Affordable Watercolor Sets for Beginners (My Recommendations) 

Great review of the products. But none of them are affordable in India. All are humorously expensive. I am using a small Camlin color box (for children) that I bought 24 years ago (similar to that Cotman design) and squeezing tube paints into that. i love it very much because it has stayed with me all these years and I am still finding it useful.

Too bad none of these are that "affordable" when they are in my currency ;-;

So glad I found your channel. I'm really learning a lot. Thank you so much.

Very informative and good recommendations to beginners. The Pebeo ones are very pastel like and definitely not as vibrant as the others. The metal box would be a reason to pick them up though.

Thank you very much. Your tips are exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you very much for taking the time to make this review. After watching it, I bought the Prima set in “Classics” but I really like that they have sets for different environments. Woodlands, Tropical, etc. It’d be nice to add each set as I can afford to so I can pack the appropriate colors for wherever we’re headed. Neat brand that I didn’t know about. Thanks!

Thank you for the review. I like how you actually do a color chart and test the colors. It helps a lot.

In India you get an artist's edition 18 shades set of watercolors nicely packed in a tin box by camlin. And it comes for just US $3. Another students' edition set of 24 shades comes for just a little more than US $1.

I like the Koi or prima marketing ones so much better than windsor newton cotman. I have to really mine the paint out for cotman but the other two reactivate so easily!

I have the koi 24 sketchers box now, the quality isn't really that great, but I love how the layout is set up. My favorite part is the removable mixing tray because it goes over the paints and my mixes aren't over the top to drip down. I'm going to be getting st Petersburg watercolors next and I'm pretty happy about that, then hopefully upgrade to some artist grade paints after that!

I am so glad that I've watched this video first before making an purchase. You've saved me from some impulse buying!

This is one of the most informative watercolour channels - thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Great tip about the raised box lids ..👍🏻

Thanks so much for this video, was super helpful in getting an idea as to what to look out for, keep up the good work. Xx

Love love love this channel. So helpful! Thank you!

Thanks for the video! you put so much effort ! amazing collection and informative, Van Gogh was my first watercolor set 15 colors theyre quite nice but not the quality i was looking for, i liked how petersburg looked like

With coupon I bought the Windsor newton set today for $14. Now if I can just get some watercolor skills to go with it I’ll be set! Thanks Teoh

Ok, finally made a decision and get winsor and newton set. It’s smaller then I thought but that’s just even better! It’s really compact and could fit in my pockets!

Thanks for another great review Teoh. I just ordered the Winsor Newton one on EBAY.

Thank you so much for this video! I'm in an advanced art class and I'm supposed to buy a basic set of watercolor paints, so these comparisons were very helpful!

I just bought the Windsor and Newton Cotman set immediately after seeing your review. Only $26 on eBay with free postage here in Australia. Can't wait to get started and view your tutorials. Thanks!

I would like to have one of these sets,but as a normal 10th grade student here in the Philippines I cant afford that much ,because its around like 1000-2000 philippine peso, that is very expensive,and also thank you for this informative video!

Glad to hear someone say that it’s ok to start with student grade sets because I have a lot of them, 😂! I’ve seen videos where folks say absolutely start with professional paints! A good student grade set looks fine for me, especially in the beginning when ur are learning! Thanks u for this great video!

this video was so informative and well put ! thank you !

Great informative video. Just what I wanted to know as I'm looking to get my first watercolor set. You gave very precise and good information and I liked the color charts.

I bought a empty box from a amazon like store for 10 USD and it looks a lot like the Tropical watercolor set you showed, definitely worth it because ti came with 12 empty pans. I'm using it to experiment with a budget watercolor tubes set (Reeves)

Im just starting out in watercolour and this was very helpful, thankyou! I'll be subscribing :)

Great review very detailed and in depth.

Great comparison. This is comprehensive! Keep up the videos!

Great video! I had been trying to figure out of refillable pans could be used in the winsor and newton cotman box and now I finally have an answer. Also great advice about the lid of bottom mixing wells being raised up, I hadn't thought of that. Thank you!

Lovely review I like the comparisons you used..I like the small boxes so that the fit in a pocket to go.

There's also the Leningrad version from White nights, where the pans are sold in paper box. If someone (like me) paints mainly at home, those are good and cheaper :) and the pans can be glued into a random plastic box.

I just found this video. Thank you so much!

This was extremely helpful thank you soo much🙏🏻☺️

ps.... I wanted to tell you thank you so much for answering me so quickly and every time I really appreciate that.

thank you for that, I wanted to buy the van gogh one and it helped me:)

My first watercolors were Louvre (I wanted Reeves but Louvre was cheaper), and when mum bought me WN Cotman pocket plus, I loved it. No more worrying about binder separating from the pigment and molding palettes, and it comes with a lot of mixing space. I stopped using them for several months when I got daniel smith paints, though I felt bad and now I'm thinking of using them for journal sketches.

