Hi! I'm Allan. I'm an architect who loves to paint and to take photos. If you are into watercolor, please subscribe!! I do reviews of watercolor brands and materials. Also, I provide some subject tutorials that you can easily follow through.
Please follow me on Instagram.. runningarchitographer See you! 😊
Thanks for this Allan, I purchased the original set in the blue tin and was confused when I saw a paint called ‘Turkey Blue’ until I realised the correct interpretation should have been Peacock blue! It made me giggle every time I used the paints which I thought were excellent quality considering the very low cost .
I almost bite the bullet and buy this set. But thanks for your excellent review and comparison, Allan. I will stick with Sonnet watercolour instead. Although sonnet doesn't give me a better quality tin, with similar price range ( I'm in Australia), i got more paints in full pan. Thanks Allan. Your review is really helpful. I hope you will produce more tutorial videos as you are so talented ❤ 😊
Greetings Jay from Toronto, Ontario 🇨🇦 I never, ever, ever get bored of your sample paintings. Please don't say that, it makes me 😢 I only wish that you would paint them in real time so that I could follow along more easily with less rewinds. I enjoy your informative paint reviews but love your delightful landscapes as I paint small myself. I constantly return to your site not for the paint reviews, once is usually enough for that, but for reviewing the sample paintings. If some folks complain about a too long video then they can easily skip the sample paintings and / or the brand comparisons but please, please, please don't short change your faithful followers who adore your little painting samples. Cheers 🫠
Hi Alan, I would love to know if you could get all the white nights and make a video with all of them and make a list for example the ones that would be the best, some of them are similar, and they had created so many of them we get confuse when we need to choose. What do you think about it? Including the pastel, granulations and metallics.. all of them... Is that ask too much?
Hi Allan, I shall not be buying this as I have more than I will be able to use anyway. It would make a very nice and usable gift if I needed to get one. (I don’t.) I was surprised that it was so good and it is a very giftable set. Also because it is not too flowy it will be easy for a relative newcomer to get to grips with. Needed another pour though, I guess that is where the saving is made. You painting was splendid as usual, how fortunate that you have inspirational and interesting landscape. Nice review.
@marytesta3003 and I think, it's working. The more expensive brands like DS and Schmincke don't need much advertising since they're established already and have 2 or 3x higher prices. But i love them too. 😊
@AllanJayQuesada Very true. I just want the box, though! I love your channel. I only watch a few reviewers because you just can't love everything. I'm crummy at art, so I only buy professional supplies just in case something turns out!
I once ordered something for 10€ and customs charged me 20€. I didn’t pay. Rather lost 10€ than having to pay 30€ for a 10€ item. Have no idea whether they kept or sold the item or if they sent it back, I suspect it’s the first option though, since sending back would’ve cost them something Back to the contents of this box though: I can imagine that this was a nice surprise. Seems like it’s gonna be a fun couple of days/weeks trying all these items out. There’s a lot in there. Also, wow, that rooster has far more energy than me lol
Oh my god, they are gigantic! I have a few of the 21ml Sennelier l‘Aquarelle and 37ml Winsor & Newton tubes but I never saw anything like this even when I’m shopping online at local online shops. They last for a very long time, I’d say. I think buying big tubes is much more economical for colors that are going to be used the most.
These are all beautiful products you were gifted by the company but the packaging of the paintbrushes was really unnecessary. They did not need to box them all in their own separate boxes even if it was a gift package. I am sure you’ll enjoy using the items though.
@lennoxraynewood2741 Yes, the box was not necessary in this case because everything is protected in the big box already. But if they sell it individually, it can be helpful to protect the brushes like for the Winsor Newton Series 7 brushes. The plastic pouch is really not necessary. For sure, i will be enjoying these goodies. Especially the paper block. 😊
I like many things about your reviews, but perhaps most of all that they aren’t just endless swatching. Whatever the value of that, I think one sees much more about how paint performs when you see an actual painting-paintings are why we paint, right? Since you always (I think) end with a painting, one can compare one painting with another, by the same artist. That carries the potential pitfall that one brand of paint simply suits your particular style better, but I’d still rather draw my conclusions off a comparison of paintings than of swatches. As we say in the UK: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Whoever judged different desserts by comparing this brand of butter vs the other, then this brand of sugar vs that and so on? We want to experience the final product. At risk of insulting your lovely paintings: your reviews give us the pudding. Thank you for that. (Also for the lovely tropical birdsong in the background.)
