Hi Kristy, I'm the 81 year old beginner. I bought a Mozart pallet off Amazon. Before that I had a Crayola kiddy set, now that was a challenge to work with. As I practice and watch videos I see paint colors I am really interested in such as Potters Pink and Paynes Gray and ordered a tube of them by Daniel Smith. Mozart did have Paynes gray in the pallet and I love to use that color for blending. Thanks for all the information a lot of it over my head at this point but I'm in there trying and learning.

I am a 23 year old male, who feels so out of place on this side of KZfaq. I spend most of my days in the gym and I like cars and martial arts. But I'm so obsessed with watercolor and entranced with becoming skilled at using it to make a comic book and other art. Your video is awesome, super helpful and packed with valuable information which is so so so helpful so thank you very much!!!

I'm overwhelmed by all the information given. On top of that I had already bought 18 tubes of American Artist watercolors from Cheap Joe's, along with a large porcelain palette and brushes before I found this video. I'm using some cheap Canson paper and I'm a 75 year old complete beginner. I like your lessons that I've viewed so far. Wish me luck and I'll stick with you going forward. : )

I will be honest - most of these sets you have mentioned are a waste of money. I am glad you gave your “honest review” about some of them. They are overpriced for their quality-and their quality is bad. Many of them are very “chalky” looking to me, even the ones you say don’t look chalky. It looked like the majority of them only come in sets/palettes and if you run out of a color, you can not buy a single pan or tube to replace that color. I have been painting and drawing with watercolors and other media for over 25 years. I believe it is VERY important to know what pigments your watercolor is made of because not all “watercolor paint” brands are made from actual pigments. If I want to use ink, I will use Ph Martin’s. When I use watercolor, I want true watercolor. I do not follow many “rules” and I am not a “pigment scientist”-but I know the basics of pigments and I know how important they are for watercolor paints. I’ve tried many beginner and professional paints. IMO, the BEST beginner/intermediate brand I have found is Cotman (Windsor&Newton) and the best professional is Daniel Smith and Windsor&Newton. Cotman has a box set of tubes of 24 that is pretty cheap on Amazon and at times can be bought for around $25 on sale at Michael’s and JoAnns. Even at full price, a beginner gets a good deal. These stores also carry single tubes for when a beginner is ready to expand, and Cotman can continue to be used by more experienced and professional painters for fun, studies, sketchbooks, teaching others, etc. The only thing they aren’t good for is commissions and work that is for sale. Cotman paints are made with less pigments than their professional counterpart, but many of the colors are still “lightfast”.

Wow I'm blown away by the response to this video so far! Thank you for taking the taking to listen to me go on and on about watercolor! Of course with such an intense video there are some worthy notes of clarification I'd like to share: 1. This video is specific on the spectrum of watercolor grades from hobby to what I'll call the uber professional. Here we're discussing mid range palettes - the lovely place where affordability can meet professional quality. 2. I reviewed what I believed to be the Lukas Studio, their student grade watercolors NOT their 1862 collection, professional collection. However my full pans may reveal that I actually reviewed older stock of 1862. Regardless the results are there for you to see and my opinions are jus that. I know I've made some upset by putting Lukas beside my own palette and others given their long history in paintmaking but I stand behind my commentary. I feel very much the same about Lukas as I do Cotman from Winsor & Newton, regardless of both coming from brands with over a century of paint making history. Proof is on the paper :( 3. Sorry for the typos throughout- I'll send a surprise to the first person to comment on this who has spotted all of them, lol but seriously. 4. Many have asked why I didn't include Van Gogh - they are wonderful paints and we use a few colors of theirs in our Momental studio palettes. For this video I was researching specific keywords on Amazon and responding to brands mentioned when I took a poll here. So the omission wasn't because they weren't worthy, they just didn't fall into view given the parameters mentioned above. 5. Just a reminder, I am the designer of the Paintcrush palette, that makes me inherently biased but I believe one of my best qualities is my ability to be very constructively self-critical and I strove to be just that when reviewing my own palette. If you are suspicious of my choice to do so, then I would say this. Go for Rosa hands down, at that price point you won't be disappointed.

A few hours ago I ordered the Rosa Gallery. My reasons for this are a little bit different. Ok, I hope they are as good as pronounced. But these are made in the Ukraine and this company has a hard time, like everyone in the Ukraine. It´s a small amount of help, but better than nothing. If there are more collectors out there, buy these colors. 💛💙

Japanese Kuretake Gangsai Tambi colors are very matt, saturated and shiny, the result is similar to the gouache colors, it is not transparent like real Horadam watercolors. Anyone who likes strong, bright and shiny colors will love this. Popular colors are the Schmincke-Horadam or Van Gogh colors.

I had no idea that drying chalky wasn't the norm for watercolors! I'm so glad I watched this video! Thank you, Kristy!

I LOVE the Rosa Gallery. I find myself going back to them over and over even put up against my very expensive sennelier or schminke sets. I do agree that buying a few additional pink/magenta pans is essential for Rosa. But their cobalt teal blue is magic.

