This set comes with full pans, says to be artist quality, and has both pigment information and lightfastness ratings. You can find that information HERE. For a pricetag around $35-$40, I HAD to know if they were quality paints!
The first thing I noticed using these was how much I loved the size of the full pans and the amazing mixing space on this palette. The paint has wonderful flow, and certain colors do granulate. I used a salt technique with at least one piece and got even more beautiful granulation, but was also able to get flat, beautiful washes for the most part.
I did notice that it seems like certain colors (violet and indigo in particular) seem to flow a LOT more than the other colors. This might just be me, but they definitely seemed to move more than others. This isn’t a problem or anything, but it is something to note if you are going to use the set.
I also missed a few, specific colors in this set. I think the olive green is more earthy than a traditional “sap green,” and while it’s not a bad color I found myself mixing sap green all the time. I also missed having a pink and a cobalt turquoise in this set, which is completely personal preference. I ended up going on Etsy and purchasing those three full pans (sap green, opera pink, cobalt turquoise) from this store, and they were a great addition to the set. The “modern” version of this set (listed here on Amazon) includes a pink and a cobalt turquoise, but I love the plastic palette so much that I’m glad I ended up with it and extra colors!
The longer I used these paints, the more their strong, vibrant pigments impressed me. The colors are just beautiful and produce gorgeous mixes and color bleeds on the paper. Everytime I sat down to paint something just for fun, I felt myself reaching for this set. This is the reason they are the first product review from my big christmas/birthday haul, because I’ve already used them SO much! So I was finding joy in the paints, and they had listed lightfastness and pigment information, so how do they compare to similar (or lesser) sets?
So - I would categorize these paints as a wonderful “starter artist” set. I would not expect them to perform as well as my Daniel Smith or M Graham sets - though in my humble opinion, they DO hold up to these sets decently well! So I’d like to compare them to the MeiLiang Pretty Excellent watercolor set, distributed by the same parent company as Paul Rubens art supplies, and to the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolors.
The Pretty Excellent watercolor set comes with 36 half pans, lightfast and pigment information, and usually is around $20 on Amazon. You cannot purchase the colors open stock, and it does come with a nice tin.
Windsor and Newton Cotmans come in all shapes and forms - so I tried to find what I would consider to be the most comparable set. Their “studio” set comes with 24 full pans (similar colors) in a metal tin and costs about $60 at the major retailers (Amazon, Blick, Jerry’s Artarama.) You can purchase these full pans open stock, and there is lightfast and pigment information attached to the paints.
Considering both of the above options, I’d consider the Rosa the clear winner here. The Pretty Excellent paints are of similar quality and cheaper, but they do not offer an open stock replacement option if you like them. You can buy individual full pans of the Rosa paints, and you get a LOT more paint for the $35 (making the price comparable in my opinion!) The Cotmans are available open stock, but their pricetag is much higher and, to be honest, I don’t think they are nearly as vibrant or pigmented as the Rosa paints.
Overall, these paints are for just about everyone! If you are a serious watercolor artist, I think you will be impressed with these but also not find them so precious that you don’t use them. If you are a beginner, this set definitely encourages you to mix colors and offers a great mixing set for landscapes and florals. If you are somewhere in between but want to try something higher quality at a budget, these are your paints! Watch here for the video review:
Do you have these paints? Is there another set out there that they remind you of? Let me know in the comments below!
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