I love the fact that you always recommend buying artist grade, but whatever is most affordable in your country. When you get to artist grade paints, they all tend to be good, but there are still many who will say "You have to buy Daniel Smith" or "You have to buy Schmincke" with no regards to prices in different countries. My palette is made up of Schminke, Rembrandt, WN and Daniel Smith. They are all good. Finally I can get Rembrandt 20 ml in Norway, and that will now be the economical choice for me.
Thank you! Yes, I think it's not only wasteful but also misleading to recommend one artist grade brand. I also think any artist who rules out all other brands except one is doing him/herself a disservice. Yes Schmincke is as close to perfection as any brand is, and Daniel Smith has unparalleled color range, but every single brand out there has some hits and some misses, or in Schmincke's case just a smaller color range than Daniel Smith ;) So glad you can get Rembrandt, they are my go to for excellent paint and then I pick a few unique Daniel Smith to complement.
@@iritlandgraf Yeah, being openminded about brands is crucial. It opens up all the best colors. I feel like Rembrandt gets overlooked a lot, and it is such a good option, at least in Europe.
I agree on the plastic palettes, I don't like them, either. The big White nights palette is kind of an exception though, I do not love it, but I think it is okay because the enormous mixing area + detachable palette definitely are a pro to me, and I find that the plastic stains suprisingly little. I am all for those classic metal palettes, I would always choose those over any plastic palette. Looks, versatility, mixing, staining, cleaning - I do think that they are superior in pretty much every aspect. And I actually think that even a tin like the one that QOR offers is better than the plastic ones. I poured my QOR paints into pans with magnets, and it works great. That's where I keep both my QOR and my Daniel Smith paints, and it is one of my main working palettes along with a big 48 pan one that holds a mix of Sennelier, Winsor and Newton pro, Rembrandt, and a few colours of Daler Rowney Artist, Lukas and White Nights, as well as another big one that holds all my Lukas 1862 paints (I do not think that they are the highest quality paints, but there is something about Lukas watercolors that I just love, they have something very unique about them I find, so totally simple and basic in a good way, and I have used them for so long that I am very attached to them I guess), and then one by Schmincke that is kind of a weird format, kind of like a square almost, that originally came with tubes in it. I kicked out the tube holder thing that was in it and now use magnets to keep all my Horadam paints in there. And apart from that I do also enjoy using student grade paints every now and then, both because I have a rather large collection of them that I think should be put to use, and also because I do think that they are pretty decent paints. I do love my Schmincke Akademie, which is amazing for a student paint and also came in a gorgeous palette (a medium sized one for 12 full pans, just like the one that Horadam comes in), but I also can definitely appreciate paints like Van Gogh, Cotman, and so on. Yes, I prefer artist grade paints, for the obvious reasons, really good artist paints are simply on another level, but I think that the student grade watercolors by the big brands are all pretty decent and will get the job done well. And just recently I tried the Paul Rubens watercolors, and I must say that I was super impressed with their price performance. They are obviously not super high quality artist grade, which also could not be expected at that price, but they definitely deliver a lot more than what they cost, including a lovely palette. Now that I typed all of this, I am a little ashamed of my watercolor hoarding, lol, even though I know that compared to many other people, I probably do not even have a big collection at all. Also, I loved the video!
how was your experience with Lukas watercolors? I’m super tempted by their tubes (that’s a lot of paint for a good price) but haven’t seen that many reviews on RU-vid unfortunately. Any colors you really enjoyed specifically?
@@kamalitarajagopalan2671 Lukas watercolors are great, I love them. How could I describe them, let's see: They are very basic in a really good way. They feel like a very traditional, classic watercolor, nothing outrageous, no huge loads of pigment or crazy flow, they're quite subtle. They're also not super super transparent. I mean, of course they are transparent enough to work well with them, but they are not like Sennelier or Qor or something like that. Also, they dry quite matt. I know a lot of people do not like this and confuse it with being chalky, but they are not chalky at all, nothing rubs off when they are dry, they also glaze fine and all of that, they are really just matt. I think they are great paints, I have been using them for a long time and they continue to be one of my favorites. I think they are definitely worth a try. As for colors that I really enjoy, it's their naples yellow, naples yellow red, cobalt turqoise, cobalt green, cobalt blue, burnt sienna , cad yellow and olive green.