I think gansai paints are used with large brushes and single-color washes in the spirit of traditional Japanese painting and shouldn't be mixed because they become muddy. A friend let me borrow her set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi and they do have a sheen and do become muddy when used the same way as Western-style watercolours. They're fun to work with when you use them a certain way

I’m pretty happy with all my pallets.. but I just wanted to tell you that you are an absolute treasure and I wish my young artist self could have come across you. I’m happy to have found you now, nevertheless. 😘♥️

That you painted the same rose for each set made a huge difference in experiencing this demonstration. Thank you.

My first and best starter palettes from Amazon were the pink Paul Rubens set, the sparkly green one is ok. White Nights was the absolute best. Rosa Gallery as well. They’re semi moist but they’re reliable and they work amazingly and are easily controlled. I would highly suggest those brands for anyone from my own personal experience. The student grades I tried were Sennelier la petite and W&N cotman and I didn’t care for either. Schmincke has the best Akademie range but it’s 2x more expensive than a lot of professional brands. I still reach for my 48 Paul Rubens pink, my White Nights constantly and Rosa Gallery often. I got a mono pigment palette from Rosa when I wanted to learn mixing. I got every color of Kuretake Gansai Tambi because I love them. You can’t really mix them, and they’re semi moist but I use them in a very controlled way. I like to use them in a way that’s like inks, like drawing with watercolor. The only brands I didn’t like at all were Van Gogh and Lukas but that’s my own style and opinion and how I use them and what I want in a set. Paul Rubens and White Nights formed my entire beginning of painting and using those paints are like my comfort palettes. They’re my old reliable. The gemstone series wasn’t my favorite but it was super nice but the pink palette was just incredible. I now own every single White Nights color and I love them all. There’s so excellent starter palettes on Amazon. I still go back and reach for my starter palettes often. Don’t be fooled by brand names and “professional” or student grade. Use what you like and what makes you happy.

Loved the video! I am an intermediate painter, but lead a group of beginners and has never used the Japanese style paint before so I ordered the Komrebi. On the Back it says - “Komorebi is a simple word which describes the subtle beauty of the sunlight shining through the leaves of trees and the dances the rays make.” I can’t tell you how helpful these videos are! Art supplies can be very overwhelming!

I bought a big Mission Gold set about a year or so ago. I know some people complained about them, and how they were multi pigment colors etc, but I use that palette a LOT, and never wish I was using different brands when I do use them. Also, the palette itself is HUGE, light, and fantastic to work with. I’m 😢 to learn they’ve changed. Fun video, thanks!!

I buy cheap in convenience colors♥️ I purchase 3-9 in more expensive colors, but I love mixing my own colors and exploring new brands. Watercolor JOY🥰

After reading some of the comments, I'm wondering how different water supplies with their chemical additives and natural local minerals, hardness of the water, etc., affect the mobility and of the paint, how it granulates, disperses, and etc again with different brands of paints. I noticed in reading about making ones own paints, they use distilled water. On this note, I've had some paints that added coats produced very opaque outcomes and paints were mixed, and I crept this going until I got colors that I finally liked. All this was just in trying to learn about my paints.

I use the Derwent Inktense Paints a lot - they are more like their pencils or blocks, and as you say aren't watercolour, so are closer to the waxy/chalky nature of colour pencils. So yes, they aren't watercolour and will go rather flat if you layer them too much. In washes though, they do act a lot like watercolour, in a form. So like coloured pencil has that 'flat' nature, so do these. Also: did you know you can erase them? Yes, they might be permanent but like pencil they will rub away! For that feature alone, they are brilliant.

I started my watercolor "art"journey last summer and in my hometown in Finland there was only White Nights and Rosa pallets. Because of the world situation I bought the Rosa Gallery pallet and I really like it. For travelpallet, I just take few random pans and make some interesting mixes 😀 Thanks for your videos, I love them, you are the best 🤍

I have the mungyo palette and I love using it for flowers. I also like that a lot of the colors are similar but not replicas because you can't buy just one color when you run out of it. You have to buy the whole set again so it helps to have similarities to stretch the colors when you've run out of one. I also love the color selection because it's perfect for florals and botanicals and they mix really well with each other to create different colors. I don't know what is up with that weird grittiness in some of the paints but so far, it hasn't affected any of my paintings. I've purchased dozens of different watercolor palettes and mungyo is the only one I was actually happy with and continued to use besides my own personal palette that I made myself with tubes of paint that I purchased.

I *love* my Derwent Inktense! They are bright when dry, the trick I found was the layering. I enjoy using them with watercolor pencils for shading. Great tutorial!

I'm a total beginner, but color mixing gives me SO MUCH JOY! When I'm mixing colors, I'm also practicing brush strokes. No expectations of "composing" and "producing" an "artwork" means I'm just playing with and learning about the color, and feeling the flow. And I LOVE looking at it later and seeing all the accidental and beautiful color discoveries I made. (I make sure to take good notes 😆)

I find that the paper I use is very important to achieving the effect I want from the watercolor. The chalk is something I dislike so I have been using the Paul Rubens 24 pallet for the last 5 years with Arches cold press paper and I am very happy with my results. I will probably invest in Daniel Smith soon as my pallet is very used. Great video thanks for sharing

So rare someone see a good review for the brand ShinHan 😊. Pretty pleased to see you gave it a chance. I don't have the SWC line, but I do have tubes from the PWC line for custom palette and I'm pretty pleased with them~

Okay, here's my personal definition of opaque vs. chalky (YMMV): Opaque: darker tone, completely covers the tone underneath, but still clean and smooth with no haziness or cloudiness to the top color Chalky: not necessarily a darker tone, but covers the tone underneath and has a dirty, dusty, hazy finish that just looks like someone has come along with a thing of baby powder and given it a squeeze in the general vicinity Make sense?

