Hi friends! Today I am reviewing a paint line that has been requested by many viewers. It is widely available in the US and UK so I thought it would benefit many of you and since they were pretty inexpensive I snagged a set of Daler Rowney watercolors to try out.
I got the 18 set which retails for around $25, since many “big box” sores carry this brand you can use one of the sweet 40-55% off coupons on it and pay $12-$16 (that’s what I did!) and I even think that WalMart might stock this paint. I am all for using what ever paint you can get your hands on! It is better to make art with cheap supplies than to not make art at all. That said, watch the video to learn what I think of this particular brand of paint.
Video!
So the paint is fine, it did not knock my socks off but you can paint with it and you can certainly learn to mix colors with it. Is it my favorite student paint? No (I’d pick Grumbacher Academy, Cotman, Van Gogh or Sonnet as they all have better color payoff.) But is it adequate? Yes.
Details:
- 37 colors available in 8ml tubes or half pans.
- Here is a list of all Daler Rowney paints with pigment info for your reference. It was tough to track down but useful if you have these paints.
- Prices range from $5.50 a tube to $7 a half pan and sets range from $13-$79, honestly, I checked many websites and the prices are all over the place so do some research and shop around if you are considering these.
Pros:
- Price: if you can get a set at a big box store half price it’s not bad for this quality.
- Colors mix well and most colors uses customary pigments although many of the colors in the set are mixes and some are downright fugitive.
- The sets come in nice palettes can can be reused.
Cons:
- Pigment strength is weaker than other student brands.
- Poor flow
- Price (I know I listed this as a Pro but…) if you are paying $5 a tube you would do much better spending that on a Van Gogh, Cotman or Grumbacher tube of paint. I think they are overpriced at retail.
- Consistency: They have a streaky, gelatin like consistency that wants to stay put rather than flow on the paper. This attribute might make them better to use on poor quality papers as they do not tend to feather.
- They seem to wear down quicker than other paints possible due to a high amount of filler in the paint.
Bottom line: They are worth a try if you can get a deal, it is not going to hurt you to use them but I think you are better of buying a smaller set of Grumbacher academy, Cotman, VanGogh or Sonett if they are available. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed painting with them and these differences are small, they might not seem to be a big deal for anyone else and I am not saying they are, I just want to let you know the properties of the paint. I hope you found this review helpful. Happy crafting & painting!