Another great video, Irit! I have an old set of Pelikan 24 transparent (I opened it up after like 15 years and it was as if I had used it the day before) and then bought the opaque set about a year ago. Both sets, IMHO, are about as close to pro without being pro. As far as I know Pelikan has never disclosed their pigments and they market a lot to schools and kids. But these are NOT just for kids and the transparent set is usually sold in the regular watercolor section of stores and sometimes the opaque, marketed a lot to kids and with kid’s graphics on the box may be in both the kids and regular sections of stores. Some of my work I’ve done with the transparent and the a bit less with the opaque (a kind of non-pro version of gouache) would be very hard for anyone to tell that it was done with a “hobby grade” or “student grade” paint. While I wouldn’t sell anything with just Pelikan watercolors,due to non-disclosure of pigments, I would definitely use them for digital reproduction and other works that won’t be exposed to light. Their price isn’t “cheap” as non-pro wc goes...probably in the range of Cotman? but if someone is learning and wants a better wc but not. the “pro” prices, I’d say go for Pelikan. And one con is that they don’t make any other colors than what’s in their sets, but you can order replacements. p.s. Pelikan’s transparent turquoise blue is gorgeous!
I got one... no wait, actually two of their 12 pan boxes (because I left my old one at my parent's so I could paint when I was on vacation at home and one in my flat in the city I studied at) They're the first transparent watercolours I ever got 🥰, aside from the opaque ones which were like a staple supply in art classes in German schools. They're still a bit of a comfort supply, because they behave like the opaque ones (which were the ones I learned colour theory with) when mixing them. I still would recommend them and the Van Gogh ones to starters, but that they won't tell their customers what pigments they use definitely is a bit of a bummer... Oh, and I got a painting with them framed and that's hanging in my parent's living room for the past two years or something. Not in direct sunlight, but it's also not hidden in a sketchbook or something - and that still looks pretty well.
Pelikan watercolors were the first watercolors I ever had as a kid. First the opaque ones (they are a childhood staple here in Germany...) and then when I was 9 or 10 I got their transparent set. I haven't used their transparent watercolors in decades now, and I unfortunately do not even know for sure what happened to my first set, but I still have a 24 count set of their opaque paints and I think they are great, I love using them for sketches. And they are one of the few art supplies that I really trust 100% to be non-toxic (just because I have been around them for so long) , which is awesome, because this way I can use them when I am just chilling and have my cat sitting on me, or when I am eating something on the side. And yes, it is too bad that they do not disclose the pigment info, I would really be interested in this as well. I do find though that when compared to other brands' paints, brands that do disclose their pigment info, the colors are such close matches, I am fairly certain that Pelikan does use the standard pigments that other brands do, but this is, of course, just a guess. But at least with their ultramarine, their pthalos, their earth tones, and also their magenta, I think it's pretty easy to guess which pigment it is, or to at least bring it down to a choice of two or three. But again, it's a guess. What I do know for a fact though is that the paints must be pretty lightfast, as in the 30+ years that I have been using them, I have never seen them fade, not even on kids' paintings that are just put on the fridge without any glass to protect them.
@@LunaBianca1805 Good to know. 👍 Pelikan always gets overlooked. I guess it’s been around so long and people forget about reviewing it. Plus Pelikan doesn’t advertise that much, at least in the U.S, except for their fountain pens. I don’t need any refill colors, but if an did, I would have to order from a U.S. company called Chartpack. I believe they represent a lot of smaller art brands and some European brands. Pelikan’s own website doesn’t even say much about their transparent watercolors...it’s mostly the opaque set and opaque refills are sold to schools. 👍
One can simply not, show background with marvelous yarns and not do a video to show us and tell what you're working on!😍 Ok I'm an adhd idiot and didn't get the second channel, subscribed!