I have several of these, Meiliang, pretty excellent, Rosa, and Derwent Inktense , kuretake Gansai Tambi. I am a hobbyist, but love each of these for different reasons. This was a fair comparison video and I appreciate the time and effort put to share this info.

I like paints that don't move because I like to draw anime characters and OCs (original characters) so the Arteza tubes are a favorite of mine lol. Also, Inktense aren't watercolors, they're ink! Much better than watercolor for layering/glazing and won't activate lower layers. I'll try your paints+brushes out if they ever go on sale hehe.

About Rosa Gallery, I recently bought them, and find they need to be wet down for a while before use, and then they are luscious and juicy, as you say. I love the intensity and clarity of the colors.

This just showed up in a search today. 😅 I’ve never seen this one. You asked us to comment if we had your palette and I was going to say it is delightfully surprising and wonderful. And then you said that was your intent. Well done! Mission accomplished. I thought for months before pulling the trigger on your palette. It was so different. Once I got it I was like thank God I finally purchased. It’s so unique and fun. I don’t know if I would recommend for a first palette but most certainly a second and beyond. Your palette is so fun to play with and I always seem to find new wonder at the mixes I can make with it. I was playing with this and a few others the other day and created the most beautiful coral EVER! In case you’re interested… it was with case for making fuschia and Davinci Indian yellow! You’re welcome. Now a question. I was doing a quick search at work today on lunch break because I’m starting a monthly watercolor party at my church. I have some primas I can lend out but thought about also getting a few prang, mei liang, and maybe some Van Gogh. I was searching for reviews of beginner sets. I am asking them to bring their own paper and I will have some paint and brushes to lend. But will encourage them to buy their own set if they fall in love with watercolor. I don’t have much experience with the student sets most of mine are professional quality. I have Cotman, daeler rowney, prima, and my first baby the angora. Which I see in case for making store! So funny. What are your thoughts on these and maybe other beginner sets that will give them the true experience of watercolor? This review is fantastic by the way. Full of honesty and grace. I’m going to get back to it. If you don’t respond I will try emailing you with this question. 😊

There is a watercolour paint that should have been included in your choices. The Royal Talens Van Gogh watercolour paints. These are considered student-grade paints. They have been reviewed by artists on KZfaq with excellent results. These paints come in half pans sets, single half pans, tubes and open stock. Many of the paints are made of single pigments which is good for mixing. The professional paint of this brand is Rembrandt. In the Rembrandt vs Van Gogh, there isn't much difference. I hope you will try the Van Gogh paints. Happy Painting !!!

It's me, Hi, I'm the problem, it's me!... Naturally, Here I am... Not even paying attention to the topic at hand, but really looking at your art studio, and loving that couch... Not necessarily the color... But, the comfortability. Something to keep in mind when I move my studio out to the patio. From time to time, I just need to sit on a couch, because my back gets stiff from sitting in an office/gaming chair for long periods of time. Which is why I love your style about pulling up a comfortable over stuffed chair. Even if it sits lower than an office chair, it's still more comfortable. I have to agree with the "too many colors, gives you too many options that are close to the same color." I notice this to be true of other mediums as well. My first set of Ohuhu Alcohol markers were the same way. The reds were like, barely noticeably different from one to the next. The first three reds look like I never changed the marker. Color pencils are the same way, which is why I love the Star-Joy Gold pencils, curated by artist Lori Greene, because she made sure there weren't colors so close together, as she had the exact same opinion while curating the set. So, even other artist have the same complaint that the more colors you have, especially in a full set of whatever medium you're collecting, doesn't necessarily mean that you really need it!!! Especially when you think about it monetarily. Was it worth paying a percentage for nearly the same color five times!? Hmmm.... When I think of Opaque watercolors, I think of a thicker pigment like midnight black or blue. When I think of chalkiness, I think it's closer to my previous go-to of gouache. I have definitely re-found my joy with watercolors, after finding Kristy. The sheerness of the watercolors, that I didn't get with my ex-go-to of gouache never made me realize, how much more I love the transparency of watercolor, that you do not get in the acrylics or gouache. I never thought for a moment, that I would love laying down a yellow wash and glazing over it with a sheer green!!! It is so majestic to me!!! Before, I used to love the opaqueness of laying down a wash of yellow and being able to cover up my mistakes, by re-stroking over my work even with another color, and covering it up like taking a concealer to hide a blemish!!! As I sing, "Who's going to know? Who? is going to know?" I kind of found gouache by fluke, because it was recommended to me by calligraphers. To, do my calligraphy with gouache, if I didn't have calligraphy ink. With dip pens, you're able to stroke a layer of gouache onto the nib with a brush. That's when I found that I could use it in place of watercolor paint. Since I previously had such a terrible past experience with watercolor in my kinder years. However, I am so glad with my current water color Art for Joy's Sake Palette, that I can't ever put them down. Since I can't get Kristy's palette replaced open stock, as I run out of colors, I'm thinking to either get WN Pros or M. Graham & Co open stock. Maybe I'll even think about Daniel Smith!?!? Hmmm. Sooo many choices!!! 'cause the other thing I'm looking for, is I am not wanting prefilled pans. Sorry Kristy, not sorry? Because, like Kristy, I prefer the tubes and making my own half-pans. That's what I loved about gouache. That's what I love about my new love for Watercolors, that you can get tubed watercolor, unlike my childhood night mare of prefilled pathetic pans of Crayola. However, I will be respectful to Kristy that I won't 100% knock Crayola, like I did, all those many years ago because of my bad experience with it. Oooh, right there, what Kristy just said, "some palettes are made by the same paint manufacturers, but don't tell you that." I found this out through the Frugal Crafter, as she's more of a pigment geek. Sorry, Lindsay, not sorry if you read that... But that's one of the things that I love about her channel. When you've started a mass collection of this paint brand and that paint brand, and you start seeing what makes up the pigments, you start seeing duplications between brands as to what is in a specific color. As artists... we are seeing this throughout different mediums. That there's a bunch of "white-labeling" going on. This is happening with paints, with markers and even color pencils. Hmmm... Gives me an idea. I'll take a bottle of paint, a marker, and a color pencil, and I'll slap a label with my name on them... Voila!!! Speaking of which... Louis Vuitton is doing this, and charging hundreds of dollars. And the artists that have tested them out say it's all Carp!!! Pigments aren't even to par. For the price, they're expecting to get professional, light-fast pigments... All I'm expecting is to get ripped off by them. Probably why I chose NOT to go into fashion design!!! LOL!!! I think they should call it, How to fashionably rip people off. But, that's my opinion! Keep up the excellent work Kristy! I'll check back in, on the next video!!! Praying everyone is well and healthy! PS: Sorry, for my extremely long book