Thank you for your video, I've been doing more and more real media stuff, and sort of accidently fell in love with watercolor but I can't justify shelling out a ton of money for it when its more just a "play" media for me, and not a media I sell in, I have a cake set from a well intended "art set" box I got as a gift many years ago that I started to play with on a whim and while they are hardly good I want to break into a better quality set.

I really like the pastel co!It's of the set you thought we're useless! When I saw the door chart it made me know I want a very lol!

Thanks for the info man!

for Dutch people, Hornbach has a brand of watercolor Lucas, that is 12 colors in a plastic box for 9,95 E. Or 24 colors in a metal box, in 2 different metal boxes for 19,95 a piece/set. They are more opaque, but they are very good student Quality.

Old vid, I know. But viewers in the USA might be interested to know this: If your budget can stretch to $56 (as of July/18), you can get a 100% professional quality set of 12 from Da Vinci. The colour choices are great, all but 1 are single pigments, they're fully lightfast, just as strongly pigmented as W&N Artist w.c., or Dan.Smith (much more intense than 'Student grade' paints like Cotman), and you get 12 full pans. Honestly, paintings done with these could hold up in a museum for centuries. (No, I'm not associated with D.V.! I use mostly DanSmith tubes, but am very happy with the few D.V. tubes I have, and I think the 12 pan set is a screaming deal.) The White Knights set in this video are also a good deal, but the quality is not quite as good. I haven't looked closely at the W.K.'s 12 pan pigment choices, but in general, that brand makes some compromises. But still good for the money, and better than most student-grade paints. Here are the Da Vinci 12-pan set colours: Da Vinci Yellow PY154 Hansa Yellow Deep PY65 Da Vinci Red PR254 Alizarin Crimson (Quin) PV19 Permanent Rose (Quin) PV19 Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) PB15 Ultramarine (Green Shade) PB29 Sap Green PG7/PY42 Yellow Ochre PY43 Burnt Sienna PBr7 Burnt Umber PBr7 www.davincipaints.com/product-p/set-wcpan12fp1.htm

This was just a beautiful and satisfying video for me:))

He has such a thick accent but he's English is so clear I can understand everything he says and my brains confusing me

How fortunate! I live in Saint Petersburg, so the White Nights set is quite cheap here

Love your videos! As a professional artist, I also find your videos interesting and can see that you know your stuff! Two of my fav beginner sets are the Corman sets and surprisingly the Prima Marketing sets. Beginner sets are awesome and they help beginners learn the characteristics of watercolor and are an in inexpensive way for any level artist to experiment! I subscribed to you channel! Great info and you never stop learning! 😀

Thank you very much for this useful review.

Great recommendations. Thanks Teoh

Very thorough. Thanks.

hello, one question: the bit of the winsor and newton it can put in the box of pebeo

i just bought the prima marketing set! i own about 6 daniel smith colors and i plan on squeezing them im the middle :) thanks for all you do!!

White nights really are an excellent under rated watercolour .. I usually advise students to try them before waisting money on cotman

Thank you! This is very useful.

Thanks for sharing!!☺👍

Thanks for the info on the boxes! That's what I'm looking for as I can't afford the Schmincke box. (For the same price as the Schmincke tin I can buy a lot more professional artist watercolors! :) )

Thanks so much your content is so useful i love it

Thanks for the information - very helpful. Do you ever mix your brands in the same palette? Or do you keep them separate - WN with WN and DS with DS etc?

i really like your reviews!

I actually really liked the look on that pebeo color chart. The pastel-like tones are beautiful

Thanks for this Teoh, wondering if you have used Paul Rubens in comparison, or if any of your recommendations have since changed?

Heyy i would like to ask i found watercolour pan set by bianyo i liked how it looks but i dont know if i should buy it please help me is their quality good? because they are the only kind or brand of watercolour pans i found atm thank you! 😄😇

The Winsor & Newton Cotman are cheap on amazon, about $13 USD. I would recommend the Sakura Koi travel sketchers field palette which has about 24 colors I believe. They are also vibrant and cost $20 USD. The palettes used to be much more expensive at Michael’s but they are cheaper online, but price depends by store.

I just buy them all :) your vids are excellent!

Teoh what you are referring to as a lower mixing area on the Van Gogh set I don't think is meant to be a mixing area at all. With form fallowing function I believe this area is meant to be used for adding more colors from tubes by putting little blobs of paint in the recessed areas and not as a mixing area.

You can fix your mixing well problem by lining the edges with caulk, and also divide the big wells into smaller sections. I always line my palette boxes around the wells and outside edge to stop accidentally leaking paint in storage or transit. Just a thin layer will do the job.

I was surprised that You can Buy That Van Gogh Set in Finland! Good for me... But Only shop is in Helsinki so I need to Wait a bit to travel there but still lovely Video!

I really like how compact the w&n cotman set is. does it fit a size 6 da vinci maestro travel brush inside though?

Thank you for your recommendations, Teoh! I have been keen on the white knights for a while. Off to eBay I go! 🙂

i just bought the prima marketing set ! Good.. Thanks Teoh

Some reviews of the Wins or and Newton Cotman Sketchers Pocket box I've seen show that it comes with a Chinese White. Did you change any of the colors in yours, or does the color selection vary??

