Watercolor paint set

I already owned the travel set, and based on it's amazing quality and value, decided to buy the metallic/ chameleon set also. Here is my experience and opinion of both these fine products: 1. Travel set: I have a lot of water color sets and options, such that I really try to limit my purchases. But, sometimes a set is so good, especially for a budget friendly price that its worth owning--this is that set. I have not personally found a better performer for the price point!! Especially when I consider that this is a Chinese made art supply!! I'm sure there are better watercolors in the world...but they're all going to come from Europe and Japan, not China. So, those better paints will cost a bit more than this set. This set is literally better quality than many other sets at a similar price from the crafts store. Paint handles like watercolor should! It's not faint, it's not thick and chalky. This is a seriously good set for a beginner or casual hobbyist. Ideal for a teen or college age creative too! The travel set includes a range of standard type watercolors which are well pigmented and do granulate slightly! With cheaper sets like this, I personally expect more variability in the quality of paints (meaning that some will produce a better looking finished product than others with regard to the amount and quality of pigments). With this set, all the standard paints are rich and while there are slight differences between them, they're all useable. Now, this set also contains a few neon colors and metallics. That's where the quality takes a nose dive. Of course neons and metallics are tricky for almost any medium or company-- plenty of companies have a solid line of standard colors, and then somehow fail to produce neons and metallics that compare to the regular line. I have some very inexpensive neon paints that are way more pigmented and produce a better looking color saturation than these neon paints--but they are really chalky, almost like gouache in texture. So, hard for me to say about these...they still handle better than cheaper paints, but they're simply lacking some of the qualities of the standard color range. To me, the metallics are even worse. It's easy to find much better generic metallic paints than what's offered in this set. I notice that there's not a lot of reviews for both sets at once, not a lot of reviews for the metallic set and I feel like there's a reason for that: maybe most people would not buy the stand alone metallic set after sampling what's already included here. Travel set also includes some small watercolor papers, a few tools, and a handy guide with color names. It's very easy to transpose some of these colors when you swatch them out, so double check. One final thing to note: these paints aren't in removable pans. These are like cheaper paints in that they've obviously been made in some other mold, then glued in here. They look almost like they were formed in a long strip then sawed down to these sizes. So there's space between the pat of paint and it's section in this travel palette. That really really affects how these paints perform in way I consider negative. I always mist my paints with water to activate them. That method still helps a bit with this set, but not like it should! Meaning I had to mist the palette at least 6 times when I swatched it out and still yet had to come in and do most of the activation with a very wet brush. That does affect the control of the paints! These paints seem to need more water than what I would expect. It's not an insurmountable issue, and overall, I am very happy with this product, especially for the price. That's just a thing to keep in mind. 2. Metallic/ Chameleon set: They were very smart to include swatch sheets of both white watercolor paper and black card stock!! Most of these paints are awful on the white paper, but they really deliver a nice effect over black! Now, there's a ton of overlap between these paints and the metallics included in the travel set. You can compare the names in my photo where I show the Travel set on top (metallics are listed last on that swatch sheet) with the black and white metallic swatch sheets. Some of these, like the purple and green simply shouldn't have been repeated between these sets--theyre not good enough quality to justify them being included in any set that costs more than $5!! Seriously. And while the Gold has the same item name and number, it is invisible on white with this set, yet is plainly visible on white with the Travel set. That might be an issue for some people who specifically need a gold that can deliver. I think the Travel set is all around an excellent set, and I would recommend it strongly. If you don't already have some decent watercolors, then definitely invest in the travel set. The Chameleon set is more of a novelty item. If you're just looking for classic metallic watercolors, or jewel tones...you can honestly find what you're looking for at half the price of this set!! I would offer recommendations, but I think that's outside the scope of this review. This Chameleon set is really just for the person who has money to burn on novelty art supplies...or who is looking for that certain something that isn't readily available. I do give them credit for that-- having colors with a slight iridescent chameleon effect. I bought this set because it's the first I have found that offers that kind of paint. Plus, the travel set is stellar, so I had high expectations. To be fair, the paints in this set aren't too bad. Some of them granulate a bit. They do handle well. They seem like a quality product, it's just that there's numerous good classic metallic sets on the market that offer better color saturation for less money. But still, I don't want to discourage anyone from getting this set!! I am glad I have it. It's well packaged with the same extras as the travel set. The tin has a beautiful iridescent finish, too. I think the Chameleon set is ideal for someone like me who already has several sets of classic metallic watercolors but is looking for a different effect. My actual complaint about this set is that there's a lot of overlap between it and the travel set, so that destroys value for price if you already own the travel set. I wish this set would have only been new, Chameleon tones, with none of the classic metallics.

