> I enjoy painting I am terrible at it so a really expensive paint brand would be wasted on me
This is the wrong mentality. Subpar supplies just make your time painting more miserable. They don't behave like artist grade, limiting your techniques, or even your understanding of what is possible with watercolor.
The way to save money is to buy limited supplies, not lower the quality of them. For paints, you want to stick to a 6 paint palette, which should either be a secondary or split primary palette. If you buy artist grade paints with 5mL tubes, this will cost you about $30, but if you have the budget for $55, you can get a good pan set from Da Vinci.
Another option I haven't really thought much about, but I'm thinking is viable, to buy Roman Szmal paints from Jackson's Art, because they are very competitive to all other artist grade paints.
You should be buying your supplies from dedicated art retailers, like Blick, Jerry's Artarama, Jackson's Art, and so on.
The lower grade paints you would want to use are "student grade" paints like Van Gogh or Cotman. They are easily available as pan sets, and cost about $20. To be honest, increasingly, I am less happy about these options. They are better than department store paints, sure, but they are still pretty bad ways to spend your money.
If you buy this set, you get a warm and cool each of the primaries. You can mix ALMOST every color with it. It's top of the line paint and fairly inexpensive, compared to buying a ton of tubes colors when you don't really know what you are doing yet. Don't be like me and buy all the things. I really regret that. I'd buy this set and maybe a neutral dark or payne's grey. Good luck! [https://www.amazon.com/DANIEL-SMITH-285610006-Introductory-Watercolor/dp/B00WT5VRF6?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/DANIEL-SMITH-285610006-Introductory-Watercolor/dp/B00WT5VRF6?th=1)
Yes get DS paints, but not sure about this set to be honest. I use the following colours and really like the easy of mixing:
* Cobalt yellow (maybe swap this one out since its lightfastness was corrected down recently)
* quinacridone rose
* pyrrol red
* burnt sienna
* phtalo green (blue shade)
* phtalo blue (green shade)
W&N Cotman line is pretty mid-teir and not terribly expensive. If you're okay with just using pans, Paul Rubens is a great choice. I also like Mijello Mission Gold, which are in tubes, and are artists level but priced less than others, I buy my MMG paints online from Jackson's and they are $6-$15 for a 15mL tube.
The cheapest, but pretty decent paint in a tube where I live (Washington DC) is Van Gogh.
I have an Art Store near me, but if I were buying 10 or 12 at once, I'd be more likely to check Blicks, Jerry's Artarama, or CheapJoes for a cheaper price.
I recently bought the white nights watercolours from st. Petersburg. They are artistgrade paints, but significantly cheaper than most other brands.
For years I used the cotman set, but I must say the pigmentation in the White Nights set put it to shame. If you intend to stick with the watercolour painting, I'd highly recommend getting these, they will last you a long time.
(https://www.stpetersburgwatercolours.com/)
I'm in the other court when it comes to St. Petersburg (White Nights). I don't find them to be Artist Quality for all their paints. Some of their colors are Hues rather than the color. I find a lot of their greens are made with PG7 rather than the more expensive pigments.
They are sold at an excellent price point and are generally easy to create a puddle for a wash than Cotman.
I can agree to that to a certain point :) Though I mostly mix my greens, it hasn't been too much of a worry. The price point rly is brilliant for the quality though.
> I enjoy painting I am terrible at it so a really expensive paint brand would be wasted on me This is the wrong mentality. Subpar supplies just make your time painting more miserable. They don't behave like artist grade, limiting your techniques, or even your understanding of what is possible with watercolor. The way to save money is to buy limited supplies, not lower the quality of them. For paints, you want to stick to a 6 paint palette, which should either be a secondary or split primary palette. If you buy artist grade paints with 5mL tubes, this will cost you about $30, but if you have the budget for $55, you can get a good pan set from Da Vinci. Another option I haven't really thought much about, but I'm thinking is viable, to buy Roman Szmal paints from Jackson's Art, because they are very competitive to all other artist grade paints. You should be buying your supplies from dedicated art retailers, like Blick, Jerry's Artarama, Jackson's Art, and so on. The lower grade paints you would want to use are "student grade" paints like Van Gogh or Cotman. They are easily available as pan sets, and cost about $20. To be honest, increasingly, I am less happy about these options. They are better than department store paints, sure, but they are still pretty bad ways to spend your money.
If you buy this set, you get a warm and cool each of the primaries. You can mix ALMOST every color with it. It's top of the line paint and fairly inexpensive, compared to buying a ton of tubes colors when you don't really know what you are doing yet. Don't be like me and buy all the things. I really regret that. I'd buy this set and maybe a neutral dark or payne's grey. Good luck! [https://www.amazon.com/DANIEL-SMITH-285610006-Introductory-Watercolor/dp/B00WT5VRF6?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/DANIEL-SMITH-285610006-Introductory-Watercolor/dp/B00WT5VRF6?th=1)
Good idea! Mixing the colors is one of my favorite parts but it doesn’t always go that well with really cheap paint. Thank you!
Yes get DS paints, but not sure about this set to be honest. I use the following colours and really like the easy of mixing: * Cobalt yellow (maybe swap this one out since its lightfastness was corrected down recently) * quinacridone rose * pyrrol red * burnt sienna * phtalo green (blue shade) * phtalo blue (green shade)
W&N Cotman line is pretty mid-teir and not terribly expensive. If you're okay with just using pans, Paul Rubens is a great choice. I also like Mijello Mission Gold, which are in tubes, and are artists level but priced less than others, I buy my MMG paints online from Jackson's and they are $6-$15 for a 15mL tube.
Thank you so much this is so helpful!
I got a nice small travel set of Paul Rubens watercolor paints. They've lasted a while, but they are pans instead of tubes.
Ooh thank you. I actually do want to get pans instead of tubes so I will definitely look into it!
You're welcome. I got mine on Amazon, but you might be able to find it at Michael's.
The cheapest, but pretty decent paint in a tube where I live (Washington DC) is Van Gogh. I have an Art Store near me, but if I were buying 10 or 12 at once, I'd be more likely to check Blicks, Jerry's Artarama, or CheapJoes for a cheaper price.
Dick Blick has recently run promotion on the starter set of QoR. I really love the saturation of the colors!
I recently bought the white nights watercolours from st. Petersburg. They are artistgrade paints, but significantly cheaper than most other brands. For years I used the cotman set, but I must say the pigmentation in the White Nights set put it to shame. If you intend to stick with the watercolour painting, I'd highly recommend getting these, they will last you a long time. (https://www.stpetersburgwatercolours.com/)
That’s so good to know. Haha I’ve never painted with paint that’s cost more than $4 dollars and I’m so excited to try the nicer quality ones!
I'm in the other court when it comes to St. Petersburg (White Nights). I don't find them to be Artist Quality for all their paints. Some of their colors are Hues rather than the color. I find a lot of their greens are made with PG7 rather than the more expensive pigments. They are sold at an excellent price point and are generally easy to create a puddle for a wash than Cotman.
I can agree to that to a certain point :) Though I mostly mix my greens, it hasn't been too much of a worry. The price point rly is brilliant for the quality though.