Big White Nights Haul - comparison + review

Big thank you to my mother, who travelled to Russia, and a friend, who lives in Russia, for all of these beautiful paint sets, that I get to try out and use.
The white nights turned out to be just as nice to use as I thought. They travel wonderfully through water.
The paints, that come in the pan palettes have a lot of semiopaque cadmium colors in them, which I'm not a huge fan of. But the tubes came with transparent paints are were great to use. On the other hand the tube set had only one warm red to offer, where the pan sets had at least two. The 36 pan set had some colors and pigments for me, that I didn't expect and which I didn't have in my other palettes, so this was a nice surprise - they turned out to be just as gorgeous, as I imagined them to be.
Informations about the White Nights are available here:
▶ www.nevskayapalitra.ru/brands/...
Compared to other artist quality paints, the white nights are very afordable and good even to start out with. Bad quality watercolors can be a pain to use and this might just be the solution for that problem.
The first ever paints I almost 30 years ago were also made by Nevskaya Palitra. It was the watercolor line Neva, that I've shown in the beginning and that is the one, I have the most memories of using while growing up. Again thanks to my mother for letting me use her precious paints.
Hard to believe, that what I used back then, is worthy of being in a museum now. Here at least some photos, what the sets looked like:
▶ olx.uz/obyavlenie/akvarel-hudo...
▶ kuzema.my1.ru/publ/1-1-0-11
▶ kuzema.my1.ru/_ph/14/575231528...
Thank you for watching!
-------------------------- Art supplies --------------------------
♦ Luč Schoolpaints (left out of this video for another review and comparison)
♦ 12 Pan Set Nevskaya Palitra, White Nights amzn.to/2IyVWVR
♦ 24 Pan Set Nevskaya Palitra, White Nights, Leningrad amzn.to/2wwMTzS
♦ 36 Pan Set Nevskaya Palitra, White Nights amzn.to/2Ia6fA4
♦ 12 Tube Set Nevskaya Palitra, White Nights amzn.to/2IqH8sr
♦ Moleskine Sketchbook amzn.to/2IsRwQn
♦ Escoda Conrad Roset Brush Set amzn.to/2KUWBz9
Affiliate links used where possible, I get a small provision from Amazon at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
--------------------------Music: --------------------------
♬ Baroque Chorus by Daniel „BozoDel“ Piovezan
freemusicarchive.org/music/Dan...
♬ Birds in my Tree by Luno
freemusicarchive.org/music/Lun...
-------------------------- About Me --------------------------
Hi, I‘m Lana. Drawing and painting were always a passion of mine. Sadly I had a far too long break doing it during university and found myself again in need to regain those skills, I had years ago. Follow me on my journey back to the wonderfull things in life: art. See my improvement and learn with me.
This is what makes me happy and hopefully you as well. :) Thank you for being here, I hope to see you soon!
★ Blog: selbsterstellt.wordpress.com/
★ Instagram: / lanagoesart

[@OtoKano]

It's so awesome when mothers go nuts getting stuff for you because they know you'll love them :D Thank you, never seen tubes of White Knights before.

[@LanaGoesArt]

The tubes are actually very nice and pigmented, but the color selection in the 12 tube set is strange with only one warm red, that it comes with. But I really enjoyed painting with them. Oh and I had an air bubble in the lemon yellow, so I don't know, if that happens more often with the tubes? It was nice to have less cadmium paints in the tube set, than in the pan sets. :) And yes, my mother is amazing :D I didn't know what to say, when she gave me all these palettes. :D Mothers in general are the best thing :)

[@bellavita2005]

Thank you for sharing all this information.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Thank you for your wonderful comment, I hope this is helpful :)

[@vinsenanda]

just watch this video... love the compact packaging of the school paints set... and the white nights pans, wow that is a lot of candies... art shop in here also sell them... and great idea with the bottle caps.. since I explore watercolors, I starting to collect plastic box, tin box, any kind of caps I can get, even unused eyeshadow pans (lol)

[@LanaGoesArt]