Very pleased with this product! I purchased 15 of these for a water color Christmas card workshop hosted by my church. The paints are highly pigmented, they blend well and they layer nicely. I saw some people complaining about the size, but I think the size is perfect and the paint cakes go a long way! The only “issue” I could see (really more like a slight inconvenience) is with the travel brushes. About 6 out of the 15 I ordered don’t hold into place when you put them together, but this can be remedied by wrapping a small piece of masking tape around the joint during use. I love the tins! They’re very sturdy and beautiful! The tins are easy to clean, I just take out the whole plastic part (be careful not to crack it, it’s sturdy but I can see it also being easy to crack if not careful) and then scrub out the tin with soap and water in the sink. I am by no means a professional watercolor artist, but I know enough to teach a group of women at my church. I think these sets are a great quality for the price! The brushes aren’t bad either, they hold paint well, but they’re small. It would be hard to do a wash with these brushes but they work great to use in small notebooks or cards.

This little turquoise palette tray with not just two but three mixing wells and a great little mini waterbrush with a good point is a steal for the price, even for adults, for urban sketching or vacation. Some people are getting this for their kids and really, I think their kids are lucky! Adults love turquoise too! I use Daniel Smith for fine pieces, but for a sketchbook that is closed this dye-style ink is fine. The colors are well-selected and fairly transparent and staining. I bought this at the used price and there was nothing wrong with it; it was brand new and not a dent. The little tiny brown brush they don't even need to put in there. All you need is the waterbrush. With some watercolor magnets you can put half pans or 12 full pans in here. Actually I was able to add some additional colors to it and the tin will hold up to 21 single pans if you wish to add some more favorites. This was a steal for the tin alone, and I see others buying it for that reason. I still have not painted with these paints but I have softened, them and added glycerin and gum arabic; they are a little gouachey looking now, but not falling out of the pan. I will keep experimenting. The dark green is an unusual color similar to ultramarine and yellow; but not really olive. It would say it is more like perylene green. The only blue is something like Phthalo Blue but possibly prussian blue. The turquoise colors looks like phthalo green with white added. The are similar to inktense; dye-based colors which means some of the colors will not lift easily if you don't like them. I still have not painted with it but I will soon.

Pros: Nice size, generously filled pans, handy accessories including a large mixing pallette, watercolor paper, and a brush and water pen to get started. The storage tin is very attractive. Most of the paints are well-pigmented and handle well. The swatch card is large and on a nice thick high-tooth paper, so your swatches can have some gradient to them. Cons: The colors have "designer" names rather than the names of the pigments. This won't matter for the self-taught or for children, but if you're taking a class it's frustrating to try to match the instructions to the colors given. The neon colors are rather lighter than I expected but they do build and blend. The metallics are disappointing, very pale and some of them don't match the color names. Overall I think these are a good value for the money for anyone who's not trying to learn formal art techniques. If you're taking a painting class I'd give them a miss and choose Grabie if you're on a budget, or spring for Winsor & Newton if you can afford a little more.

Acquerelli davvero interessanti per rendere speciali i disegni che colorate. Tutta la confezione è stata un piacere da aprire e scoprire e facendo lo swatch è evidente come questo set brilli (letteralmente) sui fogli neri, ma possono dare un effetto pazzesco anche su dettagli di un disegno su carta bianca. Una felicissima scoperta che mi ha fatto tornare il piacere di sperimentare con gli acquerelli on the go.

Goede pigmentering, mooie kleuren

Colores intensos y mucha variedad, la entrega fue rápida

Buena calidad.precio

While it has lots of colours, the paint cakes are quite small.