Aqua Fine portrait pink is... weird...
WNC has the better Burnt Sienna for my preference mixing, and GA has a great Perylene Maroon. I love the WNC travel palettes. I prefer the plastic to metal and the well designed compact layers, especially in their 24 half pan travel plus set. It is my favorite travel palette. I waited for a good sale to buy mine. I wouldn't pay full retail. I still sometimes use my 14 half pan compact box (I think it's about 25 years old by now). I like it for setting aside a small palette for a project on the go.
I agree with your comment about Master's Touch smell in their half pans. They also dry rough to the touch and chalky looking. I don't know about the pans, but their tube watercolors use dextrin as the binder, their "premium" are made with gum arabic but separate badly and don't dry well. The six piece Master's Touch metallics I bought at HL look a lot like Gansai paints, they're ok. I suspect they're white labeled from something like Kuretaki or MozArt. They don't rewet all that great, have to add water and let them sit for a bit before painting. I haven't bought Kuretaki's metallics yet for comparison as I have too many metallics and pearls right now and don't use them much.
Fan pans are nice for doodling on the go. I've already refilled one of my fan pans with better quality paints. The format is quite convenient. Having fun playing with Viviva colorsheets, immediate, vibrant, and inky. Art Creation is meh. I'll probably end up donating them to the design lab classroom next year, they're still better than craft paints.
Other terrible ones include Artist's Loft (Michaels brand) and any of those craft/kiddie brands. Of the kiddie ones, Royal Langnickle isn't terrible, but definitely a kiddie/craft paint.
Michael's has a 24 pan set from Artist's Loft now that look exactly like the Phoenix watercolors set in the blue tin, even the insert looks the same. I think the only difference is that I can see is that the Phoenix version has an Indian Red whereas the Artist's Loft version a Chinese White.
Sennelier La petit, i have the original set and love the layering im able to do with them, i love the softness of them when painting animals. i got them way back when you got yours and the price was way low at Jerrys. I too am not a schminke fan. i dont see the fuss,Gasp! i know, LOL i had to buy them of course to see, and was let down by them, I will usually pick a vibrant watercolor like Qor or Mission Gold for that punch that i love. I love painting images as well as just watercoloring. i know they both have their seperate needs- and i agree,,,, a paint that stays put is best for stamped images in most cases. Whereas i love my flowing paints for when I am just watercoloring on my own. i have so many sets i ended up mixing my favorites into one place and forget what i am even using lol- I was never wowed by the cottmans- sadly, the white knights I adore for that bright punch of color tho, im sorry I am all over the place here
Oh and i absolutely LOVE Paul Reubens!!! i was shocked, i got them the same time as my Shminke paints arrived too. My husband just shook his head and walked away as i proclaimed my love for Paul over Schiminke LOL
The pro grade watercolors from Royal Talens are the Rembrandt 😋
😆
Hi Lindsey, I have student grade watercolors in half pans and tubes from Sennelier. I still would recommend them but the tubes are way better than the half pans. Half.pams are weaker and they do not look like your swatch!
I have the half pans but they were purchased years ago. I have not tried the tubes.
I reached out to Art Whale to ask if they would sell Ultramarine Blue tube by itself. It has such beautiful granulation! I like it more than many of my professional versions.
When I contacted them, I suggested they reach out to you for recommendations for a different selection for their 12 tube set. It doesn’t have Ultramarine Blue, and seems like many of the less nice paints from the 24 set. I would purchase a 12 set to get a replacement for the Ultramarine Blue, but buying another 24 set when I have more than half full tubes of most of the others doesn’t make sense.
I like Art Whale and Pretty Excellent equally. The Pretty Excellent is more evenly nice, but the Art Whale Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Sap Green are such unique, pretty colors.
Thanks for all you do!
Rachel
I think they are made by superior so you might be able to get them on aliexpress.