Hi Kristy, I just bought that Gonzi Tombe today 6-12-23 the same day I watched this ,AFTER I purchased it! I was going to buy the Paul Reuben 48 color pink palette but it was $80.00! But after watching this I stopped the first order and went ahead a splurged on the Paul Reubens!!! Thanks fir helping me so much!! I respect your wisdom on watercolors!!!! After all you are an expert, and my favorite new instructor !!❤❤❤❤

Thank you for this. Am contemplating my next purchase and this gave me lots to think about. You did so much work on this video. You are appreciated by so many. I hope knowing how much you are loved brings you joy!!

I just found you to learn watercolor! I was happy to hear Windsor and Newton are one of your favorites because I just ordered a set from Amazon. I'm so happy I found you!!!

I bought some Rosa paints recently when my usual shop stopped stocking the White Nights ones due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So far I really like them, but I only bought a few individual ones, so my experience is just based on what I have. I have a few Mission Gold ones too, and I have no complaints. None of the other ones (apart from Arteza, which I just wouldn't buy) are available in the UK (as far as I know) My favourite low cost/good quality paint is probably the Van Gogh range, and Rosa is very reasonably priced too. For some reason I've really taken against the Daniel Smith range - I've never bought any of their paints because the price offends me, hahaha. I think a moderately priced decent watercolour paint, combined with good quality paper (the paper is super important) and a bit of skill will give excellent watercolour paintings. No need to spend a tenner on a single tube of paint, imo.

Thanks for all this! I started with Windsor Newton, then I got Paul Ruben, but then..... I discovered Kuretake, and I love the creaminess and lovely, soft, gentle colours. I've got several sets, and I really like the size of their pans. Little pans are not for me... For intense colour I love Viviva from India. These come in full pans too, in a cork box, and they have paper swatches that are perfect for light travel use. Fantastic colours. And the third watercolour I use is Meeden (Chinese I think) tube paints. I make my own palette with these for my travels, choosing colours according to season and where I'm going. I also take one of my Viviva palettes , the paper swatches, and white gouache tube paint. All three brands are cost effective, great value, beautiful colours, and easy to use. I'm not an expert or even a painter, but I am a passionate amateur artist, and what I love to do is sketching and watercolours - urban, landscape, and some whimsical & floral. All my work is in sketchbooks, because I do this for me, nobody else! An English artist, mostly floral paintings, that I follow is Diane Antone, but there are many on KZfaq that have inspired me. I've only just discovered your channel, so I'll have a look. Thanks again, Maggie, in NE England.

Kristy, the way you describe the consistency and texture of the paints is amazing! Absolutely anyone can understand! You really have a gift for explaining things ❤

I can tell you put a TON of time and love into this. Thank you so much 💕

My all-time favorite watercolor paint is Holbein. And I love Kristys set. I'm not an artist but they are just juicy and beautiful. I stepped back from art for a bit and donated everything other than Paint Crush paints and brushes and holbein.