Eyeshadow pans are great too! :)

[@cazumbandoartmaddy1728]

oh Lana, thank you very much! I have my own white nights set of 24 colours, and i purchased some more individually (indian yellow, some purples that are similar to W&N purple lake or mauve, turquoise and quin violet rose (PV19 i think)) and i love them so much! my only portability issue with them is that having honey in their composition, they are extremely creamy and they do not fare very well in my climate (everything gets sticky with paints, they stick to the travel pallette i set up myself.... its a mess) With the portability issue in mind, i plan on buying in the future some more paints (some PR122), but in tube form since they arent expensive, and i can fill the pan with as little as i need so the paint wont stick to everything, like it happens with the filled to the brim pans. Thank you for the review, knowing that i can go for tube paints without having the issue of them being of different quality when dried out opposite to prefilled pans (I say that because apparently theres a difference between sennelier pans and tube paints....)

[@LanaGoesArt]

I'm so glad, that you like your palette so much and I'm always pro getting additional colors as you need them. PV 19 is heaven! :) But bare in mind, that if you have issues with stickiness in the pans you will have it with the tubes too, as they are extremely creamy and flowy in the beginning and need a very long time to dry in the pans because of the honey. The quality is awesome, but you might first want it to try with one tube, if it works for you. I don't want your paints all run together in the palette ;) I hope this works out for you, sadly I don't have experiences with any other than mild (or very cold) climate zones. Have a great day!

[@FayeWulf]

Ohhh, I would love to see a comparison of the school paints! They look nice compared to other school paints Ive seen which usually look chalky and not made from honey.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Yes, you're right. These ones are not chalky, but I'm not yet sure, how pigmented they are. I still have some German schoolpaints (15 years old) and could throw them into the school-paint-comparison-mix. ;) But it's going to be one of the videos next week or the week after, because I'm still editing the finches and the macaw from the review. Have a great night Faye and thanks for your comment!

[@FayeWulf]

Looking forward to it!

[@OneTrueWord1988]

I really enjoyed this video - thank you so much! I love White Nights also. :) New subscriber.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hello, thank you and welcome! The White Nights are great paints! :) I really love to use them.

[@edenisok894]

Awesome review! I love your accent, it sounds really nice!

[@LanaGoesArt]

Thank you so much! You literally made my day!

[@StrangeArrangements]

I have 3 sets of White Night watercolors. They are my favorite.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Which sets do you have? Do you have some of the new pastell colours? I wasn't able to get those yet, but I will try soon.

[@ianjackson5834]

i built a custom set of 36 like that and use it as my workhorse studio set, the are great paints

[@LanaGoesArt]

Yes they are, I'm definitely are going to paint more with them. The 35 pan set is definitely to take with me, but the smaller one is great. The tube paints don't really dry up in the palette, after a week, some are still fluid. I guess, they have a lot of honey in them.

[@ianjackson5834]

some paints do stay like that its part of their makeup and is as you say honey or something like that

[@moonlightgator541]

О классные покупки, у меня только Ленинград. Я бы хотела большой набор, теперь не знаю когда это свершится.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Привет! Спасибо. Мне мама тогда с России привезла в подарок. С одним набором тоже хорошо рисовать. В одном рисунке же всё равно пользуются не все цвета сразу. ;) А чего не хватает можно смешать. ❤️ Я уверена что и большой набор скоро сбудется! Пока!

[@fantasievollepapierweltco.9979]

Viel Spaß mit den neuen Farben. LG Simone

[@LanaGoesArt]

Dankeschön :)

[@nadeaner.cowley513]

Thanks for the video!

[@LanaGoesArt]

You're welcome! :)

[@deedee2455]

I only have the Peony 3 tubes set and a half pan Hematite Mist. They are gorgeous. I want to buy the pan palette, but living in a tropical country, I am afraid they are going to be sticky everywhere. Maybe I just going to buy another 3 tubes set.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi Dee Dee, what a beautiful name! Yeah, I've heard that White Nights can be tricky in tropical environments. Personally I can't say how much they'll run as it's pretty dry here, but it would be best to just go with something that is easier to handle. Maybe you can also get one pan of a color you like and see if it works out before you invest in a palette? Have a great day!