Cotman got the last spot? Oh no! 😅
My favorite student grade watercolors are Van Gogh and Cotman. Van Gogh because they are just that good (only thing is I don't like how immobile they are, but that's nothing that can't be fixed with some ox gall) and Cotman because I just really like them for some reason. Maybe I am just a rebel, and I love them because barely anyone else will. I also very much like Schmincke Akademie, but I don't call it a favorite because I think the price isn't right. If someone is willing to spend that much, why not just add another ten bucks for Horadam? I am definitely enjoying the Akademie paints that I still have left over though.
Great video series! I bought a 36 tube set of Paul Rubens back in 2021 and I don't see them listed on Amazon anymore. I think you reviewed them and I purchased them because of your review. :) They are 5mL tubes with pigment info on the tubes and they come in a really sturdy blue and gold box. Do you remember those paints? Would you still recommend them or is there something better out there? I think at the time you had said that they were a really great set of paints (and I think I agree! :)) but I'm wondering how you think they now compare with some of the other student grade paints. Are they possibly the same as the Art Whale paints? Thanks for doing what you do!
I really like all of Paul rubens artist grade tube and pan paints. The student tubes are ok but not as good as their student pans (they make the pretty excellent as well as a full pan set that I forgot to mention 😆)
Can gogh single pigment tubes. Thanks Lindsay 💕
Thanks for the review, I teach beginning watercolor and got Grumbacher academy, van Gogh, hobby lobby, Daler-rowney aquafine, and Cotman paints for students. All in tubes. Most of these I got in the last few months when Michael's and Hobby Lobby had them on closeout and clearance aisle. I just swatched them out yesterday and my rankings pretty much match yours: I had Grumbacher at 1, van Gogh at 2, Daler-rowney at 3, Cotman at 4 and HL at 5. I won't need any more paint for quite some time as I teach about 4 times a year...haha. I have way too much. I use professional level paints for myself but learned on Cotmans which seemed better quality years ago. I bought them at my local hardware store way back then....small town surprises!
Nice!
My favorite legacy is the van gogh, unfortunately it starts fights because many artist say they are artist. But Rembrandt is the artist version and they are definitely better, pigment wise.
I just read this BBC article and thought of you. It's called "A History of Art in 7 Colors." Can't post the link as it will be deleted. As observed by the author, the origins of pigment does lend a new perspective on our favorite paintings. I adore Flaming June! I've always loved your knowledge about pigments. You might enjoy the book The Art of Color: The History of Art in 39 Pigments, from which this article is based. 🎨 🖌️
I think you have a brain for color the way some people have a brain for math or music or words. I love that about you. You are just fluent in color, or color literate. I can't tell warm from cool colors to save my life! 😊
Cool! I'll check it out!
supposedly the Pretty Excellent has changed formulation and changed case style and not as good. I don't know if that's true or not, but worth looking into...
Oh no! I saw they have actual half pans now and the price did not go up with all of the inflation so I wouldn't be surprised if they had to cut quality. I should order a new set and compare I guess.
@@thefrugalcrafter I would love to see a video on that just to see the differences in quality paint can perform when its formula changes!
Oh no! I hope not. They were such a nice set.
I always love your videos Lindsay, really liking this one. But I'm here to answer a question you raised about van Gogh watercolors: they're from Royal Talens, the same company that produces Art Creation and... Yes, Rembrandt! So Rembrandt is the professional line whereas Van Gogh is the student line, which is a funny coincidence since you really love Rembrandt and talked about that in your previous video.
😆
I like Van Gogh because it doesn't run as much as other watercolours and it has a lot of good pigments. It's now my standard brand, along with Turner and Shin Han.
I think Aquafine is okay, as far as I know the pans are better than the tubes. I hardly used my old Cotman set which I bought for travelling because the colours were no fun, it was not my colour choice and I needed a lot of mixing space for this colour choice.
At the time I had to choose between Cotman and Lukas because they were the only ones that came in small plastic boxes and Lukas had quite a bad reputation on the internet in Germany and I thought Cotman was better for that reason.