Thank you for making this video! Would you say that this is correct? Sennelier - best for florals, glazing, smoothness, and layers Daniel Smith/Da Vinci- best for granulation, landscape, animals, anything that needs more texture instead of smoothness What would you recommend for painting fabrics and realistic portraits? What qualities do I need to look for in a watercolor if I wanted to paint those?
Sennelier is famous for their glazing and they are a lovely paint, but many floral artists go with Daniel Smith, winsor and newton and other brands, so I don't think there's one brand that is best for painting a subject. Paper and pigments matter too. I don't paint realistic portraits or fabrics so can't give recommendations as to what would work well for those. I'd say see what your fave artists (that paint those subject) use and start there, or buy a good primary triad from a couple of brands and see which you prefer 😀
Irit, thanks for this comprehensive review. White Nights is unknown to me, although I've got some Yarka cakes - I think they're related. I've only ever purchased Sennelier in tube form and I've become a big fan. And I look forward to checking out your shopping guide.
Well, I can’t crochet, but I do know the chain stitch so I will certainly visit you at your new channel. I eyed the yarn the minute that you came on the screen. They look yummy. Thanks for such an interesting rating of your paints. You forgot Rembrandt, but you can’t mention them all. So here’s a shout out for Rembrandt watercolors. They’re the artist grade paints above Van Gogh.
Glad you enjoyed! I didn't forget, I just never bought a set of Rembrandt, only open stock. I wrote in the info section I would pick up their 24 half pans in a tin set if I were starting out now :)
Curated sets are very discouraging: there are often mixed greens and just some colors I never use like warm reds or cool yellows. Moreover, they usually avoid strongly granulating colors. My basic set consists of one cool red (PV19), one neutral yellow (PY154), burnt umber and a lot of various blues and blue-greens. I do have other colors, but these I cannot do without ;) The only curated set I was tempted about is QoR, as the 12 set is a perfect starter set for the color selection. But I don’t like flowy paint.
not sure what brand that was, but my experience with rembrandt set was anything but positive. now that i've bought (sigh, yet another) new set of rembrandt in the wooden box (not because i needed one, but because wanted one), and that set is not that tempting, as the previous one (because of lavender, which i don't see where to use it, fake ceruleum, that consists of phtalo blue +white), but hey, that is a challenge, to try something different, that i would not have if not that set :)
@@mikepolo2887 agreed, fake ceruleum in artist grade range is something only an evil mind could have invented. though, i see it quite often in "vegan" sets of paints.
This was fun to watch but interesting to hear your opinion of each of the paints being the same across the board in the artist brands. Although my opinion differs a bit, I think you just really have to try different brands to really know and choose your favorites. Some things that might be important to one person may not be for the next. I do think there is one really important thing that was left out though and that is the line of primateks that Daniel Smith carries. That line of paint sets them apart from any other watercolor brand whether people like them or not. I also personally think Schmincke is a step above also and would recommend them no matter where you live. They are just a treat to own and paint with. Beautiful excellent paints. Another brand I have recently bought several tubes of are M. Graham. Wow, what beautiful highly pigmented paints with a lower price point than Schmincke and Daniel Smith. (I only mention that in case you didn’t know). As for palettes, I own both metal and plastic. The one reason I prefer plastic is because I can get the paint out of the pans easier. They aren’t actual pans but just wells to put the paint and I do prefer that. As far as to mix on, I pull out my ceramic palette. It’s just so superior to metal or plastic. Thanks for a fun video to watch. I always love to hear what others have to say. 😁