Kristy, I probably can't keep this to just a couple of sentences. . . I am NOT an artist, but a paper crafter. My stick figures could be human, canine, or equine. Flowers? Forget about it. However, I like to play with paints by making backgrounds for cards or washes of color on journal pages. I honestly never knew there were differences in watercolor beyond tubes and pans and obviously, the prices which I assume in most cases meant better quality. This was a fascinating video, and I never knew I would still need several brands and palettes just for my play. I loved your presentations, your style, your personality. I'm going to check out your beginners video as well. Take care, stay safe, happy new year.

Love Rosa Gallery especially if I want to use salt. If I want great glazing I'll use Rembrandt or Sennelier. Rembrandt glazing is so beautiful it leaves me in awe everytime.

That was a lot of information, and a lot of work on your part! Thank you! I have your palette (which I adore) and your brushes (also enjoy). Still a newbie, so don't have much to offer except, I appreciate all you do. Learning as fast as I can and am having fun! Happy New Year!

LOVE my Paintcrush palette which I was about to use before running into this video! As a beginner I am overwhelmed with all the different brands. I started with a 7.99 cent watercolor set and thought it was fantastic and fun. Then all of a sudden when the obsession for watercolor hit, I needed to understand how to make anything come to life and look wonderful. Now I am the owner of at least 12 palettes to which seven I haven't even used yet. It's just ridiculous now, I just want to make art and make beautiful art. When I purchased my Paintcrush and I got your Arts for Joy Sake brushes too, I smiled throughout your entire field of videos! I don't think I did the free training video that comes with the palette and brushes tho, not sure why maybe I was putting off and just forgot. I love you Kristy because your so authentic and I always learn so much when I watch your videos. This one is extremely helpful and has actually eased my anxiety a lot. I get very discouraged because I love this media so much! You are such a GEM, keep giving out that JOY!!!

Loved this video! Sister, this was so helpful. I'm a retired cake decorator and decided on watercolor painting as my new hobby. I can't believe how therapeutic it is. Anyhoo... I started out willy nilly with Grabie paints. They've sufficed as I wasn't sure if this hobby was for me. I did, however, by sheer accident purchase very good paper by Paul Reuben... both cold and hot pressed and sable brushes of every size. I am going to upgrade on my paints and try your top 3. I do sometimes wish for more vibrancy. Thank you for taking the time to do this review. Subscribed 🥰

One great point in favour of Inktense is using it on fabrics. Brilliant, and giving it time to dry naturally then setting with a slow, hot iron (I use parchment in between the fabric and the paint for this) the colour copes well on a cool, gentle wash. As I make art quilts this is perfect. The hazing as it dries is less of an issue on fabric than paper. Also, I often use ground Inktense block with added water which seems far more dynamic.

(This is an honest review not a brown nose comment) PAINTCRUSH is so awesome! They play so well and create so many gorgeous mixes! I bought this pallet as my mid level palette to add to my W&N cottman and mungyo first pallets. It opened up my watercolor world! Point blank. JUST BUY IT! You will not be disappointed!

I love my Kuretake Gansai paints. They are my go to palette for holiday cards. I solved the "loose in the box" with some double sided tape. Two years on..they are still solidly in the box. I like using a porcelain tray to mix so the lack of one with these is not an issue for me. The kiddos love these paints too, vibrant and a dab will do.

Wow I am learning so much I am just beginning really though I took art in school but never watercolors in school was a many years ago trust me. I am 60 years old and just picking the brush back up again after 35 years. Wow so much I have forgotten you are fun!

I just discovered your videos this week and I really like them. You're never boring. I'm saving up for your Paint Crush palette because I love the colors - I want great pinks, purples and blues. The other colors are just there for contrast for me.

Excellent video! I think I'm moving toward replacing my middle category with a "lux" palette, but I've absolutely enjoyed your review style. Would you consider doing a similar video for the biggies like Daniel Smith, Sennelier, Schmincke, W/N etc? I've been buying a random tube of each here and there to supplement my main palette, but am overwhelmed about choosing a full size and would love to see your review. And ps - thank you for sharing your fixative! When I started painting I asked my local art store for a fixative and they sort of gave me the "that's a silly question" look. I knew there had to be a solution! Cheers!

Thank you soo much I purchased the Rosa Gallery and couldn't be happier. I had been using Windsor Newton Cotman paints and the difference is amazing.

I am beginner-ish. While I don’t like all the colours of the imagination to be present al la giant palettes, I have also realized I don’t enjoy mixing colours and enjoy convenience colours. Great video 🙏🏽

Kristy, in fairness to Lukas you have tested the student grade paint. I absolutely love their 1862 line which is their professional grade paint..I absolutely love their Genuine Rose and their gold.. The cobalt teal is amazing.

I binge watch your comparison videos like others bingewatch Netflix. 😂 Don’t need them, probably have them, but if you’re going to swatch, Imma gonna watch! I WILL say, even though more expensive than some other midrange YOUR pallet hits so many sweet spots! The quality IS there which is why I didn’t hesitate to order it. That said, the uniqueness of those choices creates some incredible hues, and though it doesn’t have as much of the rose gold touches you had hoped for, and the extra flip top none of us want or need… it’s worth the investment! !! Looking forward to you expanding on the palette with refill tubes or individual replacement pans (just a suggestion 🤞🏼 )and saving my allowance for your next brush release!

thank you for not being purely academic-y about it! i was so happy to hear that someone also thinks that you can learn color mixing a bit later and theres nothing wrong about it. and thank you for not forgetting about the joy aspect

Have found the Intense really do well in journalling. If you are careful to use minimal water they work well with the STM journal 160 gsm paper, no or minimal buckling when dry, allowing paint to decorate a bullet journal.

