Paul Rubens Tubens Unbox and Swatch

Paul Rubens Half Pan Set:
Unbox and Swatch:    • Paul Rubens Field Test  
Fieldtest:    • Art Supplies from 🌠Wish🌠! Paul Rubens...  
Paul Rubens Pochet:
Paul Rubens Watercolor Paper:    • Paul Rubens 100% Cotton Watercolor Bl...  

Get Your Own:
On Amazon:Same Set: https://amzn.to/3s6pFJe
On AliExpress: https://tinyurl.com/badwfep4

Full Shownotes Here: https://tinyurl.com/by449pjy

Packaging:
Shrinkwrapped and in a large, well-made cardboard gift box. Inside the cardboard giftbox is a brochure, a Mijello style palette, and 24 8ml tubes

The Brochure
Written entirely in Chinese, it mainly seems to be the colors available from Paul Rubens

The Palette
A plastic Mijello style palette with a removable top mixing palette and an unusual setup of horizontal watercolor wells. It also comes with a small plastic tool used to remove the trey or perhaps scrape out the wells. Silicone gasket and locking latch help keep it airtight to keep your watercolors fresh.

The Tubes:
8ml metal tubes with a small plastic screw cap.
Tube information includes Series (A, B, ect), color reference number, color name in Chinese, color name in English, Artist's Water colour in Chinese, Artist's Water colour in English, a portrait of Paul Rubens the painter, the brand name, and the tube size. Color band is at the top- it's an approximation of the color. Back includes pigment information, including what mineral or dye the pigment derives from, AP certification, a barcode. Color opacity and lightfast information are in Chinese, but still readable if you know what to look for.

Pigment info included in shownotes doc

Wet Swatches:
I’m swatching on the Paul Rubens 100% cottonrag watercolor block.
Colors were applied basically fresh from the tube, and had a tendency to glob onto my brush. If you're painting with these, you're going to want to work with a palette, if only to ensure more even mixes.
Most colors are prone to lifting, Cadmium Red is strangely shiny, and many colors swatch fairly opaque. Many colors have at least some degree of granulation.

Sat in the container overnight, reswatched:
The container was closed and kept the paints quite fresh.

Mud Test:

Layer 1, Day 1:
This paper really loves wet into wet effects and creates beautiful diffuse blends. While colors kinda glom onto my brush and you definitely need to work with a palette or mixing surface, the first layer went down beautifully saturated with really satisfying color payoff.

Layer 2, Day 2:
Most colors are still pretty open and very easy to pick up, I didn't struggle with activating any, but quite a few would glom onto the brush. This makes painting directly from the palette a bit more of a challenge, as you may get some flecks of intense pigment (or just flatout paint) onto your painting.

Colors in general seem to stay put once dry, which allows for really nice layered effects. On this paper, the granulation is lovely.

I really love how some of the opaque colors glaze on top of more saturated colors- Ruby blue for example is really really pretty glazed over pinks, oranges, and purples.

Day 3 Mud Test:
At this point, I introduced a bunch of opaque colors trying to make mud. I have a feeling though they're going to dry down to granulating, rather than just a muddy mess.

Mud Test Dried:
This is truly a perfect example of why it's important to step away and allow your work to dry overnight sometimes, before deciding if it's good or bad. You can get some really lovely misty effects combining the Paul Rubens paints with the Paul Rubens paper.

The Verdict:
These paints REALLY surprised me. Originally, I was prepared to be disappointed, as I was in the Paul Rubens half pans. But I fell in love! Beautiful, granulating colors that stay fresh and open in the specially designed palette. Quick color activation, brilliant color and saturation, and the ability to layer, layer, layer. Playing with opacity and layering is a lot of fun. If you enjoy a traditional Chinese watercolor palette, this 24 piece set delivers that and way more, creating a set inviting for Eastern and Western watercolors alike.

Pros:
Price of this kit:
Colors included in this kit:
Tubes include pigment information AND where those pigments derive, plus lightfast and opacity
Tubes are easy to use and high quality
The PALETTE! keeps the paints fresh
Granulation of these paints
Despite the granulation, don't really turn to mud

Cons:
Not available at any brick and mortar art store I've seen, so if you fall in love, you'll have to turn to AliExpress for refill tubes. But if these grow in popularity, that may change!
The weird flocking on the gift set gets all over everything, and the box, while beautiful, is bulky to store.

Music:
A Quiet Thought
Windswept
Snowdrop
Lulu is the Cat I Like Best
Finding Me
Silver Blue Light
Orange Octopus
Meadow
8 Bit Dreamscape

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