My 5 Favorite Watercolor Brands For 2024

🌿 FIND my favorite art supplies for bullet journaling, functional planning, and watercolor
--- www.amazon.com/shop/keylimeink...
🌿 SHOW NOTES
I've tried dozens of different watercolor brands over the years. These are my five favorites -- both artist grade and student grade -- as we roll into 2024.
🌿 RECOMMENDED ART SUPPLIES AND RESOURCES
Art Whale Watercolors
--- 24 Half Pans: amzn.to/3Yw9B4w
--- 48 Half Pans: amzn.to/3XPAEGy
(Made in China by a company based in Florida; student grade)
Canson XL Watercolor Paper
--- at Amazon: amzn.to/3NtgePq
--- at Blick: shrsl.com/3uzf8
(FSC Certified; made in the USA; used for all my watercolor swatching)
Da Vinci Watercolors
--- 12 Full Pans: davincipaints.com/da-vincis-w...
--- Open Stock Tubes at Blick: shrsl.com/3ufrq
--- Open Stock Tubes at Da Vinci: davincipaints.com/shop-da-vin...
(Made in California by a small family business; artist quality)
F Club Empty Watercolor Pans
--- full: amzn.to/3H4DcLk
--- half: amzn.to/3Wgj3Gt
Niji by Yasutomo Watercolors
--- 12 Half Pans at Amazon: amzn.to/3LGWLeV
--- 12 Half Pans at Blick: shrsl.com/41qom
--- 24 Half Pans at Amazon: amzn.to/41SOytW
--- 24 Half Pans at Blick: shrsl.com/41qon
(made in China by a company based in California; I prefer the color selection in the 24 set; student grade; extremely transparent)
Schmincke Horadam Watercolors
--- Open Stock Pans at Blick: shrsl.com/4370b
--- Open Stock Tubes at Blick: shrsl.com/4370e
--- Open Stock Pans and Tubes at Jackson's: tidd.ly/3XKR0U6
(made in Germany by a small family business; my favorite artist quality watercolors; I recommend purchasing individual colors rather than ready-made sets)
White Nights Watercolors
--- 35 full pans: amzn.to/3QC9EXu
(made in Russia; newest set with mostly lightfast and transparent colors; artist quality)
🌿 DISCLOSURES
KeyLimeInk is an affiliate of Amazon, Blick, Da Vinci, Etsy, and Jackson's. Art Whale, Da Vinci, Niji, and Schmincke sent samples for review. I purchased White Nights myself.
🌿 JOIN ME
blog: www.keylimeink.com/
instagram: / keylimeink
threads: www.threads.net/@keylimeink
🌿 TIME STAMPS
00:00 introduction
00:00 Schmincke Horadam
04:37 White Nights
09:18 Da Vinci
14:01 Art Whale pans
18:28 Yasutomo Niji pans
21:55 comparisons

[@KeyLimeInk]

🌿 TIME STAMPS 00:00 introduction 00:32 Schmincke Horadam 04:37 White Nights 09:18 Da Vinci 14:01 Art Whale pans 18:28 Yasutomo Niji pans 21:55 comparisons

[@msfrehel8758]

As handmade colours I just adore deep deep light, A. Gallo and Della Magna, and for regular colours I really loke Roman Smal, but also Schmincke.

[@loveandlife4222]

I would have to say my favorite far and above any other is Daniel Smith. They are amazing and the primateks just can’t be beat. My other choices would be Sennelier - so soft and creamy because of the honey. Then schmincke. I have a 48 pan set and several of the granulating colors. They are beautiful paints. They don’t carry the same punch Daniel Smith does but still gorgeous paints. I love M. Graham and would choose to buy a lot more of them but they don’t dry in the pan where I live. I love love my A. Gallo paints also! They are beautiful! I could mention more that I have but will stop now. I would tell new watercolorists to buy the very best they can afford and to buy 100 % cotton paper. That will help you to be able to paint better and not be easily frustrated. Thanks for sharing your favorites. I thought you might like to hear mine.

