Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours - Love Them Or Hate Them? 

That Cobalt Blue Hue is a beauty. I still use them for practising landscapes in the Ron Ranson style, using Hake brushes, as shown in a great watercolour painting book by Stephen Coates. The pigment quality is clearly "student grade", but hey, I'm at a self-taught student level anyway.

I use some Cotman along with my more expensive paints. I LOVE cerulean hue for skies. Permanent Rose is a nice, soft, vintage pink. Payne's gray is more of a charcoal, rather than a typical Payne's gray. I like the yellow ochre, slightly deeper than usual yo's. The phthalos are really great for mixing, because since they are less strong than other brands, I don't overwhelm the mix when I want just a speck of phthalo. Cotman tubes are better than pans.

Even thought I think that the Van Gogh paints are the best student-grade watercolors, I still very much enjoy using the Cotman paints. Winsor & Newton Professional watercolors are my favorite paints overall, but there are a number of the Cotman paints that I like either as much as or better than some of their Professional counterparts. The Cotman Gamboge Hue is just as brilliant as the Professional New Gamboge, and it is the primary yellow on my palette. It reminds me of a cleaner Quinacridone Gold, and I haven’t found a yellow that I enjoy using more than this hue. I also keep the Cotman Sepia on my palette as it is slightly warmer than the Professional version and is perfect for painting darker skin tones and adjusting the undertone. I prefer it to a Burnt Umber since I find myself mixing PBr7 to achieve the Cotman Sepia anyway. And it’s because of the Cotman Burnt Sienna that I prefer this hue as a PR101 rather than PBr7, likely because it was the first Burnt Sienna that I used so I became used to mixing with it. The Professional version is more intense, but I’m happy to use the Cotman version if I have it on hand. Lastly, I love using both the Cotman Sap Green and the Professional Permanent Sap Green. Both are made with blends that contain PG36, my preferred version of phthalo green, but they have different secondary pigments that give each hue a unique quality, and I enjoy using them both. Overall, I think Cotman is a fantastic student line, but there is a discernible quality difference between the older line made in England and the most recent line produced in China in the half pans; not sure about the tubes. So if you can score an older Cotman Sketcher’s Pocket Box or other palettes, grab them and keep them. Even the plastic half pans are nicer with the Winsor & Newton logo stamped on the bottom. Newer pans are unstamped.

Cotman are still my favorite "student " grade watercolor. They act/ perform like the pro line and use mostly the same pigments.

I like Cotman. There is only one of their colors that I have issue with and that is their Raw Sienna, which has a horrible consistency. It is super streaky and lifts from the paper instantly, making layering almost impossible. Other than that I have only had good experiences and I do use Cotman quite a bit. There are obviously better watercolors out there, but for the price and the purpose that they are sold for, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them at all. As for the hate that they're getting... The whole reason I ever tried Cotman was actually *because* I wanted to know why some people hate them so much. So I bought a little set and I thought that they're totally fine. Not the strongest pigmentation, but they layer fine, flow fine, give proper mixes and rewet decently enough for a student grade paint. Personally, I like Van Gogh, too, but I actually prefer the consistency and flow of Cotman. I know that some people will probably not like to hear this, but it's time to stop hating a product over what is clearly user error. If the paints were the problem, then there would not be so many people getting perfectly decent results using them.

The Cotman set I have used the most is a pan set, and I find the paints to be less pigmented than other student grade paints like Sonnet, Grumbacher Academy and Van Gogh. I get better results from the tube set I have. and while both the tube and pan colors are very nice, I wish they'd include lightfast info on their color charts.

I really do hate Cotman as they exist today. Last time I'd bought some in the early 90s, they were great!

I have the 45 pan set and I honestly believe they are good quality for the price. They're not artist grade , but some of the colors are gorgeous. I'm writing this as I look at my swatch card. The cobalt blue is so vibrant and one of my favorite shades.

I guess it depends on one's style. It doesn't work for everyone especially people who love intense colors but it is ok for simpler paintings I feel. I myself love to use Cotman wc in tubes (not pans) every now and then for small floral painting, especially if I am going to a more transparent look. Yet to try them for landscape/ large paintings.

Van gogh and Cotman are the brands i usually consider when i need to quickly refill a color but only have a limited budget. Tho some colors i have permanently on my palette are from these brands as i find the quality is fine for my use.

The Cotman Sap Green is included in a bunch of their sets - I'm interested that the only "green" you have is their Viridian, while you have many blues and red/orange shades. Maybe you like mixing your own greens? Fun to do! Thanks for posting!

I was about to buy the Purple Lake of Cotman - PR88 - for it was such a ravishing colour. But I went and bought Quinacridone Violet PV19 instead.

I don't hate cotman, I don't particularly love them either. I have used them early on when I first started dabbling. For that matter, I don't particularly love the professional either, except a few colors. lol I have a new expensive love of A Gallo. I'm afraid to test them for lightfastness. lol

I never tried cotman. After trying a n inexpensive set of watercolors, I gave them to my neighbors daughter (she loved them) I somehow got started on QOR. Using samples and loved how they flowed and the vibrancy. Then Daniel Smith. Now I seem to collect different prof paints! I only bought W&N prof because someone used them and I was taking classes. They are nice paints but prefer DS or QOR. Haven’t tried Holbein or Schmickie

I think Cotman is a great starter set for a beginning artist with a limited budget. D.S. split primary set is great for learning how to mix colors. Cotman is a lot better than some of the other student grade paints.

