Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Paint Set, Field Pocket Set, 12 Half Pan w/ Brush, Sponge, Bottle

The Winsor & Newton Cotman Field Pocket Set is perfect for artists on the go! The 12 half pans provide vibrant, mixable colors, and the included brush, sponge, and water bottle make painting convenient anywhere. The compact design fits easily into a bag, making it ideal for plein air painting or travel. Overall, this set is high-quality, portable, and perfect for both beginners and experienced watercolor artists — highly recommended!

Several years ago, I decided to follow some tutorials from my high school art book and take watercolors more seriously. I bought quality paper (Strathmore, cellulose 300 gsm; at the time, I wasn't aware of the difference between cotton and cellulose) and a decent watercolor set without compromising my finances. Good watercolors can be quite expensive. So, in December 2016, I ordered this sketch set that was on discount, and I have no regrets. I can proudly say that these were my first watercolors from a reputable brand, even though they are student/academy quality. - The box/presentation: The plastic box doesn't feel cheap; it's very sturdy. However, since the lid doesn't come off, it's sometimes difficult to clean the edge where the hinge of the mixing tray is. To address this, I carefully remove all the half pans and wash the entire box from time to time. It has a small and compact size. The closed box measures 13x6 cm. - Colors / Half-Pans: The colors seemed very good to me at that time, with excellent pigmentation. While they can't compare to professional watercolors, they were a great option for a beginner who wanted to enjoy learning the technique. Many purist watercolorists may disagree with the inclusion of white, but I found it useful for adding details and experimenting with pastel colors. The ability to experiment made it worthwhile to have in the set. The set includes two yellows, two reds, two blues, and two greens, each in warm and cool versions, plus three earth tones. This selection helped me learn how to mix colors to get the shades I wanted. Initially, seeing a palette of 48 colors was overwhelming, but this smaller set was more manageable. I would have preferred if they had included the pigment numbers on the side, but it only lists the color names. However, you can find this information on the official Winsor & Newton website. - Brush: I still have the brush that came with the set, but it's not for daily use. It serves the set's main purpose, which is to make sketches, but I usually painted on 9x12 inches paper (the size of the notebook I bought at the time), so I often used larger brushes. The round brush is of decent quality and good for making details. I'm very happy to have learned the basics of watercolor technique with this set. Below, I will share the pigments for this set, if it helps anyone: - Lemon Yellow Hue: PY175 - Cadmium Yellow Hue: PY65, PY97 - Cadmium Red Pale Hue: PR255, PY65 - Alizarin Crimson Hue: PR206 - Ultramarine: PB29 - Intense Blue (Phthalo Blue): PB15 - Viridian Hue: PG7 - Sap Green: PB15, PG7, PY139 - Yellow Ochre: PY42 - Burnt Sienna: PR101 - Burnt Umber: PBr7, PY42 - Chinese White: PW5

This is a great set of watercolors, and I love the built in palettes for mixing and diluting. The range of colors has even more than I need, the colors look great, and it was a great upgrade for me as I use a travel cotman palette for portable use, but wanted a larger set with more colors for home use. This is still quite portable and I take it to different rooms and outside very often, but it is definitely not a pocket sized kit. That said, I think it will last me a loooong time and I like that I can replace any pans that I use up so that I won't have to replace an entire kit (this is true of all the cotman sets I've tried). I've attached a few paintings I've made with these watercolors. I do usually use Sakura Pigma pens with them just due to my style My favorite thing is that the inner palette is EASILY removable for cleaning. I've had others where it's almost impossible to snap off the palette. This one you just hold it at the right angle and it lifts right out.

I am not a professional or that knowledgeable LOL, and I haven’t used the paints in a full piece yet, but here are my first impressions. Some of the pans arrived rough or cracked, and a few colors looked a little odd (like streaks or weird markings in the yellow and green). I am not sure if this means something is wrong. After swatching one of the pans though, the paint reactivated smoothly, so I don’t think the texture affects performance. Some still have visible cracks, so it might just be a cosmetic issue? The pigment quality seems really nice so far, and the color variety is the main reason I chose this set! I’m not a professional, so I’ll need more time to test everything, but I’m excited to keep trying them out. The pans are smaller than I expected, but watercolor seems to last a long time since you only have to use a tiny amount. I also purchased some extra tubes, so it won’t be a problem for me personally, just something to note for others. Overall, I’m still looking forward to seeing how they perform in an actual painting. I’ll update my review once I actually get to use them 🎨💖 Also, ignore the mess on my fingers and my handwriting lol.

A very nice do all field set. Very bright and warm. Colors are vibrant and load easily to brush.

I recently purchased the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Paint Set, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with it! This studio set comes with 45 half pans, which provides an impressive range of colors to choose from. The pigments are vibrant and mix beautifully, allowing for endless possibilities in my artwork. I love the convenience of the half pans; they are easy to transport and use, making this set perfect for both studio work and on-the-go painting. The included brush is a nice touch, providing a good quality option to get started right away. The overall quality of the Cotman line is exceptional. The paints re-wet easily and deliver smooth application, whether I'm creating delicate washes or bold, saturated layers. I appreciate that these watercolors are student-grade, striking a balance between affordability and professional quality. This set has truly enhanced my painting experience, and I feel inspired to experiment with color mixing and new techniques. Overall, I highly recommend the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Paint Set for anyone looking to explore watercolor painting, from beginners to more experienced artists. It’s a fantastic investment that delivers both quality and versatility!

Excellent delivery and the product was exactly what they wanted for their trip to Ireland. He is an artist and wanted something easy to use, travel with, of an excellent quality, the paint consistency is very good, texture was very good.

As a beginner, it's a struggle to find the balance between good quality watercolors and good value. And advice comes at you from every side. Buy pigments! No, get student grade! No, this brand is better! No, that brand is better! So I did my own comparison. I went to the local discount store and picked up a Phoenix pigment-based watercolor set. Then I ordered this Cotman travel-friendly, student-grade watercolor set. I'm learning color matching with charts, so it was a perfect opportunity to test these materials side by side. You can see the results in the attached photos. Cotman student grade vs. Phoenix pigments. Both charts were laid down on Strathmore watercolor paper. I used the included water pen for the Cotman colors. As you can see, there is a bit of a learning curve with a water pen as the brush picks up quite a bit of color and lays it down wet -- I had to avoid the edges of the chart because the water was pulling the ink lines into the color area. For the Phoenix, I used a generic hobby brush. The pigments are drier, even fresh out of the tube, and I had to work them a little bit to get them onto the paper. As you can see, the chart colors are blotchier and less even. In subsequent color charts, I was able to smooth out the color by switching to a better brush and getting a better feel for the pigment, but I'm guessing that pigment-based colors just behave a little differently. This isn't a knock on Phoenix pigments; I think they're an affordable starting point for pigment-based watercolors. But they behave differently and look duller than the Cotman hues. If that's a look you're going for, they're fine. The Cotman watercolor set is perfect for my learning level. Instead of struggling with the color, I can focus on painting technique. I'm confident that the colors are going to pop, even when I'm mixing them into a new hue. The paints are easy to lay down on the paper -- whether I'm using watercolor, mixed media or even thin sketch paper. And the pans hold enough color to last quite a while. All in all, I'm very happy with the Cotman set.