Thanks for the video. I think Pebeo is a French brand. I've heard lots of good things about Pebeo Drawing Gum though.

Just let you know. I just bought a Pebeo box and you can fit 20 half pans without taking the tray out (7 top and bottom and 6 in the centre). The only thing I don't like is the colour which is actually a faint shade of lilac for some unknown reason...not sure how that's going to be when mixing colours.

This video is very informative. I'm looking for the Van Gogh and Sakurai Koi (12 colours), which one you most recommend? Thank you so much!

can you do a video on affordable brushes?

Witch one it's best?

Have you tried the Sennelier La Petite Aquarelle? I think these came out just last year or something and are supposed to be almost as good as their artist line of paints.

Hi Teoh! Do you recommand Van Gogh or Daler Rowney because there are the only brands I could find in my country.

I'm torn between a Winsor & Newton Cotman 45 half-pan or the St Petersburg White Nights 36 pan set. Which one would you recommend?

Hi I was wondering if you can fit half pans in the space designated for the travel brush of the st Petersburg box, and if you can put half pans instead of full pans? I am between that one and the cotman 16pc that comes with the eraser since it will allow me to use full pans and half pans but I really like the white nights one too :T

Thank you! A great review, I really enjoy your style :) Have you tried the koh i noor 24 disc set by any chance? I'm just a beginner and impulse-bought one and I'm not sure whether I should return it and get one of these sets. It was $16.70 AUD and on eBay the Winson & Newton and White Nights palettes are about $30...

Would you recommend the pebeo set for young children who would like a set similar to my Windsor Newton professional?

Hello again, What do you think of the new Van Gogh portable palette design? It seems to me that it is less versatile. Also, have you ever tried Jane Davenport watercolours? Very affordable if you buy them from Michaels with a coupon. She claims they are artist quality. I did buy her set called "Brights" and I found it to be very vibrant indeed! I used it to make some mixing charts and to practice making secondary colours according to some of your other videos and I'm happy with the results. Oh, and when I made the chart using the grid, I followed the suggestion of one of your commenters, and I used the bottom triangle for the colours mixed in the palette applied to the paper wet on dry, and in the top triangle I mixed the colours on the paper. I wet the paper with clear water first and then applied the two colours I wanted to mix. Very interesting and I learned so much in such a short time! Thank you for all your demonstration videos!! PS The very first set I ever bought is the Winsor and Newton Cotman set just like yours and it's the one I just keep going back to.

I was looking for beginner watercolours that isn't crappy. Thank you for doing this. I am wondering, with the tubes of watercolour, can you mix your own colours with them and put them in an empty pan or is that something that isn't advisable?

Teoh, do you prefer Winsor and Newton or Van Gogh?

Talking about quality like colour vibrancy and such, do you prefer Van Gogh or Winsor & Newton Cotman?

Fix the box the area where you mix with silicon 😉 great review bravo

Hello, do the half pans in van gogh fit in the winsor and newton palette?

Hello Teoh, when you replace colors with tube paints do you have to do anything special.

Hi, Teoh. If I must choose between two cheap sketching sets, Sakura Koi field set and Pebeo 12 half pan set, which one would you recommend?

Hi Yi Chie, thank you so much for keep sharing, it really helpful. I'd like to ask if I can get higher level, u think is it better to get mix like 2 or 3 brand as W & N, Daniel smith? Which color brand you think is more transparent but also bright? Did u try mission gold? and one more question, u recommend tube or pan if I dont need to take out? Is it exactly same effect ?

Is there a travel set that comes with artist grade paint? Thanks for the video.

Thanks Teoh!! Have you ever used gum Arabic with watercolor?

Hi Teoh! Do you suggest getting the windsor and newton set you mentioned here or the sennelier mini watercolor set?

Between the box Winsor&Newton Cotman with waterbrush (14 colors) and Kuretake Transparent watercolor set (14 colors) with a waterbrush and an ink pen, which one would you recommend for travel? Thanks!

There is another one I love- Lukas Studio set- I love mine :) I ordered a set of white nights and I cant wait for it to come- I like the prima brand too, it bothers me that there are no names on the paints- but they are so vibrant! Thank you for this video

I had a KOI and a rembrandt watercolor.....but i prefer white night sonnet, i love rembrandt too, but i think its kind of too professional for me....im not ready yet....as a beginner i really enjoyed Sonnet!

What's your opinion on the very cheap prang and mont marte watercolor pans? I think they're around 10 dollars for 12 colors

St. Petersburg (or Leningrad) has student paints under the name "sonnet" and artist grade colours under "white nights". I recommend them the most because they are light fast and artist grade for half or a quarter the price of other artist grade paints.

I have the Winsor & Newton Cotman set. I bought it for its compactness too. Didn't yours come with a small paint brush? Mine did. Also, the Corman set came with a white. I don't know what that's for. Doesn't white make watercolors "muddy"?

have a question which do you think is better Windsor Newton cotman or white knights