Paul Rubens Tube Watercolor Review (Floral Set)

Hi friends! Today I have a new (to the US market) set of watercolors to review that would be perfect for painting all of those summer blooms! I have been using this set for about a month and I am quite pleased with the Paul Rubens Floral Watercolor Tube set especially considering the price and I have a coupon code for an extra 5% off: 05TEFY81 Watch the video for the full review!

Paul Rubens first came on the American scene with a set of 24 standard half pans in a pretty pink tin. They now have a 48 half pan set which includes most of the colors from the floral and original set of 24 colors, plus you get a palette. I wanted to mention that in case you were considering getting both the original and floral sets as getting the 48 sets would be cheaper and you would avoid getting duplicate colors because there are a couple of duplicates between the original 24 half pans and the set of 24 floral tubes. I also recommend the cheaper set of 36 student grade paint they offer, they call it “Pretty Excellent” and it really is, I have a full review here if you are interested. To be honest, I preferred the working abilities and transparency to this under $20 set of paints. You get 36 half pans in a metal tin. The paint is in a plastic tray within the tin so you can’t remove the half pans (I’m sure a cost-saving measure) but dang, they are the best deal I’ve come across in watercolors. The lightfast ratings on them were surprisingly good too so if you want to try the brand out and not invest much I can’t recommend this set highly enough! I also wanted to mention that their metallic set of watercolor paints is probably the best metallic watercolor I have ever used. There is a full comparison here if you are interested.

Pros:

• Price (under $60 for 24 12ml tubes, save 5% with coupon code: 05TEFY81 )
• 19 of the 24 are single pigment colors
• Colors glaze well
• Paint is reliable, it does what I expect and works like my other professional paints
  *These remind me most of my Renesans Tube watercolors from Poland.

Cons:

• I am not crazy about the earth tones. I like the Van Dyke brown but the other browns are weak and have odd undertones, also the raw sienna color (yellow sienna deep) is weak and hard to rewet.
• The tube set does not come with a palette, consider the 48 half pan set if you want these colors in a metal tin.

All in all, I really like the quality and value of this set. They performed like other professional colors in my stash and I ended up storing them with my other tried and true paints to refill palettes when they get low on paint. With the exception of the Cyprus brown deep, umber and lavender I would use the other colors frequently.  What do you think? I think it’s a good deal if you need some paint, the quality is not quite as good as Sennelier, Daniel Smith of Schminke but they are on par with Winsor & Newton in my opinion as far as pigment strength goes. I hope you found this review useful and til next time happy crafting!