Cotman is more transparent but Lukas studio has a higher pigment load (or at least it did)
@Thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich Are the Mijello Mission Gold or white class supposed to be the Artist grade? I've seen the white class cost more than the gold & the gold class cost more than the white. So i'm not sure about Mijello line of paints at all. Please let me know if you know the answer to this! Fabulous video as always!❤ I'm so glad u ranked the student grade w/c paints as well!
The gold class is the artist grade. The white class is gouache I beleive
Question for you. Great review first of all! I have cyan waterproof ink...is there any way to use it as watercolor paint?
You can thin it with water and paint with it. Be sure to wash it out if your brush because if it dries in there it may ruin it.
Thankyou so much!
Thank you for this. I have Cotman, one of your last ones, lol. Would you say the biggest deal between student/pro is light fastness? My Cotman looks chalky and lifeless I wonder if I might need professional or just better student grade. I paint as hobby so I don't need my paintings to last forever I'd just want them to look nice.
Pigment load is the big difference
@@thefrugalcrafter Thanks. I will invest in a few professional tubes to try out. I've been meaning to for a while I might as well get it over with. 😅
First off, I've been a fan and loyal follower of yours for years. I appreciate the time, effort and candid honesty you put into your videos and reviews.
I have negative comments about one of the student paint sets in this video and a question.
I purchased the art whale set back when you reviewed them when they first came available on Amazon. I squeezed each color into a palette as I usually would and every single one of them crumbled into little pieces and fell out of my palette once they had dried. Similar to the way some gouache paints would behave dried down. Maybe even worse. The Cerulean was so stiff that I could barely squeeze it out and what little bit I was able to get out turned to chunky powder and was really hard to get the powder to re hydrate. Perhaps I got a bad set but I felt duped. Unfortunately by the time I got around to putting them in a palette and giving them a try, the return window for Amazon had passed a couple of weeks prior so I just kept them. Do you have any suggestions or is there one of your videos that you can recommend to help solve the issues? I have tons of professional watercolors so I don't personally need them but I hate to waste. I purchased them to put into palettes for friends who voiced interest in trying watercolor or possibly my preteen granddaughters. Now they just sit on the shelf mocking me. Haahaa!
Another question: Do you happen to know which company stamps the bottom of their half pans with the letters PH. I have 16 of them from a monthly subscription. They are horrible paints that I want to avoid ever purchasing in the future but I have know idea who the manufacturer is. They aren't chalky but are hard to re-wet and most the colors are low pigment strength and next no flow. Such a disappointment and they weren't inexpensive either.
As for favorites, I love the Pretty Excellent paint sets and have purchased several of the 36 color sets to give as gifts to friends and family that have voiced wanting to try watercolor. I also very much enjoy Van Gogh and superior sets. I have recently purchased the 48 set of Kuretake and the new 24 art Nouveau set. So far I'm having a blast with them.
My Art Whale crumbled once dried in the pans, too.
My art whale dried fine and didn't fall out but you can stir in some honey or glycerin to prevent it. I think maybe there was some binder seperation so I would stick a skewer in the tube and stir it up. You can add some gum arabic ad well. I bought the set soon after it was released so it is possible that they changed something. My cereulean us stiff.
The subscription box pans are Phoenix. I was contacted by Craftamo to create a sub box and that is what they use. You can get the set of 48 colors for $40. I am 95% sure they are the same as winsor newton Cotman.
My Art Whale tubes dried in weird stages. For the first few weeks, they just had a few soft cracks which didn’t cause issues. Now that it’s been almost a year, they’re crumbling terribly. I live in a fairly humid place, so it’s not the environment. If you’re going to use them straight out of the tube, they’re bold and beautiful. I’d avoid trying to store them in pans long term, though.
The Art Whale 48 half pan set, on the other hand, has been delightful! They’re a completely different configuration than the tubes with different pigments (and not the same as Superior).