So helpful!!!!!want more!!!would love more reviews of this sort for luxury brands-commercial and handmade. Learned so much from today’s video. You are a brilliant teacher, Kristy. Thank you for all your effort.❤️

Hi everyone, I'm new to watercolor and purchased the Koi 24 set. Since I have nothing to compare it to .. I guess it's working for me. Kristy, I've learned a TON from you about paper, pallets, and learning good techniques. Thank you so much!

The Paintcrush pallet looks like you expect watercolor to act. It's gorgeous. It will definitely be my next pallet purchase! I just bought your brush set. Thank you so much! And Happy New Year!

I am a german painter and usually painting with - Schmincke, Sennelier and white nights. Thanks for this video. There are so many bands ....

I'm kind of surprised White Nights didn't make the list at all. They are very saturated colors, not chalky at all, and affordable, more now than when I bought them, sadly. I DID get all the original colors before they started raising their prices hahaha

I love your palette, I bought it and the paintbrush set and, for me, they're a beautiful match especially for any kind of loose watercolour style and for florals, I find them just a whole load of fun to use.

I want to thank you KristyRice for taking the time to repeatedly check in with your viewers, as a way to both touch base with them, but also, so it's a sort of 'palette cleanser'( see what I did there? 😁), in between sections of a lengthy video(it really helps the viewing experience and allows the viewer to not feel overwhelmed ). I also want to thank you for taking the time to review all these with such a thorough method. Much, much appreciated! Been making art for many years, but now revisiting watercolors, and getting really serious about it this time! I'm actually doing the research, and learning how to really get the full learning experience, so I can get really adept at adding them to my repertoire. All I got is an 'Artist Loft' tube set, and a lil' ol Windsor and Newton Cotman travel set at present. I feel like this would get me through for a while, though I am smack-dab between 'beginner' and 'beyond beginner', because I already do professional, custom work in colored pencil and inks!...I think I'll visit your 'beginner palettes' video listed above, because I think need professional quality, but maybe not quite a set like shown in this beyond beginner...I'm sort of a 're-beginner'-lol! But thanks for all these great videos, nonetheless!

This is a very informative video. I’m a beginner and you were correct. I need to go to your beginner video. However, this video answered a lot of my “jump right in” questions.

Great info and I'll definitely look into Paintcrush. I have used Mission Gold tubes and loved them, but will investigate to see if the brand is being downgraded for some reason. The biggest part of the fun is your personality. I like you and think highly of your "non-scientific" expertise.

Even without knowing a lot about color mixing, it's helpful to know what doesn't work aka mud. It was my aha moment when I began a few yrs ago. I have tubes of Mission Gold (purchased secondhand), Daniel Smith, M. Graham, Lukas (yes chalky), Sennelier, Schmincke (also secondhand), Qor, and mostly Holbein which I really love. My current love is the Daniel Smith watercolor sticks. They are wonderfully versatile.

You have turned the lights on!! Thank you so much for really explaining the differences. You make water colours understandable. It is so weird cause I have done exactly what you said, looked for over a month now deciding which pallet to purchase cause I’m not happy with what I have purchased so far. Thank you again and look forward to more from you!! Boop boop!!

I have enjoyed reading a few comments, I am 51 and had a hemorrhagic stroke almost 15 years ago. I have no function in my left hand, after my brain accident happened, I gave up on my artistic abilities for quite a while, mostly because I had to learn to live with my new abilities 😊. Notice I don’t say disability 😅. Then about 5 years ago I was ready, but I started with my iPad. And if you could see all the art on my iPad from Procreate, affinity designer,etc. I purchased a great printer to print my creations. Then. 2 years ago I bought a gel plate. And OMG. I am a complete lover of all art supplies. Last year I purchased a few palettes of water color based on your videos, and I have a few favorite tube’s from Daniel Smith and QOR. Oh and some days I just love using my ink brush color pens from Sennelier. Thank you Kristi for all of your reviews. My 20 year old daughter loves your watercolor palette and brushes. ❤

It's hard to watch this before buying first palette -- because so excited to start, and of course I had to buy paper, brushes, and paint before watching. Heck, I thought you were going to talk about the pans that you mix the colors in; aren't those "palettes." I bought Windsor and Newton. It was what the paint store clerk recommended - 12 colors including white. I am so new, I don't know many of the terms such as "glazing" I'm that new!!