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As this video is intended more for beginners, I do think that all major artist brands (at least the ones i'm familiar with) offer good paint. It would really be impossible for a beginner, in my opinion, to know at this level if they prefer Daniel Smith, Sennlier or Rembrandt. For more advanced artists, of course, the more you paint, the more you develop your preference for formulation, color and the way you prefer to use watercolors, straight from the tube or pan paint. Schmincke has exceptional quality across their range, but Daniel Smith has a wider, and superior (in my opinion) color range, it is also vegan, unlike Schmincke, and made in the US, not Germany. So there is a lot that goes into deciding which brand works best for one. For me, I use several brands as I don't believe one brand gets everything right all the time. You couldn't pay me to use Daniel Smith's, Qor, or M. Graham's versions of cobalt violet, for example. There's a lot to consider, but the main purpose of this video was to clarify major considerations when buying paint, and the rest of my thoughts and reasoning on the subject is explained in the blog post and shipping guide mentioned :)
oh, and as for Daniel Smith's primatek, yes, I agree they do offer a wonderful range of paints, but other brands seem to be stepping up with interesting colors, like the recent Schmincke granulating paints, so hopefully we can see more of these unique paints coming! As for M. Graham, I agree they are lovely but not for me. They never dry and impossible to travel with, also not vegan and expensive across the ocean where I am. So yes, as you said, everyone is different, that's why I always suggest mixing brands and trying new ones, just not with basic sets. M. Graham offers wonderful 5 tube sets that are great for testing the brand.
The small 14 count, winsor and Newton cotman pallet, was one of my first professional pallets I got when starting out. I loved them. Idk where they went, I’ll have to pick up a new one for nostalgia.
I have to say the first thing I did notice is your beautiful stash of brightly coloured yarns🥰 This is a very helpful video for beginners and would have also saved me lots of money when I started painting 👩🏾🎨 Live and learn.
Hello Irit...thank you for all your hard work in creating your videos. I started with a Cotman set like the one you showed....however after moving to artist quality grade (eg Daniel Smith) I realised that Cotman was not delivering on vibrancy nor granulation. But it is a good starter set. As for plastic palettes...the only one that I have found really good for a mixing surface is the red one you use (and have on sale in your online shop). I actually prefer mixing on its surface rather than a metal palette! I have Sennelier paints and also a few tubes of MGraham....however living in a sub tropical city I find the honey content means the paint takes a long time to dry and in some cases (with the MGraham) the surface still has a slightly “sticky” feel to it long after it has dried. Take care
Glad you enjoyed Jeanette! Yes, the red palette is the best, but since it comes empty I didn't include it in this video... I will try to do another one about empty palettes perhaps in the future :)
Thx for sharing I really love your videos! Love Van Gogh but yea the plastic palette is a headache sometimes lol. I always bring them with me to travel tho
Oh my gosh!!! The opening background is incredible!! I am coveting your yarn!!! Well now I am off to check out your other channel as I crochet as well!!! What a great Saturday surprise!!! I wish I knew someone like you in real life! You are a very unique, talented, colorful, and special person. For as many faults as YT has - specifically with its increasing censorship - I never would have found you without the platform!
Yay! Thank you! I know what you mean, with all the evil stuff that comes with social media platforms it is such an incredible way of reaching people all over the world, I wouldn't be able to do what I do without it!
What a beautiful presentation,i love watercolors period,to me,as long as i can get beautiful results,i'm happy.I buy different brands all the time and i stock up,so to speak.I also love all water media paint,Irit, you have a beautiful channel.🌹🤗❤️🌻
I will buy a set/palette if the included colours that I'm interested in work out more expensive to buy separately. Unless it's predominantly yellow outside of those colours. There is far too much yellow out there, it's completely unnecessary. I also try not to overlap between sets, unless again it works out cheaper. I'll likely never use the spares, but at least they were "free." I don't mind the plastic palettes though as I'll just take out the pans I want to use and put them in a tin. There are plenty of lovely, colourful and affordable tins even on Amazon.
Thanks Pierre! I wish I could but I live in a rural area with bad Internet connection so can't do anything live sadly... I would love to do a weekly chat!