@@thefrugalcrafter Thanks so much! I thought that maybe it was Phoenix. They are awful in my opinion and ridiculous that Craftamo charges $20 for 4 pans but what do ya do when it's part of the subscription. The other supplies are nice but also over priced in my opinion but maybe that's typical for a subscription.
@kimhenderson9186 subscription products are tough. They have to pay for the supplies, postage, packaging, overhead, and a cut to the subscription box designer. It's rare to get better deal on contents of a sub box than you can buy it yourself at blick or amazon. It's more if you like the surprise or the instruction that comes with them.
Lindsey, Can you post a link for the micidor analinky brand? I think that's how you spell it.😅 4:09
I love the Koh-i-noor discs (the white ones, NOT the black ones). They aren't really like watercolors, though, they're just a lot of fun. Lol!
They are so inky, that's what video have too!
I can't get the Art Whale in the UK right now...however I have the Pretty Excellent palette so I'm happy. I do have a question about the Koh-i-noor though: I only found the black disc set, I can't seem to find the white one that you have. Do you know if they're similar in vibrancy? They're listed at a good price but if they're not as vibrant as your set, I'd skip the purchase. What are your thoughts on it?
I've seen someone paint with the Koh-i-noor black disc pans once (it was a "cheap supply challenge" kind of video) and they said they're very chalky. That's typical of cheap watercolors aimed at school kids.
I don't know as I have not used the black disk set. The white disk set "micador" is so clean, bright and only. Not chalky at all.
Hi! What you're looking for is the kohinoor "brilliant watercolor set". They are sold in europe (and much of the world) in the same black case as their opaque watercolors so it's incredibly difficult to know which is which when the outer box is not displayed in the listing. How I tell the difference is by looking at the colors in the tray, they should be dark, darker than you think they should look like for the color that they are (take a look at the red and green paint trays, you should never see a bright pink or a light green that you might expect in a kids paintbox). Also, you should notice a mild speckled appearance on the paint pucks, this is most noticeable on the yellow.
If all else fails, try looking for the kohinoor anilinky watercolor set, though I personally have only ever seen them being sold in a rectangular 12 colour set.
I hope this helps, good luck!
I have the black disc set. It’s pigmented but chalky. Semi opaque. Great for sketchbook with very light touches. No real flow, just color kissing the paper.
you have tried artist grade of Royal Talens, it is Rembrandt 😀
Oh! 😆 I was thinking of daler rowney I guess.
TY for the video :) I had been using Winsor and Newton for decades and decided to try the Mei Liang and others as well. I was finishing the Mei Liang swatch reference sheet while listening to this and I absolutely LOVE these colors. You made a terrific recommendation.
Glad it was helpful!
My fav is Van Gogh. I love them so much I consider them full artist grade! You just need to dry them From the tubes rather than work with them fresh from the tubes. Vibrant and lightfast. I make custom mixes involving them. I place them lower on the ‘artist grade’ but still consider them to be very usable. I recommend drying them in empty pallet or half/full pans and waiting at least 2 days to use and use a mist spray or pipe the to add a bit of water 1 minute before using for best results!
I also embrace opacity and like a variety of colours opacities and pigment properties. I also use watercolour with gouache.
I think I’d like to get the Kuretake Gansai tambi as I adore using any paper with watercolour. Forcing the ;wrong’ paper is a specialty of mine! Still I haven’t found them for a good price here in Canada yet but I stalk them on Amazon, waiting to jump on a sale!
Hullo Lindsay, I just chuckle at some of the things you say! You like so many of these paint collections! I started painting with Grumbacher Finest brand paints, I remember going to buy a tube to fill my ultramarine blue and I blanched at the price so I purchased a different brand. I would have sworn it was defective! The first time I used it I could not get a full field of color! It was blotchy and the pigment settled (I have learned that this particular fault is now or is considered a feature called granulating) perhaps this is why you did not like it? I no longer recommend student grade paints. DaVinci is priced low enough that anyone truly wanting to paint with watercolors can use Professional grade paint and learn without having to fight with their paints! YES, you can learn with student grade and any decent artist can make beautiful paintings with any level of paint, why pick something up that makes your experience more difficult? I do enjoy watching your videos, you are truly amazing and a genuine gem! Please take care and have a lovely day!