[@lordoftheflings]

nice. looks like mom hooked you up!

[@LanaGoesArt]

Totally! It's a full collection right now :D Btw. by now all the swatches are available on sunandcolors.com ;)

[@StevieBiffen]

Isn't it great when Moms and friends are our sponsors :P Your Mom sounds very special. Doesn't she paint much anymore? I love my White Nights set. The violet makes me so sad, because it is such a pretty colour, but isn't lightfast. I suppose it will be ok in sketchbooks though. It is so interesting to see the fairly nice quality school paints. The paints we got at school were chalky and gross so I hated watercolours when I did art at school. I'm glad some children get to experience good watercolours :P

[@LanaGoesArt]

Sadly my mom stopped painting 20 years ago, I guess life became overwhelming and busy. It's sad, that she doesn't do that and I think she misses it sometimes. She knows, that she's welcome to paint with me and use all my stuff as I did that as a kid... though her results would look much nicer! I have not yet made the school paints comparison... somehow all the other stuff got in the way and there are so many ideas I have! I will do that soon though!

[@ifoundthisthing7954]

Very good video. The best I have found on this brand on YT. Did you say you had schmincke paints also. I would be interested in a video from you about those and Sennelier if you have them. I’m off to watch your Holbein vid thank you 😊

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi and welcome :) Thank you for your wonderful comment, I'm so happy, that you found this video helpful. The white nights 12 tube set changed a little in the color selection you get over the last year (?). I got a different set recently which I haven't had the chance to make a video of yet. The new color selection is nicer, so you might look out for that if you are interested in them. About the Schmincke: My main palette is Schmincke and I love them because it's a custom palette, with colors i like to use in my paintings. The quality is great and I can make a similar video or review of them. The only thing is, that I don't have a particular set, but I'm willing to list all the colors I own. :) There are also the swatch cards comming in the future, where you can see all the colors Schmincke offers. I sadly don't have any Sennelier but a beautiful tube of Indigo, that I was gifted. I might get a small set to try out in the future. Untill then you might find the Mijello Mission Gold video interesting as well? :) If you have any questions or suggestions, I'm open for that. :) Have a wonderful day!

[@ifoundthisthing7954]

LanaGoesArt Thank you for your reply I will certainly watch your Mijelo vid. It would be great to hear you views on the schmincke and how they handle with comparisons to the other brand you own and love. I have also watched your lightfast vid 👍 I have seen many of the watercolour channels and you are defo offering something different / additional, keep making vids😊

[@LanaGoesArt]

Aww, thank you so much! I will put the comparison on my todo list :) Are there certain aspects that you like to know more about? The lightfastness results are also available on my blog as scanned in images, so you can see the results closer/ better. :) I also will test all the new colors I got since then, but the tests take time and the weather is now not sunny enough to start testing for this year. Long term project :D Have a great day!

[@steffy2]

Would you recommend the 12 set? I'm looking into upgrading from my current student grade watercolors and the 12 set seems to include pretty much all you need to start at a pretty much unbeatable price point

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi Steffy, what do you like in your student grade watercolours? If you like transparency: so the 12 pan set does have cadmium colours, which are semiopaque. (It's because of the pigments used.) But if you just want a better quality set with good quality paints, it's great. It's easy to use and very versatile. Some of my newer videos are painted with the White Nights. I personally prefer other primary colours, as I don't like the cadmiums, but it's just personal preference. I'm not sure how the price is right now for the set, but you can see if you can buy single pans for a similar price maybe. Then you have the freedom to choose your colours. :) If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I'm happy to help you with your decision.