@@iritlandgraf shame - you could do a recorded 'Sat chat' like Lindsay the frugal crafter - but having small children like yourself limits your energy and creativity! We all enjoy any posts from you x
I never tried out White Nights, but I heard that the Sonnet Watercolors are similiar to them, though they should be more of a student grade. You can get a set of 24 full pans for less than 25€ but they dont come in a proper palett. For Around 30€ you can get 21 colors in a metal tin, full pans as well
there are people who prefer Sonnet over White Nights, but having tried them both, I would steer away from Sonet, well uness you're not that much into mixing. with white nights mixes tend to end up looking better, more vibrant.
When I'm thinking of buying a new set of watercolors, I mentally remove the colors that I already have too much of (hello Phthalo blue and lemon yellow), and colors that I do not like (cadmiums, cobalt blue, sap green). A set of 12 might then only have 6 colors remaining that I'd want. Then I do the math and figure if the price is worth the six colors, vs buying individual pans or tubes. Usually, it's not worth buying.......but if the metal or plastic palette, itself, is something I'd really like, I might consider buying it, anyway.
There are some great options in the last years for curated sets that are a great investment and a good way to try different colors, like Jean Haines set with Daniel Smith, but I wouldn't recommend getting basic sets when trying a new brand, unless you happen to be an artist that really enjoys using the colors usually included in these sets.
one advise though.. winsor and newton watercolours have different formula for their tube paints and their pan paints. tube paint doesn't rewet so easily and might crack in the pan when drying and become really hard. with that won't look as good as straight from the tube. not sure if that's the same with their cotman paints but a companies policy rarely differ much. but I am sure winsor and newton will answer when asked about this. 😊
I find that Cotman paints, when poured, are pretty much exactly like the extruded pans. I have compared the same pigments poured and extruded, and I would not be able to tell a difference if I did not know which is which. As for the W&N pro, I have heard that there are supposed to be those issues/differences, but I personally did not encounter them. Maybe I just so happened to coincidentally choose colors that are a little better suited for pouring than others, pigment properties do vary, but as for the ones that I have tried, I think they are really doing ok.
@@justacatwhocantype some colours do go easier but winsor and newton don't recommend it and they advice to buy the pans when preferring to work with pans and tubes when preferring working from tubes. many people don't like the winsor and newton professional paints because they used it wrong and that's a pity as they do have good paints. I notice it with the professional line tubes that they are from the tube looking better than rewetting it from a tube pored in a pan. the few cotman colours that I have don't have this so it could be they used the same formula pans and tubes for the cotman line and this only is with their professional line.
@@BrendasArt I don't use watercolors straight from the tube, I only buy tubes to pour pans. The only time I ever use "fresh" watercolors it when I pour them and do a swatch. So to be honest, I could not say how my fresh tube paint would compare to the dried paint in an actual painting, whether the quality decreases when it dries. But when comparing my poured W&N pans to the dried tube paints of other, comparable brands, or when compared to the extruded W&N pans, I really don't think that they are less vibrant or harder to activate. But then again, maybe I just got those exact colors that do particularly well when poured. With W&N I do not really have a preference as to whether I buy pans or tubes, I just get the color I need in the form that it is available in at the time, so who knows, could be I just got lucky. Overall though, I have noticed that, as you said, a lot of people do not like W&N watercolors, both the professional and the Cotman, and personally, I don't really understand it because I think they're great, they're amongst my favorites.