@@AllanJayQuesada The Netherlands! Its 21% (on non necessarily things like art supplies) and sometimes 9% (for example art books) + around 16 euro's handelingcost. If you spend more than 150 euro's they add another tax (on top of the sales tax...) and that depends on the items you are receiving.
Thank you for the unboxing.. I'm addicted to the birds and roosters we can hear. 😀🐓🐦 Please use acrylic brushes. It's so cruel the way they kill squirrels to collect their hair. It's the reason I will never buy this box.
I just bought the paul ruben set of 12 metallic paints with their hot press sketchpad for $16! Was 50% of on amazon with an additional 20% off. Definitely recommend people check them out on amazon right now! I love your reviews & PR watercolors. What a beautiful gift!
@@AllanJayQuesada I would suggest to not bother. Reviewing all that stuff you have gathered there from gifts and from your trips abroad can become a divorce reason! 😃
Bonjour Allan, merci pour toutes ces vidéos qui nous laissent choisir notre matériel d’aquarelle en observant vos démonstrations si précises. On peut y voir les défauts et les qualités de chaque marque. Après chacun reste libre de ses choix. Aquarelles chinoises ou européennes selon nos moyens. Il y a quelques années je ne jurais que par Sennelier ou Winsor et Newton mais j’ai essayé les aquarelles japonaises et chinoises et je les ai trouvées pas mal du tout. Et je m’amuse autant avec elles. Alors bien sur il y a quelques défauts mais largement compensés par le prix et la qualité de la couleur est là…En France les 24 demi-godets de Schimcke Horadam coutent environ 140€, les 24 Paul Rubens presque toutes mono-pigmentées 45€ sur leur site. Et j’aime autant l’une que l’autre.
Ugh 😩 even if it's marked as "gift"🎁? PhilPost just has a basic fee/tax, as far as I recall. They won't compute if it's a gift... Well it has been so long since i received international mail
Hello again. I have been watching many of your old reviews today, going back several years. If possible, could you rate the Cheap Joe's store brand line of paints? I heard they have their paints made by Sennelier. I can't afford all the Sennelier shades I need for some botanical painting classes I would like to take, so I am hoping that this store brand really can measure up to the other professional paints. I am going to work on some of your botanical paintings this weekend! I really enjoy how you rate the paints and it is a huge help as I am building my palette and choosing practice paints and paints for "art." I say practice colors, since I am relearning how to use my hands after some severe nerve damage. I go through a lot of paint in just moving brushes around on cheap paper, so the quality isn't too important. By the same token, with your reviews and some by Otto Kano & Kimberly Crick, I have been able to get good quality practice paints at very affordable prices. Thank You!
@providencevalleyfarm5270 Hello. thank you for appreciating my work and for watching even the older videos that can be of lower quality. 🙏 i am pleased to know that the videos are helpful. I am even more pleased to learn that despite the nerve damage, you still manage to paint and enjoy. Please keep it, but be careful. 🙏 To be honest, I have been very curious about cheap Joe's products, but they're currently hard to acquire in the Philippines. Last time i checked, they only shop via DHL, which costs a minimum of 50usd.. when a friend of mind plans to go home to the Philippines, I can ask to buy samples for me.. along with many other brands. Do you have the specific product link i can check by the way?
Awesome gift set! Your reviews of the last generation convinced me to buy 24, 36, and 48 color sets. Your video demonstrations let the products speak for themselves.
Thanks Allan, There are many Paul Rubens items on sale today, INCLUDING the brushes you've shown. They have a coupon for most items to get another 20% off!
@PaintinHiding yes, I thought they were younger like not more than 10 yrs. But their 14. Yes, the ceramic pans are really the biggest. They're breaking records. Haha
@rdendelacruz4332 hahaha. Walang ganon. Wala naman itong TF so hindi ko kailangan maging exclusive. Pero incase, Paul Rubens lang ipagamit sakinkl, kaya naman.
