.I found these on ebay really cheap so I thought I would give them a try and see how they compared to my usual artists quality brands.
The set I bought is a box of 24 full pans with removable pallet. This is the old style of box and is a bit flimsy. I doubt if it would last long under regular use. The pans are held in by a small plastic hook at one end and are extremely insecure. I put sticky fixer under these to stop them falling out. Although described as full pans I think that they are actually a bit smaller than a regular pan.
I decided to do a couple of sketches to see if they lived up to expectations. The colour's names were quite strange compared to what I'm used to using so the first thing I did was to paint a colour chart There was one in the box but it was printed so didn't represent the actual colours. On adding water to the pans I noticed a couple of them were quite hard and I had to wet them up to soften them before use.
My first painting was a simple sketch of an apple. As with any other watercolour paint I decided to let the paint do the work. The pigments were quite strong so I expected the task to take only a few minutes. Unfortunately the paint didn't behave as expected. The paint didn't adhere to the paper very well and was difficult to layer. Each subsequent layer seemed to lift of the previous layer. Also, the stronger pigments seemed to bleed and dissolve the dry paint underneath leaving large watermarks. It took an awful lot of work with the brush to correct the problem.
My first painting was a simple sketch of an apple. As with any other watercolour paint I decided to let the paint do the work. The pigments were quite strong so I expected the task to take only a few minutes. Unfortunately the paint didn't behave as expected. The paint didn't adhere to the paper very well and was difficult to layer. Each subsequent layer seemed to lift of the previous layer. Also, the stronger pigments seemed to bleed and dissolve the dry paint underneath leaving large watermarks. It took an awful lot of work with the brush to correct the problem.
My second sketch was of 2 plums. I thought the strong colours involved would make them easier to work. Unfortunately the outcome was the same. The finished product was a bit messy and not up to the standard of what I would describe as artists watercolour paints.
Conclusion.
They are loaded with pigment with some unusual colours. Not really a beginner's tool as they are quite difficult to work. It might be best to try them on a variety of different papers to get a better perspective of their potential. Worth a try but if I were to start from scratch I would go for one of the student brands such as Van Gogh or Cotman. On a positive note, they are inexpensive for what they are.
Foot note: These paints that I purchased were unused but I guess quite old. I wonder if the problems that I had might have been down to this product having a limited shelf life.
They are loaded with pigment with some unusual colours. Not really a beginner's tool as they are quite difficult to work. It might be best to try them on a variety of different papers to get a better perspective of their potential. Worth a try but if I were to start from scratch I would go for one of the student brands such as Van Gogh or Cotman. On a positive note, they are inexpensive for what they are.
Foot note: These paints that I purchased were unused but I guess quite old. I wonder if the problems that I had might have been down to this product having a limited shelf life.