@@justacatwhocantype it probably depends on where you live, but I have many brands and W&N just has a different feel; not super hard to rewet, but definitely takes slightly more work than other brands. On the other extreme for me is Sennelier and M. Graham which are too easy to rewet for me. Just takes getting used to, but going off of experience only, I prefer somewhere in the middle (Daniel Smith, Da Vinci, & Roman Szmal). That being said, W&N has my all time favorite version of Potter's Pink, so I will always be a customer for that color. 😄
@@justacatwhocantype I have some professional winsor and newton tubes and several colours didn't do well pored in a pan. they cracked or became rock solid or like hard bendable jelly. the lemon yellow deep that I have does well being pored in a pan and ivory black either. winsor red deep got rock solid hard, hard to rewet. cobalt blue like hard jelly. winsor green jellow shade also jelly and several other colours. so it really depends the colour but overall it's not recommendable to use winsor newton professional watercolour from tube pored in a pan. their academy might go fine with it. so far my experience it did. but indeed winsor and newton has good paint and totally underrated. I see no quality difference between winsor and newton professional and other high end brands. their cotman really depends the artist preferences but they have the same quality as other brands student grade paints. I do use both pan and straight from the tube. with large washes it's easier to use straight from the tube. there is a RU-vid video about it I think. I remember seeing a video from a RU-vid artist who explains this more in detail after she contacted winsor and newton about this matter to share what information she found about it. unfortunately can't remember who it was. but from there I got this information and was like ow yeah that explains why my paints didn't do well in a pan 😂. but it might be good for winsor and newton to rethink about their formula as many people do prefer tubes pored in a pan so we can refill it reusing the pan.
well, if you want compare brand to brand, buying a set might be a way to go, since, to compare two paints by two brands, you should compare same pigments, so you don't end up comparing py35 of brand X vs py154 by brand Y, and then claiming that brand X sucks, because its paints are opaque. besides, one paint might not be representative enough to tell if the whole range is like that. for example, if you take some earths by sennelier, you might draw wrong conclusions about the whole line of paints made by that company. other than that, buying additional sets might be fun (want vs need), but if you're professional undesirable, since that makes your expenses higher and income (after selling your work) much more miserable (because of professional paint prices). but yes, when the brand is selected, and palette is settled, there is no need to buy the whole new set to try one paint.
I was curious if the White Nights pans fit in the center of the red pallet. I have an extra one and was wanting to buy some of those paints to customize another pallet.
Hey so I checked and they don't really fit all the way, so you can stick them in but their bottom won't touch the floor of the palette. They do however fit without a problem on the rails of the middle insert, so the top and bottom row of it, just not the middle. Hope that helps!
I had one set and gave it away. Their brights are great, just search for online swatches and pick the ones you love, I don't remember particular colors as I gave my set years ago, sorry!
Oh my, I thought I had watched this one before….(oh wait, I did, but I need to see it again,) but I always enjoy hearing what you have to say….and I love many of the same colors you do….AND you help me a lot in my pursuit of gaining more knowledge of all things “watercolor.” Just one comment on early on re: plastic palettes. I just got the Van Gogh “Pinks & Violets” set and LOVE IT 🥰 (except 2 of the reddish colors are almost identical👎.) It comes in the plastic palette you’re showing. But I sort of like the VG plastic palette and find the softer feel and edges sort of pleasant…and will likely refill it with more VG as needed…and I’ll definitely be buying more VG & some Rembrandt too. But I might be more annoyed if it was a bigger set that I couldn’t fill with other half pans…don’t know. 🫤 And I’ve started ordering from Jackson’s in the UK…(America’s “cousins across the pond.”) My word, they have great prices on so much…not always THE best price, but very frequently. AND it sort of saddens me (as an American) that businesses in the UK can ship to the US for typically lower rates than we can ship within our own country and where our shipping rates have skyrocketed. Our postal service is in somewhat of a crisis, but we’ve got so many other crises going on right now that I think it’s gonna be a while before that one’s resolved. 😩😡. Thanks, Irit 👍
Agreed with your gradings - however I would never recommend anyone buy ½ pans as they are too small to get a standard size 6 or 8 brush in without ruining your brushes, why oh why????
Many people use half pans. I still do. They take less space so that's a plus. Also many people paint with small brushes or on small size. I agree larger pans or wells are more convenient, but still take more space and are heavy, especially if one loves to have a large palette with many colors, like me 😉