[@Adoratek]

Out of the many review channels I have watched, which embarrassingly is quite a lot, I would say your selections and reviews are some of the most thorough and comparative with suggestions I completely agree with. As I love to see other people's opinions about things that I have used myself, because I like to try out watercolors from all different brands and countries of origin, and form my own opinions based on my experiences too. Although I am yet to try out Schmincke Horadam Watercolors, I have tried many other top brands such as M. Graham, Daniel Smith, White Nights, Rosa Gallery, Paul Rubens, Lukas 1862, Winsor & Newton... And the list goes on. I would love to try the Schminke as well as the Rermbrandt, but it would be just for novelty, as I think I have pretty much decided on my #1 being Da Vinci. To me Da Vinci is the best performing, best made, locally available, best priced premium artist grade watercolor available, and I am sticking to it ( and I have 33 to 48 colors in each of the other top brands I have mentioned. To me the only other brand that could give them a run for their spot is M. Graham... but... HONEY is the problem, and in my opinion is not very suitable for portability in travel palettes, but it is fantastic if you have a studio where you can leave it undisturbed, covered, and gravity compatible. While Da Vinci is my first love, White Nights and Rosa Gallery is my second. Lukas 1862 is my sort of serious practice beater pigments that behave very similarly to Da Vinci, and I can toss them around and experiment on ideas without using up my favorites. I agree with you about Art Whale too as being a good foundation for beginning artists at a reasonable price. They are hard to beat for a budget set. I could also say Paul Rubens is a good place to start if you want to get a feel for how good watercolors should flow and behave, but the only thing that I have against them is sketchy pigment information and quirky color labeling issues. Great video!

[@youtubelibrary_10]

Hi, I discovered you channel today and subscribed just because you mentioned White Nights paints. I watch a lot of art videos and you are one of the few artists who gave an unbiased review of the White Nights paints. I purchased a set and enjoy painting with them. They last a long time and it suits my style of painting. White Nights paints helped me improve my colour mixing skills. I have other brands of paint, but I always reach for White Nights because they have large pans and I don't have to damage my brushes digging through a tiny half pan.

[@KeyLimeInk]

Thank you, and welcome! 🌷 Happy painting.

[@mateusbottaro8728]

P.S. I love your videos, your recomendation made me buy White Nights and I will never regret, they are incredible

[@impish22]

how fun, thanks for posting

[@Lauraisabelgonzalezart]

Love love love White Nights! Their Sap Green is MY FAVORITE. If you get a chance and don't already have these colors, try Claret, Violet Mist, Titan Red, Green [PG8] and Iragzin Yellow! And this might ruffle some feathers, but I use them with my Rosa Gallery, and I'm okay with that. I support them... just like I support Rosa Gallery! They are both wonderful companies that have nothing to do with the disputes going in... imo at least.

[@KeyLimeInk]

Thank you for the tips! PG8 Green from White Nights is my favorite. Kim Crick did a really long lightfastness test (two years, I think?) and found it performed better than its rating. Yay!

[@kathyhackney7950]

It’s my favorite sap green too!

[@attorneycarissa]

I love Schmicke and Roman Szmal.

[@FatsquatchPNW]

For those who may be looking for an alternative to White Nights in terms of quality and performance, might I suggest Rosa Gallery? They're made in Ukraine, are formulated almost identically, and are similarly priced.

[@KeyLimeInk]

Lightfastness is an issue with certain pigments in any brand, but Rosa Gallery labels them as stable when they aren't. Be sure to cross-reference with Kim Crick's independent ratings and then mark anything questionably fugitive on your swatch card so you don't accidentally use them for work intended to be displayed. If you're just painting in a journal, fine. If you plan to gift, sell, or hang your work, be sure to avoid problematic Rosa colors like Carmine, Coral, Green, Lavender, Madder Red, and Opera Rose.

[@colourpalettesbymichelle]

Is your swatch chart available somewhere?

[@13mainstreet18]

I like Rosa gallery instead of White Nights. What are your thoughts?

[@KeyLimeInk]

Oops! I’m just seeing this now. Lots of people rave about Rosa Gallery, but I would recommend cross-referencing lightfastness with Kim Crick’s review. She tested them in Florida sun and found several colors which are listed as lightfast were actually quite fugitive. Just mark an X on your swatch card and avoid using those colors in professional work or pieces you plan to hang.

[@slowlybutshelly]

Can you explain wha granulating and degranulating mean

[@slowlybutshelly]

Can you explain what light fast is?

[@KeyLimeInk]

Sure! Lightfast colors are unlikely to fade when displayed in direct sunlight. Fugitive colors may fade over a few years - or even months. If you’re only painting in your journals and sketchbooks, it’s not a big deal. If you paint anything you plan to give as a gift, sell, or put on your wall you might consider using only lightfast colors.

[@So_salty]

The 35 tin set of WN is $108 now; is that pretty good?

[@KeyLimeInk]

Hello! That is the same price it’s been for at least six months, so yes. They were out of stock a few weeks ago, so it’s nice to see some available again. Happy painting!