[@mayaart]

Hello dear :) So its better to buy white nights in pans or in tubes. Are they same quality? In tubes: they crack when they dry out? Or do they lose in volume? I want to buy 24 color tube set, but I want same quality... I read what you have written in comments, but which one are better to buy? :)

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hello and welcome! :) Well... I'll try to answer all of your questions: 1. I have reviews and test paintings for all of the sets, I painted finches and a macaw, there you can also see the swatches from the sets. The colors are really vibrant and the ones in the pans are really easy to rewet. So it's a matter of taste. Also pans are easier to get in the shops. The 12 tube set misses a cool red though, that's something to consider. But I don't know, what colors are in the 24 tube set. (See the reviews for details :)) 2. The paint from the tube does not crack when in the pans and needs long time to dry, because there's honey in the paints. It makes it easy to rewet. 3. The paint does lose in volume when it dries, but so do other professional watercolors (Schmincke Horadam and Daniel Smith) too, so this is something you will have with every brand of tube watercolors. But it doesn't shrink as much as cheap paint, because there is not as much binder in there. 4. There's a question to you. You want the same quality as what? The white nights are great paints, they are lightfast (see my lightfastness test video if you're curious about that) and very vibrant. I like to take the little palette on the go and wasn't disappointed with them. My main palette is Schmincke Horadam with some Daniel Smith mixed in. What is better to buy depends on you. If you prefer to work from pans, get the pans, if you like to have tubes, get the tubes. It might also be a decision depending on the budget or other things. If you get the tubes, you might consider, that you might need a palette as well. Maybe the review videos help you a little to decide. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm happy to share my knowledge! Have a great day!

[@sweetflakes]

Since they contain honey, do they need to be kept upright in the palette like M Graham to avoid the paints running?

[@LanaGoesArt]

I don't have any M Graham sadly, but the White Nights take a little longer to dry in the palette (about 1 week), but once dried, they do not run. Please consider, that I don't live in a humid and hot area and can't say how they will behave in a humid climate.

[@amberallen9287]

Do find the tube paints to be different then the pan paints? I have the pans and thought about buying tubes to refill them. But I've heard that some of the tubes are different.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi, welcome and a happy new year! :) I haven't had the chance to compare all pans and tubes, but it might be, that different pigments are used, so it's worth to compare the pigment numbers. Other than that, I find the tube paints easy to rewet and great to use. The paint needs a while to dry though, so if you need to cary it with you soon, you might to rethink that. If you can wait a few weeks, the tube paint will dry up well enough in the pans to be carried around. I hope this helps a little with your decision. :)

[@theMuritz]

Hey Lana, I just bought white nights just for the sake of supporting Russian manufacturers … a fellow German

[@LanaGoesArt]

Allright. Hope you enjoy the paints. :)

[@theMuritz]

@@LanaGoesArt in fact I did quite some research and I appreciate seeing the manufacturer behind the product. Cotman for example is made in China … and Schmincke and others are quite expensive in student quality and I believe the gap to white nights is not as big as for example Horadam, … do you know if Sonnet is comparable to white nights? Thank you

[@LanaGoesArt]

@@theMuritz Hi, yeah, I see that the prices make a huge difference. Sonnet are actually very enjoyable. I have a newer video about them - the set with a yellow tin. They are pretty transparent and flowy, very bright. But many of the colors are not lightfast at all. For learning, sketchbook etc, they're ideal really. You can also look for Rosa Gallery, they had good prices on amazon too. It's a ukrainian brand, very nice colors too. Also maybe Van Gogh are for you. They're all student grade and paints I myself use in my sketchbooks pretty often.

[@tut_Leska_tworyt]

Hi, how about lightfastness? Its quite popular brand in my land, can you write which colors fade for sure? Now need to think how to replace those colors and with which brand ( my first were Sonet, good for sketchbook but not good for paintings, i have my student works, they are about 10 years now, not faded, because i keep them in dark). Thanks forward, video is great:)

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi and welcome! For sure fade will the Orange, Violet light and Violet dark. Some other may light too, but I'm testing these still. You can check my lightfastness database for examples of how they will fade with other colours maybe and there are other brands too: sunandcolors.com/ The test of the Sonnets will be ready in 4 months, then I can say for sure how every one of them behaves. :) Hope this helps. Have a great day!