I thought the whole video,my cat is meowing somewhere in my house,because of the noise😂 The box looks beautiful,very nice,I hope you have plenty of fun with It😊
@@alinatr2693 oh.. sorry about that. Haha. Did you hear cat noise from my video? It was mostly our neighbour's roosters. Haha. Yeah, I think I'm gonna enjoy these. 😉
@@AllanJayQuesada I watched your video not that loud so I didn't hear that these were roosters,only heard a random animal sound,so I thought It's my cat yelling at me from somewhere😂😂
It’s the poor quality control that makes Paul Ruben and other Chinese product not worth it. For example, the damage to the tin @7:20 and the poor glue job of the pad @12:29. You never find defect in Japanese or German made products. They always exceed expectations. I was shocked how supposedly cheap Japanese made items from the dollar store (Daiso) has better quality and packaging than “premium” items that were made in China. As a gift, this is a great item! But if I was to pay for it, I’d pick a 12 pans Holbein or Schminke set over this entire set. I’m glad you didn’t pay duties and taxes on it!
I appreciate your good observation. I did not edit those out for transparency. though I have to double-check the tin, I think it's paint stain. I agree that they need polishing in the quality of production, consistency and also to documentation of their product. It was actually worse with the older generations where there were some misspelt words and grammatical errors. We could point a lot more things, to be honest, like the different brush sleeves, chipped paint particles, and the absence of product labels in the brushes.. etc. These things matter and affect the overall ratings of the brand.. but on the other hand, the target market they have still i think is focused to those who have tighter budget, or those who don't want to spend much yet but want decent performing paints/brushes/paper I have seen improvements in their products over the years though, and I hope that they continue with it to achieve the "premium" quality like that of brands like Holbein, or much more of Schmincke or W&N and DS.. :)
@@AllanJayQuesadaI figured that you, being an architect, also appreciated quality and consistency 😄 Agree that PR are targeting a specific demographic which probably won’t want to pay extra for added quality
hehe. if you do watercolor content, they would probably send you their items. :). I am not sure if they're gonna be releasing the exact set as this, I think only piece by piece.
This is my favorite Paul Rubin set! I do agree with you about the Venetian red, but I do like the peach light as an alternative to opera. I wouldn’t rely on it heavily, but it is a wonderful color.… I’ve looked online and this set is no longer available anywhere which is really sad because I got it because it had tubes and not pans, so I could do refills in my pallette… Wonderful review as usual Alan!
Greetings from Toronto Ontario 🇨🇦 I have that same set of 3 Fuummi travel brushes in the faux leather case. The case is embossed with the name: POTENTATE. I've yet to use them. Bought them to add to my traditional Chinese brushes collection. The art world's gone crazy for imitation synthetic hair brushes. Fortunately I can still get hogs hair brushes for my oil painting. Guess people don't care about pigs only squirrels. 🙄 I love painting small and just received 3 small 100% cotton 300gsm watercolor books ordered from Amazon. One is 12x12cm and two are 10x10cm. I bought them under the name: LIGHTWISH, but just like the brushes they came labeled: potentate. Anyway, they're absolutely beautiful little books; real keepsakes for your paintings. I haven't painted in them yet; still deciding what theme I want to dedicate each book to: flowers, birds, architecture 🤔 Im not sure yet. I've been eyeing these tiny palettes as they seem to be the latest trend in must have art supplies. I'm coveting them not because I need one but just because I'm addicted to buying art supplies; my hobby I guess 😅 Think I'll go ahead order this little Fuummi palette to go with the Fuumi brushes and start painting in my beautiful little Wishcraft books. Really enjoy your channel, Jay, with your honest and detailed reviews with sample paintings of the paints used on the swatch card. What an excellent way to end a swatching exercise by keeping an example of the paints right there next to the swatches. Cheers 🫠
Alan, these are the sable brushes Fuumuui sells. I ordered the sable set and the squirrel set, and they sent me 2 sable sets that are the same set you review in this video. I contacted Fumuui and they mailed the correct squirrel brushes, which have black hair that is much softer. Perhaps you can contact them to receive the correct squirrel brushes with the softer black hair?