I like meeting new paints because they all have different personalities!
I’m curious where Lindsay would rank White Nights in all of these or in the professional watercolor video!
They are in the pro grade review
Hello Lindsay, thanks for doing this video. I haven't watched yet because I wanted to update you on trying to make connection with the lady that offered some artist grade watercolors for cost of shipping. Anyway, I tried at least 3 times in the comments to her for giving her my email address so we could make arrangements, but was unsuccessful. Comments id made were totally gone and since I've not gotten any email from her I'm assuming she didn't get my message. My son was even going to cover the postage cost for me to get the paints. Just wanted to let you know. Also to thank you again for telling me about the lady that offered. God bless you. Now I can focus on this video. Take care and God bless you and your family. Sincerely Becky B from Arkansas
Huh, maybe someone contacted her before you did. Oh well, it never hurts to try.
So where do you put the Viviva Color Sheets?
They are more if an ink in my opinion. Very good tho!
Hi! Can you share again the name of the ones you said were very transparent and that they came in a round palette? I don't see them on the list and I can't catch the name on the video. Thank you so much!!
Micador, they are hard to find outside of Australia. They are made by kohinoor
I've gotten a lot of cracking and flaking with my Kuretaki that reminds me of Superior! which makes me wonder if they're made by Superior. I still like them, just figure they're not anything special in terms of quality (other than Superior is fine). Kuretaki pigment info is available online.
I don't think they are made by the same company, superior is in china and kuretake is made in Japan but I think they might use a common binder combination. I get cracking and flaking with superior but not with gansai tambi in my climate but it does happen in drier climates.
Rembrandt is the artist grade for van Gogh. I love rembrandt
I’m trying to convert to open stock as I run out of colors in sets I have purchased. My roommate has taken over my Mei Liang as she likes the consistency and vibrancy. Do you have a recommendation for what would be a good open stock affordable replacement as her colors run out? I haven’t tried Van Gogh or WN Pro (she’s not a fan of Cotman’s subdued colors) but I was thinking they might be good as needed tube replacements, or maybe switching over to Rosa Gallery as the single pans are easy to order online. Advice/Recommendations?
I'd do van gogh or rosa, which ever is easier to find.
@@thefrugalcrafter Thank you :). I can’t drive so I’m trying to stick with what I can easily get from Amazon. Will try out the VG first since that lets us add to the palette she’s already using the easiest.
l would love a review of cheaper cotton watercolor paper. I've noticed a lot of companies like Art Whale, Paul Rubens, Artbeek, Gencrafts etc... have put out 100% cotton paper.
The meeden is awesome. Art been is not 100% cotton, maybe 25% its mislabled. Paul rubens is great. Not sure about others.
@@thefrugalcrafterThanks! I'll try the Meeden. I just recieved the Art Whale but I haven't used it yet.
You know what’s really weird Lindsay ?! I got the masters touch 48 pan set the other day from hobby lobby cuz it was on sale, and the first half of them when I searched them out they feel exactly like superior/art whale !! The other half feel mungyo. They don’t have a smell either !! They have a new design on the front, so im wondering if their fazing out the old stock of paint?? Maybe ?!
I hope so
Rembrandt watercolor is the artist line of Van Gogh watercolor
*Sennelier La Petite Aquarelle * I bought the 24 pan set just two years ago, and was hugely disappointed. ALL the earth tones and neutrals are very weak, as are the yellows, oranges, half the blues and greens. The cobalt blue HUE is so weak and weird that two layers only brings it up to a pale lavender (a hue should be stronger by far) There were only seven colors I thought were pretty good, but not great. This really was the biggest disappointment I've had with any brand. It has put me off trying their professional line.
What a shame! It sounds like they changed the paint for sure!