[@tut_Leska_tworyt]

@@LanaGoesArt it helps a lot! Im glad that at last someone does testing, its a nightmare to be if you make art for living and your work just fades...Tnank you:)

[@LanaGoesArt]

@@tut_Leska_tworyt I'm glad it helps. Definitely check the database then and check your paints. Testing for yourself takes months and looking it up gives you a short route to the results. :) Hope your art stays always fresh and colourful!

[@MinnaPerala84]

I've used White Nights pans (36-color set) for two months now and I like them. They are my first proper watercolors. I was wondering if I should next get some tube paints instead of new pans, to top up the palette. Have you tested them after posting the video? Do they still stay wet? If they eventually dry, how do they re-wet?

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi! Congrats on your White Nights! They are great paints indeed and a brand that I use regularly. When it comes to get more, it's due to your preference I would say. The White Nights contain a lot of honey, so the tube paints need a few weeks to properly dry in the pans, but once they did, they rewet easily and are a joy to use. But I've never had any issues with the pans as well. Some colours might show a separation of pigment and binder though (happened to me twice in the White Nights) then you just have to stirr it with a toothpick or something. I hope this helps you with your decision - when it comes to me, I often bought pans for more testing and swatching. If you need help to decide which colours you might want next, I would suggest my watercolour database: sunandcolors.com, as there are swatches of all the White Nights I've got to try over the years. :) Have a great and creative day!

[@MinnaPerala84]

@@LanaGoesArt Thank you for yhe quick response! I think I will get tubes next once I run out of pan paint, based on your comment. I haven't found proper info on dried White Nights tube paints until now so thank you! I have some replacement pans already waiting but once those are gone I will get some tubes.

[@LanaGoesArt]

@@MinnaPerala84 I wonder why though. The paints dry back a bit in tubes, but it happens in all the brands. Just so you know. :) I've heard if you live in a very humid climate, the tube paints might not dry completely in the pans, but I live in a dry one and had no issues with that. It just takes a good while until they're dry. :)

[@a.polzet2671]

Oh, hello from Russia

[@LanaGoesArt]

привeт ;) nice to see you!

[@sd9433]

Sonnet studio watercolours are same as white nights ? Do you agree ? I am fighting with myself which one to buy ? White nights / sonnet ? Could you help me to choose ?

[@LanaGoesArt]

Hi! White Nights and Sonnet are not the same, but they are made by the same company. White Nights is their professional range, while Sonnet are their student grade watercolors. I haven't tried Sonnet myself, but I've heard they have/had lightfastness issues and the colors faded fast. So fat I tried the White Nights (all sets I have) for lightfastness and only a few colors, which were marked as not lightfast, faded. There was a stream about that and a post on my blog (link in the description box), if you are curious about the results. In the end it all depends on what you want and need. Are you just starting out with watercolors? Do you want your paintings to last or are you working in a sketchbook, where lightfastness is less important? How tight is your budget? These are all things you might need to consider. And if quality is important to you, but you're on a budget, it might be best to start out with a smaller set and add colors with time. I hope this was helpful and you'll be happy with your paints! (Let me know, which ones you chose!)

[@sd9433]

LanaGoesArt I am going to use them on watercolour sketchbook 300gsm . I am not a beginner but not an expert either .I could buy white night 36 colour set but I don't want to invest too much for only lightfastness. So is it okay to buy sonnet then? I have used some student grade watercolour and they fade immidiately after the colour drying out . Do you think it will be the same for sonnet ? I mean is it possible to get muddy colour with sonnet? Then I have to buy white nights.

