🌿 Art Whale 48 Half Pans Watercolor Review and Comparison To Mei Liang, Paul Rubens, Van Gogh, Etc

🌿 FIND my favorite art supplies for bullet journaling, functional planning, and watercolor at my Amazon Shop
--- http://www.amazon.com/shop/keylimeink...

🌿 SHOW NOTES
I’m always looking for high quality budget watercolors, and the Art Whale 48 Half Pan set comes out as one of the best on Amazon according to my tests.

🌿 FAVORITE WATERCOLORS

Updated August 2023: If I were starting over today, I would begin with a 24 or 48 half pan set of Art Whale and then replace each color I use most with Schmincke Horadam over time.

Art Whale Watercolors
--- 24 half pans: https://amzn.to/3rZRhVd
--- 48 half pans: https://amzn.to/3KwQf9I
(Student Grade // company is based in Miami, Florida; paints are made in China; pigment information is provided; pans are standard sized and can be moved; tins are fantastic and will serve you well for a long time; these are highly pigmented, extremely easy to re-wet, and over 70% of the colors should be lightfast based on pigment numbers; the only caveat is that burnt sienna and umber are mislabled, so you'll want to switch the names when you make a swatch chart)

Schmincke Horadam Watercolors
--- half pans at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370b
--- tubes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370e
--- tubes, full pans, and half pans at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XKR0U6
(Artist quality // top-of-the line watercolors made by a highly reputable, long-standing, family-owned company in Germany; my favorite brand overall; I recommend purchasing individual colors since the ready-made sets don't usually have an ideal selection)

🌿 OTHER WATERCOLORS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Canson XL Watercolor Paper
--- at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NtgePq
--- at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3uzf8
(FSC Certified; used for all my watercolor swatching)

Canva
--- free Canva Pro 30 day trial: https://www.canva.com/pro
(I used this program to make my swatch cards)

Clarice Gomes Designs (Watercolor Tutorials)
--- Instagram:   / helloclariceg  

Da Vinci
--- Set of 12 Full Pans: https://davincipaints.com/da-vincis-w...
--- Open Stock Tubes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/3ufrq
--- Open Stock Tubes at Da Vinci: https://davincipaints.com/shop-da-vin...
(Artist quality // made in California)

Daniel Smith
--- Open Stock at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3n47h
--- Open Stock at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XFlIhn
(Artist quality // made in Seattle)

F Club Empty Watercolor Pans
--- full: https://amzn.to/3H4DcLk
--- half: https://amzn.to/3Wgj3Gt

Isaro
--- at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3L6yHBg
(Artist quality // made in Belgium)

Leuchtturm1917 Journal
--- 80gsm: https://amzn.to/3Ad4egH
(FSC Certified paper)

Niji Watercolors By Yasutomo
--- 12 half pans or 24 half pans at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370r
(Student grade // Based in California, and the paints themselves are made in China)

Paul Rubens Artist
--- 48 half pans: https://amzn.to/3QvIxxb
(Artist quality // made in China)

Princeton Aqua Elite Long Round #8 Brush
--- https://amzn.to/3FB48RK

Roman Szmal
--- at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/4cI83u0
(Artist quality // made in Poland)

Sennelier
--- Aqua Mini Set of 8 Half Pans: https://amzn.to/3TpPTVz
--- Open Stock at Blick: http://shrsl.com/3zdhq
--- Open Stock at Jackson’s: https://tidd.ly/4bo02JB
(Artist quality // made in France)

Tombow Mono Waterproof Drawing Pens
--- set of 3 sizes at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4614RpR
--- set of 3 sizes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/421dh
--- individual sizes and sets at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XG9F39


Van Gogh
--- 12+3 Half Pans at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fsHRvt
(Student grade // made in The Netherlands)

White Nights
--- 35 full pans (newest set, mostly lightfast and transparent): https://amzn.to/3QC9EXu
--- 36 full pans (original set, more opaque): https://amzn.to/3FBtmPN
(Artist quality // made in Russia)

NO LONGER AVAILABLE / NOT RECOMMENDED
ArtiBox, Artistik, Artsy, Cotman, GenCrafts, Jane Davenport, Loew Cornell, Mei Liang, Prang, Sakura Koi, Superior/Tinge

🌿 DISCLOSURES
KeyLimeInk is an affiliate of Amazon, Blick, Da Vinci, Etsy, and Jackson's. Art Whale, Da Vinci, GenCrafts, Isaro, and Mei Liang sent samples for review.