I love Lukas watercolors, have been using them for years, but yup, they contain a lot of .... something. I mean, have you ever examined your water after using them? Lots of white residue. They are lovely paints, actually amongst my favorites, but they are not the highest quality. I don't know how long you have left your pans of these untouched, but I have left mine alone for several months, and when I opened the palette the pans were hazed with white crystally stuff. It's like whatever is in them migrates to the top of the pans when the paints sit for a while. I strongly assume it is optical brighteners because many of the colors tend to have that slight glitter effect when held into the light the right way when they have dried on the paper. Nonetheless though, I like them and continue to use them. Out of the palettes that you tested here, I really like Paul Rubens and Mungyo. They are both brands with great products, and I love their watercolors as well as their oil pastels and other stuff. And yes, other brands, like Art Philosophy, Jane Davenport, Prima, and so on, they are selling Mungyo products. And Jaxon/Jaxell (which are art supply brands here in the EU) are also actually Mungyo. They are selling their paints and pastels to brands across the world. Other brands that I love are Winsor and Newton, Sennelier and QOR and, living in Germany, of course Schmincke. If I ever had to settle for just one brand, that one would be it.

I love the Paintcrush palette. I’ve been using it for about 2 months. I love the soft pink and the fluorescent yellow. It’s a great palette for flowers. When I first got it I thought the color combo was odd but now it’s my go to. I like the size too. I can just slip it into my purse with small book and travel brush.

HELLO KRISTY AND I WANT TO TELL YOU MY MUCH EARNED THANK YOU FOR YOU MAKING THIS GREATLY MADE VIDEO BECAUSE MANY THINGS YOU POINTED OUT IN THE VIDEO ABOVE WAS WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT PAINTING BECAUSE I HAVE DONE SOME WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS BUT, SINCE I DID NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT PAINTING BY ITSELF I DID NOT CONTINUE PAINTING BECAUSE I AM INKER ARTIST THAT WORKS WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKERS AND SOME DIFFERENT KINDS OF INKS AS WELL BUT, AFTER WATCHING THIS VIDEO OF YOURS I GOT THE WANT TO PAINT AND TRY AGAIN SO THANK YOU TO YOU AGAIN FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO KRISTY BECAUSE YOU OPENED UP THIS GRUNT MARINES EYES TO PAINTING

Finding my top three is relatively difficult because I've also tried a lot. I do it according to quality and also write down what I would like to try out from a group. 3. Hobby grade Läufer watercolor box with 24 colors, which was incorrectly titled as an opaque paint box, is dye-based paints and I prefer to use them for my sketchbook. I bought it in a 1€ shop for 2,50€ and really didn't expect anything and the colours are much better than other hobby-grade watercolour paints others I've had so far were either chalky or very shiny like the Crayola I imported once because there were only chalky watercolours here a few years ago. The watercolour box can be found with the words "Deckfarbkasten Läufer". I would like to try the Art Creation from Talens, they even have pigment numbers. 2. Student grade Van Gogh, these do not run as much as Schmincke Akademi or Aquafine by Daler Rowney and are more intense than Cotman. I would like to try the student grade version by Paul Rubens. 3. If it's supposed to be a set, then the flower set by Paul Rubens is quite well put together, 24 colours 8ml. For colours that can be purchased individually I would take Rembrandt, the price per ml is OK and there are many colours that I like, although they are not available everywhere, they are produced in a neighbouring country. I would like to have the Pure pigments Set from Mijello

Cool informative video, Kristy! As for chalky; I bought some dollar store watercolor for a little in my life and tested it and once dry, the paint literally turned into chalk and fell off the paper, lol.

Will suggest, since it's not a great deal more than some of the sets you review, that the DaVinci Paints watercolor palette is worth a look. Yep, $56, and DaVinci is not midrange. However for about $16 more it's 12 full pans and what I consider a thoughtful, useful palette of pretty amazing paint. I took the plunge a few years ago based on the price of that set and have used that more than anything. So even though it's not mid-range that set is worth considering as a mid range option.

I never been disappointed by Russian & Ukrainian paints. They're extremely cheap and yet great quality. I don't know about glazing because I honestly don't do it much, but in my experience these paints are better for mixing and _then_ laying them on the paper. When I used them straight from the pan, some were a bit too strong for what I do (nature & landscape). OTOH, very little paint goes a long way. About wash... well, same. I don't do big washes so I didn't notice anything peculiar in Rosa watercolours. One note about Derwent Inktense. Permanent doesn't mean they're lightfast. It means they're made of dyes instead of pigments and they can't be erased, removed, washed away or lifted once they dry. They're basically Derwent's pencils & markers in paint form. I have a small travelling box and several pencils. They're so so soft!

Love my Mission Gold tubes. My go to palate. Thank you Kristy.

I have the Rosa botanical vibrant set which I love and it has three beautiful pinks! I also thought mungyo was much like watercolor confections but purchased it after a recommendation from a class. I wasn’t very impressed and let my granddaughter use them. I also have your set and came across another set of yours that someone was selling with your book and your brushes so I have two of your watercolor sets but I really wanted the book and brushes so I was able to get them at a good price. I also have another set of your brushes off Amazon because I love them and I want to have one at my house and I have a daughters house LOL but thank you for this video because it gave me a lot of extra information and I realize that I’m a collector lol I love Qor because they explode and I use them for abstract pieces.

I'm happy to have found your channel... I've been wanting to get the courage to simply BEGIN! ... OK, I think this has helped a lot and am ready to begin~ Thank you

I purchased your Paint crush pallet the day it came out and LOVE painting with it. Instead of predictable, my paintings come out interesting and unique. Thank you for your passion!