[@LanaGoesArt]

Ok, now I have some more insights. Thank you! First of all, you can get muddy colors with all brands, because it happens, when colors neutralize themselves. So if you mix yellow with purple, it will become brown, no matter what brand it is. Also it depends on the pigments, so it's a matter of color theory, not only the paints you use. :) As I mentioned, I don't know how fast Sonnet will fade when hanging in the sun, but it should be fine in sketchbooks. As far as I've watched reviews on Sonnet, it's really vibrant and easy to rewet. So, if lightfastness isn't important to you, Sonnet could be a great solution! I hope this was helpful for you. :)

[@sd9433]

LanaGoesArt thanks a lot . I think muddy is wrong word . I can't achieve dark nice colour with camlin artists colour. They took a lot of time to dry on paper and I have to layer them like hell to achieve dark colour and even if after that they look odd, lifeless . Thats why I am thinking of a new colour . You helped a lot . Thanks again

[@LanaGoesArt]

Suchi oh, I understand. I think it will be possible with Sonnet, but as I said, I just saw it in reviews and never tried myself. The darkness is also dependent of the pigment in the color and sometimes the paper used.

[@kagomehana583]

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@vish4617]

In Russia watercolors paints you

[@LanaGoesArt]

Well, that's something for me to think about :D

[@sherryy014]

Why the hell don't you have more subs ??

[@LanaGoesArt]

:D I don't know? But my guess is, that I might be boring at times... which is ok. ;) Thanks for being here and lighting up my day!

[@Dragos-be3hi]

Man gongrats on learning 3 langueges

[@LanaGoesArt]

Thanks. ;) If I can do it, everyone can!

[@sehzadeselim863]

You said you moved to Germany when you were 9. Do you still remember Russian?

[@LanaGoesArt]

Yes, I do. :) It's a great language and it's always nice to be able to communicate with people.

[@sehzadeselim863]

@@LanaGoesArt круто)) давай больше видео про акварель ^^

[@LanaGoesArt]

@@sehzadeselim863 да у меня их много! посмотри на канале ;) вот недавно рисавала новыми цветами павлина.

[@sehzadeselim863]

@@LanaGoesArt еще очень хочется увидеть больше видосиков swatch with me :>

[@LanaGoesArt]

@@sehzadeselim863 хорошо, желание исполнится! Какие то оссобые краски или всё Белые Ночи? В моих review всегда есть swatches, если интересно посмотреть в картинках рекомендую sunandcolors.com/ скоро будет новый update. ;)

[@nanezferrer3565]

my st petersberg palitra is sticky as fuck

[@LanaGoesArt]

The pan paints or the ones from the tube? With the pans it's very unusual - but maybe you live in a very humid area? With the tube paints, yeah, they stay sticky for a long time, but usually are ok to be transported after a few weeks. I left the palette open for a little bit, so they dried out faster. I hope this helps a little.

[@nanezferrer3565]

@@LanaGoesArt No Maam i live in Philippines it is a tropical country i bought 1 white white nights from tube and the set of 24 pans they are sticky.

[@nanezferrer3565]

@@LanaGoesArt and i cant mixed colors just like in oil painting some colors mix well and some colors go grey ???? so weird maybe becuase some are not single pigmented even if u mixed them a lot you can clearly see the colors that mixed dont mix well and separate on paper.

[@LanaGoesArt]

@@nanezferrer3565 Hi, so there are two problems. If you live in a tropical country, the humidity in the air might cause the stickyness. I've heard that from others too, so you might look into paints, that have less honey in them. When it comes to colour mixing, grey comes when you mix too much blue in a neutral (brownish) colour. Eve Bolt and Oto Kano have both great videos on explaining colour theory and mixing in watercolour. You probably can fix that by choosing a colour that has less blue or adjust the ratio. But as always, it's trying out and getting to know your paints better. :) Oils are different from watercolour, because you won't have granulation in oils. So when you're mixing with Ultramarine, it granulates and can cause the bluish-grey parts. I hope this was helpful. If not, please describe which colours cause this effect when mixing, so I can try it out and look for a solution. :)

[@nanezferrer3565]

@@LanaGoesArt ill try using less blue colors thank you

[@bigboyanimation3799]

it looks this brand of watercolor dont blend well in the sketchbook i didnt like the blending of colors they must blend better then this