Best Watercolor Paints

Best Watercolour Paints


Want to try watercolors but don’t know which paints to buy!

It can be so hard to decide which watercolor paints are the best for you. There are so many brands and types of paint, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed but don’t worry, this article is here to help.

This article will show you a collection of some of the best watercolor paints available on the market to save you all that sweat and countless hours of research. While searching for good products you want to make sure you pick the best paints to make it worth your precious time and as such, I have found the following products to have all the requirements met, ensuring you have a great time working with them.

Watercolor paints are a super fun medium to play and create art with. From this article, I will be foreclosing all that you will need to look out for allowing you to pick and choose exactly what you’re looking for.

Check out my top 5 watercolor paints below:


01) Rembrandt Watercolor Paint Metal Tin Deluxe Set

48 Paints + 1 Brush, General Color Selection

REMBRANDT ARTISTS METAL DE LUXE PAINT SET main image

Features:

• 48 paint pans

• 1 Brush included

• Wide color selection

• Comes in a tin box

• Lightfast

Description:

Rembrandt is a very popular brand for artist-quality paints. They are known to provide great quality art supplies starting from student-grade paints to professional-grade paints.

This set of watercolor paints contains extremely vibrant colors and high-quality pigments which are great for any painting project. By adding water to thin it easily you can make your washable watercolors blend better and apply suitably on most surfaces.

Pros
  • Lightfast
  • Vibrant colors
  • Paint brush included
Cons
  • Not many brushes included
  • The box containing the paint set may be flimsy.

Review:

Rembrandt has acclaimed itself to have some of the best watercolor paints among the other products they provide. You are getting artist-quality paint without breaking the bank which is super close to professional paints.

Overall, a great purchase for anyone looking to invest in a great set of watercolor paints. Although you might have to invest in a mixing palette and some brush shapes for your projects, these will definitely get the job done in terms of paint quality.


02) Sennelier – L’Aquarelle Professional Watercolor Paint Set

14 Paints with Portable Metal Palette Box | Master Artist Grade High Honey Content

Sennelier - L'Aquarelle Professional Watercolor Paint Set (14 Full Pans) main imagr

Features:

• 14 Full pans of paints

• Portable mixing palette built-in t0 the box

• Vibrant colors

• Sturdy tin box

• Pan paints

Description:

Sennelier is a set made by a French watercolor paint company that provides quality products. Many professional artists prefer this brand for its superior quality. It’s almost needless to say the paints from Sennelier are professional-quality paints and their price alongside their quality is unmatched.

This set of watercolor paints is a great choice for anyone willing to invest in their art. The colors are extremely vibrant and the quality is unmatched which is everything you would ever look for while choosing a set of paints.

Pros
  • High-quality paints
  • Vivid colors
  • Full pan watercolors
Cons
  • Lack of color selection
  • Color selection is on the darker side

Review:

If you’ve been into purchasing watercolor paints long enough you absolutely have to invest in the Senellier watercolor pans as they have the finest watercolors collection available at an incredible rate.

This particular watercolor set is personally a favorite and is an incredible purchase as they are one of the most popular watercolor brands/paint brands in general.

Definitely worth the buy.


03) Montmar Art Artists Special Watercolor Paint

15ml Tubes 34 Color Set

Montmar Art Artists Special Watercolor Paint main image

Features:

• Set of 34

• 15 ml tubes

• Versatile color selection

• Vivid colors

• Opaque like acrylic paints

Description:

Montmar, although not overly popular have manufactured and practised its crafts in making great watercolor painting sets for many years. Tried and tested against professional grade paints these are great entry student grade paints.

The set is pretty barebones, upon opening the cardboard box you are met with 34 watercolor tubes that contain your paint. The watercolor paint in each tube promises extremely good watercolor paints stain and excellent application on almost any paper surface.

Pros
  • Vivid and intense colors
  • Comes in easy to squeeze paint tubes
  • Almost all colors in the basic color palette
Cons
  • The product has a somewhat obscure reputation
  • No other equipment included in the box

Review:

Like most watercolor paints, these come in a standard box, with tubes storing the liquid paint. Although they are not the most popular on the market, they are great for you to perfect your watercolor technique and watercolor paintings.

Overall, a great purchase with enough tubes to make sure you have no trouble selecting the correct color and tone of watercolor paints, something that many professional artists appreciate in watercolor paint sets.

Perfect your craft as a watercolor artist with no unforeseen headaches with this great set of watercolors.


