I bought this palette a couple if years ago. I was really excited when I swatched them but struggled with how much they lifted when i painted with them. I loved the prima tropicals but my favorite was the decadent pies palette which was awesome for plein air and live drawing. I feel that mungyo watercolor has suffered in quality over the years getting more gritty. Its like they are not grinding it as finely. Maybe they are rushing to meet demand. I think the art by Marlene watercolors are these too. They are also the Paper Fashion watercolors by American Crafts and Jane's watercolors were put out though American Crafts too. I remember when the primas first came out they were $11-$15 on Amazon and people were buying them for the tins because it was before you could buy the empty meeden tins. This set is great for cardmakers and scrapbookers who want a quick robust layer of color. That's my thoughts anyway. I like the idea of making curated sets from this for fun. Oh, have you tried art whale tubes yet? They are by Superior. I think they are good for the price but there are some quality control issues recently I've heard from viewers.
Hoo, it seems like everyone white labels from either Superior or Mungyo! If you haven't yet, we ought to maybe create a spreadsheet tracking who's white labeling who- it would be helpful when shopping for the lowest price vs best quality available, or might just help people not buy repeats!
Also, take a look at some of the amazing floral paintings done by Helen Campbell. She used these for a while on the recommendation of a student and gets as many as 10 layers on her botanicals because she uses them very gently and layers as I do with my M. Graham paints. The other artist that does well with this set is Shayda Campbell. I'm shocked at her quickly worked botanicals and she uses this set almost exclusively! She compared to Sennilier and was upset she'd spent so much for tubes of 'pro' paints that didn't perform the same. I adore Sennilier, but they often have four pigments per mix and mud can happen...and I can't afford their huge set of tubes to have every mix. At least not at this point...LOL! Take care and keep looking for good quality paints for great prices!
I ordered this set for a few reasons. I have a lot of expensive professional watercolours already and wanted a large cheaper set to take out and about and also to share with others if they want to have a try. I’ve heard they aren’t very good at layering or mixing, which is fine for fast and loose pieces and there are plenty of convenience mixes. The lack of lightfastness doesn’t bother me as I’ll only be using them in my sketchbooks. I like the fact that they move and disperse so well with a little water and encouragement and having a lot of opaque colours works when you don’t want to layer very much. In all, I’m sort of looking at it a bit like gansai Tambi but in a more portable version. Can’t wait to take them for a ride around watercolour world. Lol ❤ PS: if you’re having trouble with a plastic or metal palette with the paint beading up, give it a scrub with either toothpaste or a Magic Eraser sponge, this should solve the problem 😊
My Jane Davenport brilliant set had a bit of grit but nothing like I see here and they are at least three years old. I believe quality I definitely going down with this company. I really like my Superior set better. My serious palette is my Daniel Smith. Thank you for an amazing and extremely helpful review!🎨💕💕
I bought the 24 set on a super deal. I didn't like the paints but I love the tin! It's pretty sturdy and unbent. So I took the pans out, put them in a drawer and use the tin for my Daniel Smith travel palette. When I swatched the watercolors, they were quite pretty, but the grittiness got to me. I had already purchased a couple of the Jane Davenport 12 sets on another super deal and was happy to see that there was little or no duplication between my 24 set and the Jane Davenport set. So eventually I'll give them all away to a child. Yeah, the Finetec metallics are head, shoulder and both arms better than the decadent pies. Nice review.
Thank you for your video, I personally is not investing in student grade paints at this time but I do appreciate your video when it comes to secret gems like the Rosa Gallery. One paint I am looking further to is Isaro. I bought a few colors during Jackson’s Black Friday sale. Were you able to catch any good sales this year?
You also mention Superior. In 2020, I got some 24 Superior Palettes and they surprised me. They look exactly like my Paul Ruben's (ahem) Pro 24 palette (i own the 24 and 48 thanks to gifts) and I paid (don't faint) $7.99/each. Yes, I bought five. (Lol). Look for bargains everywhere!