@Xolo0001 honestly, that is still a question to many, including me. But in my observation, my paints, even those which are 5 years older, are still all very good. We even see artists discover and use, some vintage paints either found online or inherited from parents or ancestors. I think, for as long as the paints are well made, and that they're well taken care of (clean, free of rust, dust, insects etc, and are regularly dried on fresh air, they're gonna be fine even after decaes especially cakes and pan paints. Tube paints can face more issues such as binder-pigment separation issues, corrosion of the aluminum tube, etc.
Hi , they recently upgraded the 52 meiliang solid watercolor, they got rid of the 11 macrons and replaced those with deep richer colors.. still 52 colors but they rid of the pastels which is better.. im waiting for you to maybe have the review on it.
I haven’t tried the Blockx watercolours, but when I got into pastel painting, I tried way too many brands of pastels and only at the end, tried a box of Blockz (they aren’t easy to find in the UK, even though we’re not far from Belgium). They are easily my favourite brand of pastels, so I’m not surprised that you like the watercolours. It’s really good that you’re publicising this quiet, but distinguished brand, since I suspect that if I found them hard to find in the UK, people in other countries might also find them hard to source. They deserve to be better known.
I am always thrilled to See when you have reviewed paints I am interested in trying. You are among my Most trusted and informative content creators for this !!
@@dr.trixiecp5651 like how bad? It's eithee you got a bad/old batch or your standard is high and meant for the real quality paints or better, the professional grades. 😉
Your have a really holistic approach to the process of reviewing. I have noticed some reviewrs give either 0 or 100 depending on if the paints fit their style or not. On other hand you also carefully examine the different aspects of the product, like packaging, build quality, ease of use, suitable and targetted age group, price point, compatibility with other supplies like paper, brush etc. Then in second part you just compare the quality of pigment without pulling punches. The ranking is also an aspect other reviewers stay away from, I don't know why. That is the best part of your video and sometimes I might pick a lower ranked pigment just because of the price ratio or the extra goodies it comes in. By the way, do you know that Sonnet watercolor also comes in a beautiful limited edition yellow metal palette? Also the Chinese company Himi have launched a proper half pan set that comes in a white metal palette. I would look forward for your opinion on it. Thank you for making such wonderful videos...
@kunaljanvalkar2850 thank you for recognising and appreciating my work and effort. For years, i have been watching others review materials.. and i have gathered from what they do, what I think should include in mine.. so credits to them too for inspiring me. The ranking part can be confusing because price can come in betweem although i try not to. And also, some student grades can be better than some "pro" grades. When i do my ultimate rankings video, i will need to think about the aspects more.. and make it clear. Yes, i have seen the Sonnet in Yellow tin. Ut has 21 full pans. I actually have them in my small shop. Haha. The Himi.. i have reviewed before a Himi solids in metal tin with a perfume bottle like housing.. is that what you were pertaining to? If not, can you link the product here? I'd love to check it out. 🙏 😊
@@AllanJayQuesada I know what you mean that you refer to others, study and learn from them because I see you popping in comment sections of some of the artist, sometimes in very obscure and technical videos of theirs. Your research and attention to details makes you a highly credible critic, I must say. That's why whenever I come across a beginner from the Philippines who's contemplating on which supplies to buy, I redirect them to your channel. I was happy that you came to India. I hope you had a good time. Chandigarh and Mumbai are lovely cities but if you want to see an art craze, you must visit Kolkata, the city of love. I am sure you will return someday. Love from India 🇮🇳
Very pretty but not $75usd pretty. Great review and paintings. I was looking to see if Rosa Gallery would be in the comparison. Near the same I imagine but less expensive.
@1mulekicker oh so the price had increased. 😔 if you are thinking of getting the Rosa, I think they're good. I have a 36 color full pans set and 24 tubes set, lined for review. I feel like I'm gonna love them. And the pigment selection are good. Great for the price.