04) Winsor & Newton Artist Watercolor

5ml, 24 Color Set

Winsor & Newton main image

Features:

• 24 tubes of paint

• 5 ml each tube

• Comes in a stylish flip box

• Vivid colors

• Professional watercolors

Description:

Winsor & Newton Cotman is a very reputable brand of paints. They are known for providing all sorts of paints starting from acrylic paint to watercolor paints. If you think of a particular paint product, they probably have it.

This watercolor set includes some of the best watercolor paint you can find on the market, perfect for most watercolor paintings and great for you to practice your watercolor techniques.

Winsor and Newton consistently produce some of the best professional watercolor sets around.

Pros
  • Paints for professional artists
  • Versatile watercolor set
  • Perfect application in tandem with watercolor paper
Cons
  • Slightly on the pricier side
  • You may face counterfeit products as they are a very popular brand

Review:

Winsor and Newton are one of the best watercolor brands for watercolor paint sets. This watercolor paint set contains some of the best watercolor paint for you to try out and use professionally. For super-easy watercolor tubes, these are an easy recommendation.

Overall, a great purchase if you have the extra few bucks laying around.

Definitely, an incredible purchase for watercolor painting sets.


05) Van Gogh Watercolor Paint Set

Wood Box, 24-Half Pan + 3 Accessories

Van Gogh Watercolor Paint Set main image

Features:

• 24 half-pan paints

• 3 accessories included

• Stylish wooden box

• Transparent and vivid colors

• Lightfast

Description:

The Van Gogh watercolors are well-reputed for the products they provide. Their watercolor pans are great and although they are only half-pans, they are sure to give you your money’s worth.

With 24 half pans of transparent paint that are incredibly vivid and fun to use on paper, they are held in the top ranks of watercolor paints for your arsenal.

The box it comes with is sensibly necessary and comes with 3 extra accessories to aid with your painting endeavors.

Pros
  • Great sturdy box
  • Sensible accessories for art supplies provided
  • Bright and lightfast
Cons
  • Some may not like the consistency of the paints

Review:

This watercolor set is great for any beginner looking for products on a fixed budget without breaking the bank. The quality is ensured by the positive reputation it has garnered over the period they have been operating.

Overall, a great purchase for anyone without having to worry too much about the accessories or pricing of it all.

Definitely, a ‘worth it purchase’ for most artists looking at entry-level professional watercolor paints.


General Information About The Best Watercolor Paints

The best watercolor paints are not that far from your reach in terms of availability and pricing. You may have to do some digging to get the ones that best suit your needs, however, this article was set in place to save you most of that digging by picking out the best for you.

A crucial thing to remember when it comes to picking out things from a list is to keep an open mind. Sometimes, you win it all and other times you find something that bothers you and the point is to settle on what is the closest to your needs.

The best watercolor paints will have all that is mentioned within this thread in terms of pros with the least amount of cons.

Quality assurance is guaranteed with each product if you purchase from the right buyer.


Conclusion / Roundup

Hopefully, this text brought you closer to finding the best watercolor paints for your arsenal but to keep it on par with everything else, it’s best to invest in great paints and better brushes. Purchasing and keeping handy a selection of brushes which include, a natural brush and a square wash brush for your watercolor paints will elevate your painting experience tenfold.

So be inspired and make that purchase, we guarantee you won’t regret it!


FAQs

Are watercolor paints washable?

Depending on the medium of surface you are painting on, they are washable to an extent. Once dried they either stain a lot or they don’t. More often than not great quality watercolor paints do not stain and can be washed to a point where previous paint layers are visible if any.

Are watercolor tubes or pans better?

The simple answer to this is, to each their own. You may enjoy working with an already moist medium or you may enjoy the traditional pan dipping with water method. Either way, it is safe to say it is quite easy when it comes to tubes instead of pans.

Is Arteza watercolor paint worth a mention?

Arteza watercolor paint is known to be one of the most affordable options without comprising on quality. They are a great addition to any beginner’s arsenal and with time you will be able to tell if they suit your needs or not.

Had there been more room for reviews, they certainly would have made the list…


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Written By Adam Rushton

Adam has made a name for himself in the illustration industry and is a passionate blogger and writer on the subject of art, illustration and graphic design.

His artwork has been featured in countless publications and used for very well-known media projects. As a professional illustrator for over 20 years, Adams media outlets, a wealth of knowledge, and experience enable him to consult and advise artists and illustrators in this country (from York and Manchester to Southampton and London) and all over the world.


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