Cretacolor Aqua Blocks - Watercolor Blocks

A look at the affordable Cretacolor Aqua Briques made in Austria. This is a set of ten colors in chunky block form and are quite versatile and single pigment paints. You can pick them up inexpensively at Amazon. Here is a link: amzn.to/46idL3L
Colors in the kit:
Carmine Fine (Red)
Sky Blue
Orange
Emerald Green
Cad Yellow
Spring Green
Sienna Natural
Prussian Blue
White
Ivory Black
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Video production and content: Marty Owings
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[@arcuda2001]

i've had this set for a few years and love it .. i think cretacolor is one of those companies that's a bit " under the radar", and so underrated . i have quite a few products from them and have loved working with each one .. i recently bought some of their thicker conte( not sure if they called it that , but they're the thicker leads that are like hard charcoal ).. really happy you reviewed this set and brought their company name to people's attention 😁😁😁👍👍👍👍have a great day , Mr Marty ;-)))) Norakag

[@owingsart]

@@arcuda2001 Hi Nora - I agree about Cretacolor being under the radar. I was pleasantly surprised these were as good as they were. Thanks for the note my friend. Hope you have a great weekend.

[@sharpmountaingames9303]

Thanks Marty. Always good to see what else is out there.

[@owingsart]

Hi JF - Absolutely affordable and useful for sketchbook work for sure.

[@brigitteitg]

Looks like a nice mixing set that would be great for bigger watercolour paintings with those generous chunky blocks

[@owingsart]

@@brigitteitg Very full of pigment and made in Austria.🇦🇹

[@mwGoosman]

Nice review..I have all the paint I need, but this would make a wonderful gift. Thanks

[@owingsart]

Maybe on your holiday list? :-)

[@BobbysWorld_of_Art]

Looks so amazing. Colorfast is a win!

[@owingsart]

For sure. Thanks for watching.

[@Vor1954]

Great review, and thanks for providing the link. I love the Cretacolor products such as the Monolith woodless graphite pencils and the Graphite Aquarelle Pencils. I enjoy your channel.

[@owingsart]

@@Vor1954 Thanks for the kind note and for watching.

[@IllustrationsByPete]

That looks like a fun set. Nice color selection. I enjoyed watching you create that landscape. Great work Marty!

[@owingsart]

Hi Pete - Thanks for checking it out and the kind words. These are an excellent and affordable option for sketchbook work. Would love to see your review of these. Have a great day Pete!

[@IllustrationsByPete]

@@owingsart I will look into these. 👍🏻

[@michellewelch6013]

Thanks for this!

[@owingsart]

My pleasure!

[@marit4660]

You've got me curious about this set! I almost fell out of my chair when you mentioned the barn throwing up a road, ahaha (I never would've thought that, heh). I loved both! Thank you for the review!

[@owingsart]

LOL, thank you for noticing that. And people say I’m not all that funny. 😄

[@marit4660]

@@owingsart 😄

[@dawn4224]

I have this small set as well as an older set with large blocks.

[@owingsart]

@@dawn4224 Do you enjoy them?

[@user-wk1mw9nj3i76]

I picked up a used Cretacolor set of their 36 mega-sized colored pencils. Wow, they are really nice, purchased at a much reduced price. They lay down super even layers of quality color over large areas, but sharpen to a pretty fine point, too. A few oddities exist in color labeling, but the pigmentation and smoothness are top quality. Now I’m curious about the aqua briques. They look very pigmented too. The company says the aqua briques pigments are very lightfast. It’s interesting to learn about products from a smaller, lesser known in the USA but long established Austrian company. Thanks!

[@owingsart]

Thanks for sharing about the pencils. I need to try those out. They seem to be doing a good job at Cretacolor.

[@gertietheduck]

I saw these when I was visiting Switzerland last month but did not have enough money to buy them! Are these as "chalky" and streaky as the Derwent Inktense sticks (which I have and don't really like, although I don't mind the Inktense pan paints)? Or more like actual watercolour when activated?

[@sharpmountaingames9303]

I haven't tried the Inktense pan paints, but was VERY disappointed in the sticks. They were streaky as you said. Couldn't make much nice with them at all.

[@gertietheduck]

@@sharpmountaingames9303 I love the Daniel Smith sticks but they can’t really be used as sticks when dry. Would love to find an in-between product. Also love Neocolors and Lyra crayons but they are kind of a different beast/medium really. So I am curious about these!

[@gertietheduck]

@@sharpmountaingames9303 the inktense paint pans work quite well in my mixed media sketchbook, unlike watercolours, so I use them for that (ink and wash specifically). They do end up looking like inks rather than watercolour - they have a very matte/homogenous look (i much prefer actual watercolour). But they are not streaky like the sticks.

[@sharpmountaingames9303]

@@gertietheduck Thanks for the recommendations. I'm mostly a traditional wet watercolorist, but always nice to know what's out there.

[@owingsart]

Hi @Gertirtheduck - These did not seem as chalky or streaky as maybe the Derwent Intense would be. I did not use them as a drawing stick alone, but as I might use watercolor from a half-pan. In that regard, I absolutely think these were great. They may contain brighteners or mutilple pigments and maybe there are some fugitive colors here, but for a sketchbook, these are an excellent and affordable option. Thanks for sharing your question and for watching the video.