Prima Marketing Art Philosophy Watercolor Confections: Tropicals

I started watercoloring after a long gap of over 15 years as a great way to relax and relive my hobbies. I am just a hobbyist and I enjoy it in a way of doodling, documenting and practicing to improve my hobbyist skills. I initially bought a cheap watercolor set to kick start my hobby, but it led me to a frustrating experience with watercolors.I moved on to make some really pricey purchases with Sennelier, Daniel Smith and few tubes of Winsor and Newton. These artist quality purchases definitely brought steep improvement in my paintings, but mind you these don't come by any cheap or in range of affordability for all - especially students or anyone who is just starting out. And I really do not know if I can keep my passion alive to justify the purchases I have made. I still did, because I wanted to compare and not feel deprived of not having tried something that most artists rave about.Personally for me, I find it very intimidating to use these artist quality paints in my journal books and my practice papers. I was on the lookout for something that was not as expensive as the artist quality, but can satisfactorily mimic it. Since I specifically wanted it for journaling purpose, lightfastness was not a criteria. After a lot of net digging and research, I settled for Prima over White Nights (White Nights is nearly double that of Prima) and I cannot be much happier. Prima delivers it all. At $15 for a tin of colors, a journaling book and a brush pen is all you will need to get started. The Prima's Tropicals have a good range of rich and vivid colors. They are no way chalky. They are juicy, extremely pigmented and need very little water to wet them. They have decent transparency, and are vivid enough to make a good painting. Its been my favorite travel palette ever since and I use it extensively for plein air paintings.I believe a lot of us pick up hobbies on a whim and are unsure if we would continue it in a long run. Making expensive investments not only intimidates the joy of painting, but brings pressure and stress to create something superficial beyond our capacity. My idea of using Prima's set is to be able to enjoy watercolors freely without having to stress or worry about wastage incase my painting does not end up as desired. I truly want to be able to enjoy coloring rather than hestitating.The little tin it comes in is sturdy and sufficient for travel and plein air. If lightfastness is not your concern, and you want a great set for journaling, or for plein air painting, or if you are unsure like me and would like to give painting a try as a hobby, but not spend huge moolahs, this set from Prima can be your best bet. It is worth every penny spent and will not disappoint you.Dec 2022 Update: I still continue to use my Tropicals palette for my journeling and urban sketching. I bought the tin at $15, but the price has now shot up to $24. Not sure if the steep price increase is justified, still a nice set to have and that colors go a long way. Attached are some of my recent paintings done using these paints.

I think these Prima confections sets are great for anyone trying to get a watercolor set going.* The color tests in the photo were not done on watercolor paper, sorry! But you should be able to see how vibrant they are.Don't mind the weird textures you may see on some colors, that is not the paints' fault.Pros:- this is a very reasonable price for 12 watercolor pans & the tin palette case- colors are very very vibrant- colors are easy to re-wet & activate with a little bit of water on the brush- The colors dried very evenly and nicely- colors mix well, no problems- the pans snap very securely onto the plate (you should be bending the little metal flaps a bit toward the middle)- there is enough space in the middle for you to add 6-7 more half pans- The flap part of the palette have rolled edges, so you do not have to worry about water overflowing the edge (see photo compared to my other flat palette)- the ring on bottom of case is useful when holding case in handCons:(these are not terrible at all in my opinion, but I will list anything that could possibly be considered negative)- as in attached photo, the metal plate that holds the 12 spaces for the pans is not a "perfect fit" into the tin case. There is some space so yes, theplate will slide up and down slightly if you tilt the case if you do not secure with an adhesive of sort- the choice of colors in these sets are themed (thus "tropical) so if this is the only watercolor set you own, you may find yourself looking for someother colors for a more general & variety of possible color mixes. This is not the typical beginning set of colors so depending on your needs, this set may not be the one.Other misc. things I might want to point out:- the Winsor&Newton half pans are slightly smaller than usual, so with mixing those and the prima ones, I was able to fit 7 each on top/bottom row, and barely 7 on middle row (with using only the prima pans, only 6 will fit in each row)- the pans in the middle row will have to be secured somehow if you do decide to add some (with adhesive)- I know there are a lot of similar looking tin palettes out there using this kind of format. I attached a photo with my no-brand tin case and you can see that the Prima case is a bit fatter.- when you run out of a color, you can refill the empty pans with any tube color you may own+I forgot to mention the opacity.I think about half of the colors are semi-opaque to opaque.I personally prefer transparent but this is can be pro or con for someUpdate:-okay so since the 7 pans in the middle row have to be snuggly fit, it looks like after a few uses, there will be no need for a separate adhesive to keep them on the plate. Some of the paint and water during use will leak through the spaces in between so once they dry, the pans will naturally be somewhat stuck on. It is perfect. I've tested flipping it upside down and it seems all 3 rows of pans will stay on just fine unless you drop them on the ground accidentally.-As for the plate itself being smaller than the case and allowing room for sliding,if you do decide to fill in all 3 rows, the weight of the pans will prevent the plate from sliding too easily-I think the two side metal flaps (in middle row) can prevent the metal plate from falling out of the case if adjusted well

Beautiful fun colors with vibrant performance. These paints are smooth and fairly opaque. Some of them a a bit transparent but for watercolors that’s expected. I was actually surprised to see how opaque some of them were! Of course they can all be watered down to be more translucent but these paints are wonderful and of great quality! There are a lot of fun to bring along on beach or hiking trips because the of the pocket size they fit perfectly in my bag without taking up a lot of space. The case is also pretty durable. Not saying you should be throwing it around but especially when we go hiking it gets a bit banged up in my bagged but you could never tell. Still looks brand new! Love this and will definitely purchase another one in the future.

These watercolors never disapoint! Beautiful colors and highly pigmented. Excellent quality at an affordable price