I have a few tubes and I still use them. I too think that they are a good value.

I got my start with the Cotman and Sakura Koi watercolors. Boy this takes me back! I think they're good for just messing around with, and for beginners. I don't necessarily hate them, but I know some people have a major beef with Winsor x Newton.

Cotman is a nice watercolor brand. It comes right next after Schminke Akademie that I recommend for a watercolor starting set.

I use my Cotmans all the time. They were my first set of watercolors, and I guess I have them to blame for the small pigment warehouse in my closet now…They are excellent for practice, but I’ve painted some really nice things with them.

They are quite nice watercolours from the tubes,but the pans seem to dry quite hard and require a lot of scrubbing to get a decent intensity of colour. If I had to choose, I’d probably stick to Academy or Van Gogh, they are much easier to rewet. However I do like the little 12 pan set. The box is really sturdy, good plastic, and I like to refill it with better paints and use it as a small travel watercolour set.

I have the half pan set and I do feel like they are a bit weak compared to Paul rubens, but honestly it works with my style as I tend to layer and build my colors slowly. I am still a beginner though.

They’re an ok product they’re just not as pigmented as the professional line but i actually don’t find a problem rewetting them. I do probably going to buy the alizarin crimson hue since PR206 at least in winsor newton seems less earthy than other brand, other than that i like theirs payne’s gray

I haven’t tried Cotman, but I do have Van Gogh. They’re quite decent.

You didn’t have it here, but I love Cotman Hookers Green Light…. I don’t even think the Professional HG is as nice 🤗🤗🤗 I use Cotman tubes into my own half pans and palette though, I’ve never tried the pre-made pan sets

I appreciate them for what they are. Lots of good colors, especially the earths and blues. The Indigo is very pretty. I just picked up the 14ml Tube of PR206 Alizarin Crimson for under US$5. Can't go wrong with that. It's like a creamy Perm Rose. I'm not as keen on PR179 yet. I agree Jay, they get too much shade for a good student set.

I wonder if the hate comes from the pan side of things rather than the tubes. Just about all of my Cotman tubes have been decent, like the ones you have swatched here. Cool look into the range, either way!

I'd never be without my Cotman: being modestly priced (and in generous 21ml tubes) I can let rip and experiment. Also the quality is often really good- with some great earths. I recently got a Raw Sienna from them which is gummy/curdled/snotty like your umber here: showing brushmarks whatever you do! Unacceptable and unuseable, but at the price not a disaster. Is it because they now get them produced in China that the Qual Control is not as stringent as it shd be? If this were to become a regular thing it would be a huge pity: because I love WN Cotman. (Except for their Payne's: not blue enough, just like you say.)

I know it's all very personal but Im not a fan. I have bought a few small tubes to try and I just dont like them as much as my lower end pro paints Rosa Gallery, White Nights or Paul Ruben Pink Set. For the price, and I know that depends on where you live, these are far better and far cheaper for me. I even like my Pretty Excellent (Paul Ruben student grade) better. I do love my handmade pans from Etsy!

Is the Cerulean Blue Hue transparent? The packaging says it is opaque but it appears rather transparent in the video.

Nice to see these blues. You got me interested in the cobalt and cerulean hues. I like van Gogh better but I don't hate cotman. Especially after mixing it with glycerin and honey ;) I even got few more tubes recently.

I only have one tube of Cotman, I have several tubes of Grumbacher and I love them even more than VanGogh.

I don’t have any Cotman paints, but if I did I doubt I’d hate them. And I’ve seen a few people produce beautiful work with them so they can’t be that terrible

First!

I don't know when they started manufacturing in China, but it would appear to me and to a lot of folks, that the quality has dropped somewhat. Some colors rewet okay, but Sap Green is WEAK, both from the tube and out of the pan. I have almost used up the Cotmans I own and will be switching to Van Gogh or Grumbacher Academy.

Je suis débutante sur l'aquarelle mais j'utilise mixed media depuis 18 ans avec Art journal aprés le scrap Finalement trés tendance la peinture aquarelle avec le scrapbooking ....j'adore quelques tubes Cotman jaune citron et Outremer pour le mélange avec laque rouge 612 chez Sennelier Trés douce et estivale colorisation pour les petites bidules scrapbooking ou art journal J'adore Cotman Bien sur j'aime le plus chez David Smith mais il coute plus cher ...parfois je jouer les tubes primaires en melangeant avec poudre mica d'Or ou Argent ou Bronze etc on peut les trouver dans le cosmethique GENIAL n'est ce pas '-)

these seem really nice straight from the tube, would definitely use them without any complaints If I only used tubes. I only tried them in pans when I first started being interested in watercolour but..wasn't very happy with them XD Really prefer the Van Gogh formulation since they dry nicely in the palette, I still use them to create custom palettes for my students, although I wish they made bigger tubes

I like Cotman's variety of different reds, NOT too thrilled about some of their blues (yeah, I'm looking at you ultramarine). I love Grumbacher's blues, but not their cool reds (all their PV19s seem quite the same to me). And choose VanGogh's yellows over the last two. Now W&N ARTIST on the other hand are another story =).

The link does not take me to them😅☺️

I have a very old , maybe twenty years, set of Cotman , the little palette. I quite liked those, got a newer set of 24, absolutely dislike it. It does nothing for me. I know someone who would enjoy it though. I have never tried the tube versions, maybe the tubes do better, the half pans were very disappointing.

First?

For me, i like their oil paints rather than watercolor