I love this video & all the info you gave us. I'm one of those who is tempted by all the pretty colors in a palette. I have been eyeing the Rosa< which I think will be my next purchase but as you suggested will add some pretty pinks. I have to say that your palette is one of my favorites. I was surprised at the beautiful mixes I got & how much fun I have when using them. Somehow all those colors just seem to work together! Hoping you will come out with another palette. :)

I love the Rosa watercolor. It’s sort of difficult to get used to mixing of the colors. Going from the arteza tubes which I had such a hard time working with, to the Rosa was a gift. (I obviously work better with dry watercolors) the Rosa come in a massive amount of colors, and can be bought by the pan on that art sales site. (Yes wouldn’t let me use the word). These are made in the Ukraine,and the colors are bright, smooth to use and not chalky. I haven’t had a problem with glazing but probably because I’m starting year 2 of my watercolor voyage. Honestly I wouldn’t have made it to month 6 without the happiness and knowledge shared by Kristy.

I get color mixing, I know how to do it but I hate doing it lol. It’s not my favorite thing so I have a lot of convenience colors. I honestly don’t find anything wrong with that, I actually find that if I have to mix a lot to get a color story I like, I just don’t want to paint. If I have a couple of convenience colors that help me not spend too much time in mixing- I’m down for that. Also, I find that the Gansai Tambi colors can mix well depending on the colors you’re using. There’s a KZfaqr I enjoy watching and she makes some lovely color mixes with the Art Nouveau palette. Of course, they’re muted but that’s actually the charm of it. But with the brighter colors from the other palettes, you can do a good bit

Nice vid. Thanks. Even when one has professional grade paint, ot is still alwas nice to have a set you don't worry about for places like the beach, the glove compartment, etc. I don't trust the quality control at Amazon anymore. It seems you can get a knock-off rather than what you think you are buying, unless you know the seller. Maybe some of those head-scratchers came from that?

This was a really informative and helpful set of reviews. I have been using Qor watercolors despite the higher price instead of these student grade choices. The disbursal qualities and intensity of Qor means that I have the ability to create far better mixes than with other paints. The huge pigment load in Qor colors means that I use far less paint to achieve the colors I want, so they don’t really cost as much as it would initially appear. However, I have thought recently that I would try some of these less expensive palettes in order to do more practice paintings and you video allows me to figure out whether I want to use this paint brand.

I am in Europe and will be trying out Roman Szmal soon - really excited!

Shinhan's professional line is wonderful! And inexpensive.

I just spent two hours browsing online for a new palette and that's why I'm here watching this. I'm choosing between A Paul Rubens, White Nights or Rosa but I don't feel like buying the whole set of 12 or 24 because I end up not using the dark colors so thank you, I think I know what to buy now. I love the Paintcrush Palette😍

You should have done van gogh as well Also, I didn't have the issues with inktense that you did. But I water it down a lot and layer that way

Hi Kristy! I have to say I love love love your videos. You’re enthusiasm and sheer joy are catching! Thank you so much Keep spreading that joy.

I stayed to the end. I’m now a new subscriber. I noted that all the paint sets cost in some cases 3-4 x more from Amazon Australia 🇦🇺. Oh well we can’t have all the sunshine and expect USA prices for our art products

Years ago i started my water colour journey by taking a local colour theory class so we started with a cool blue, yellow and red as well as a warm blue, yellow and red and learned to colour match every colour under the sun- it was worth every penny IMHO. But this girl still can’t live without her Payne’s gray and hookers green! ❤❤❤ fantastic review!!

This was a great compare! The only pallets I have used are the Gansai Tambi-versatile and the Ruebens (which came in a million little pieces) I was impressed by the Rosa for the price and not so much with Etcher. Thanks again for info we can use and enjoy!

One thing about Paul Rubens that except for their Meiliang (Pretty Excellent) set (student) and the pink set (no white), it's sometimes hard to differentiate between their 'pro' and 'student'. They seem to have different packaging maybe for different markets and they all show up on Amazon, etc. Personally, I would stick with ones you know for sure what they are. Price is usually a good indication. I wish they would do something about this. You really shouldn't have to guess.

Ruben, Rosa, And Mission are my favorites!

Are Van Gogh watercolors student grade? Van Gogh Student Watercolors - Artist & Craftsman Supply Van Gogh Student Watercolors come in 40 colors at a single and reasonable price point. This is the best place for novice watercolorists to enter the fray. Pretty good color saturation for a student grade. Available in 10 ml tubes.

Thanks for this Kristy. I purchased set of 48 PR in the fall and was pleased with it. Paintbrush came at Christmas and I ❤❤❤ it. I too, love my convenience colours! Have you heard about differences in PR tubes to pans? I wonder if you’d consider a review of house brand paints for bigger stores like Jackson’s or Deserres (🇨🇦) etc.

Great questions to ask before getting a nee palette!!! And as for the lightfastedness... I will never give up my daniel smith fluro opera pink... it is my FAVOURITE absolutely!!! I scan my work so that's how I keep mine even after opera fades... (though really it actually lasts not too badly for my use!)

You are the Alton Brown of watercolor!!!! I love your analysis of every aspect of the paints. Thank you so much!!!!!

I always appreciate how much I learn from you when watching these comparison videos.