Watercolor paints
 

Which brand do you prefer and why?

My favorites right now are QoR and Daniel Smith... there are a lot of factors to consider, but I tend to like paints that are vibrant and transparent, and have some granulation. I'm a huge color nerd as well... I spent a day researching different pigments and their properties - and yes, I made a spreadsheet! ;)

handprint : paints has more information than you ever even knew existed about watercolor paints... and makes me feel good about being a color nerd. :)

you should have seen my face the first time I opened a tube and found out that some watercolors are NOT transparent...

so, I will second those brands Dina has mentioned to you because, they have so many more "real" colors to me, things that are more I can believe I will find it in nature
( on a bloom or a bird or something I am likely to want to color) some of the pan kinds of wc paints I picked up tend to lean towards the bright and cheerful colors. ( and I don't reach for those as much)

Winsor Newton...still doing 'old school' since 1974!!!! Haven't failed me yet......

Thank you so much

Right now - the mission gold set is my favorite.

Peerless papers. I love the vibrant colors and they last forever.

Mission Gold, they are beautiful colours, mix & layer brilliantly and I love the pallet they come with too.

I like the Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. I have the set of 24. Bitly

The paints are very creamy, and the colors are very vibrant.

For those of you that use mission gold can you tell me what sets or individual paints your using? thanks

I like my Koi watercolors I found at Hobby Lobby. I've never heard of the ones dini mentioned but I will look into it :).

I have several that I've tried, and I like them all:

Kuretake Gansai Tambi - nice and creamy
Daniel Smith - ooooohhhh, and there are SO many colors! I want them all!!!
Winsor and Newton - I happened to find the last box of professional watercolors at Jerry's, and there were only 10 colors in the package. They are purty, and now I want more. LOL


Prior to using these watercolors, I had always just used reinkers for my ink pads. I had no idea there was such a difference!

Which set of colors would you recommend to start with?

I love Daniel Smith and Winsor Newton, but they're not cheap. Professional watercolors are in the end the better buy. They're vibrant, come in many transparent and semi transparent colors, and you only need a few colors to get started. I started with a palette of six, required by my college instructor a few years back. I don't mind saying I wasn't thrilled when I saw the price of even a 5ml tube! Now I'm so thankful she required them! Funny you asked, I'm taking an online class right now with Sandy Allnock as a refresher. Here's my just completed pear, she's a fabulous instructor and only a set of 6 Daniel Smith tubes are required for her class. Here's my pear using just a palette of 3 out of the 6 colors.

http://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spli...cfc7d576e2.jpg
Other suggestions given are also great if you're just getting started like Kuretake Gansai, Koi, and others mentioned below. Hope this helps.

Wow! Awesome coloring and shading!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I want to do a lot of flowers, birds,and butterflies. I like vibrant colors for the most part

If you don't know if you'll like watercoloring, you might consider Michael's Art Loft 36-color set for about $5.99.

Nutty, right? : ) I have nicer sets: Peerless, Koi, Winsor & Newton, Tambi, some tubes.

But when I took a sketching/watercolor class, the instructor suggested the Michael's set while waiting for class supplies to arrive. It was a wonderful set to learn on, blending colors was super easy, and I still reach for them sometimes. In fact I bought extra sets in case Michaels stops making them.

The down side is I got so used to them that transitioning to higher quality paints (less binder; more pigment) has been tough. But I don't think that's generally the case.

Where I get picky is with paper. It can make a - the - difference.

Of course YMMV. Just have fun.

I've registered for an on-line card class that starts this week where we'll use watercolors and goauche; the goauche (Holbein) is so vivid!

Annecards. You are an Artist. (Note capital A.) Just wow.

I'm using the Mission Gold Watercolor set of 36. I bought it on Amazon, it's now going for around $57, and it comes with it's own palette. It's been great, and I've been very happy with the colors and performance. I did see a YouTube video done by Lindsey, the Frugal Crafter, regarding their Pure Pigment set of 24 tubes. With that set, you are also able to mix up other colors since you are using pure pigment, and not get a muddy color. It's a real bargain, since a set like that would be closer to $300 - $500, as stated in the comments.

Good luck on your decision.....

Lindsay Weirich, the Frugal Crafter, does lots of reviews of different kinds of watercolors, as well as other products. She is very good at keeping in mind the balance of price and purpose, when making her recommendations. She is also outstanding at thoroughly exploring the uses of supplies, especially paint mixing. You might find some of these reviews useful...https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...mU4vTjC6nkZsW-

I love the Gansai Tambi watercolour paints. I recently borrowed a friend's set of Peerless to take with me when traveling - love the portability, but didn't think the colours were as nice as the Gansai Tambi.

I started with a cheap set from Michaels and still use them occasionally if I want a very pale look.

My go to watercolors are Derwent Inktense pencils and blocks. I love the fact that they are permanent when dried, plus they blend well while wet/layered.
I've shaved bits off the blocks to make watercolor spray mists.

Thanks everyone. I like variety so I ordered a few different types of watercolors. Ranging from cheapest to more expensive. And I wont mind sharing the cheapest ones with my 11 year old daughter. The others not so much. I am in the process of packing and moving to a new house. So I am looking forward to being settled in after the holidays and playing around with my new watercolors in my own crafting room.

Peerless paints are very transparent, and the Gansai Tambi are more opaque - that's a big difference.

Thanks, Dina - it's good to know why they seem so different to me. Fun to get to try the Peerless before I decide whether or not I want to buy them.

I really like the Peerless liquid watercolors too! :)

I have the gansai tambi but I prefer my old set of professional watercolours. I found them after I bought the GT, I hadn't used them in many years. They are so much more transparent, they layer and blend much better. Quality always seems to trump everything else!

Such a pretty pear...thanks for sharing it!