SAKURA XNCW-24N, 24 Assorted Watercolors Field Sketch Set with Brush

Edit: This is almost 10+ years in the making but i was looking through old reviews and saw that I said I’d update once I’ve tried more watercolors and now as a professional artist/illustrator (vs. as a recent high school grad who had dreams of making art for a living) I have a bit more to say. I still believe everything I wrote below! Believe or not, I still have this same watercolor set because I find the size, set up, and thumb hold convenient to use. I’ll squeeze different watercolors on to the palette and still occasionally use the old, crusty pans from the OG set (I’ve replaced some). This a great set for students and beginner water color hobbyist of any age. I genuinely feel getting this and using it to explore this medium and practice more art in general lead me to becoming a professional artist with how often I’d take it out to use. Having used other brands now like Winsor & Newton, Holbein, etc, these watercolors can be “chalky” and not very pigmented compared to higher grade watercolors (obviously). The pigments can just sit there and not blend/bleed, but for it’s intended use for students/beginners or even people needing a larger palette set for on the go plain air painting, it’s reliable and great. Original Review: I was really interested in a pan watercolor set and something convenient to lug around places when I bought this. One of my favorite artists at the time had one of these so I decided I'd try watercolors out! I haven't regretted the decision. :) I really love this set! I've had this for about three years now and I use it for almost all of my watercolor pieces. It's been with me my entire watercolor art journey. It has lasted a pretty long time (that or I don't watercolor as much as I should), and I've only hit the bottom on a few colors. The packaging is great and I'll keep it long after I run out of its original pants (I'll probably order some tube watercolors to fill up the empty squares). The provided palette is wonderful! I sometimes end up using the back of the palette/the lid of the container for additional space, usually because I get lazy about cleaning it, but that's great too! The brush pen is pretty good for on the go, but I usually use my own brushes for detail work/more "serious" pieces. I also kinda messed up the brush when I went to go clean it this one time and it leaks too much water for me to do anything but washes now. I've been meaning to order another one, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it. Color/pigmentation wise, I'll have to update this review when I try more watercolor brands. I only have experience with this so I can't compare it to anything else. Though I can speculate that it's might not be the BEST quality compared to other higher end brands just because it's a watercolor set and probably has it's fair amount of filler in some of the colors. The art supplies don't make the artist though because I've made pretty decent stuff with this and I've seen amazing artist make great work with this too. I can't recommend this enough! It's amazing for beginners/advanced artists/whoever because it's super convenient and has plenty of color choices! Though if anything, if you're a beginner, you might not need all 24 colors. They sell a smaller set with 12 colors which might be ideal if you're starting out so you don't get overwhelmed with color choices and mix muddy colors (something I did a lot of lol). (included art done with this set! some stuff ordered from when i first got it (2013) to now (2016))

Please note: The 5 star rating is for the good color options and the convenience of a portable watercolor kit for painting on the go - and from the prospective of someone very new to using watercolors. I joined an outdoor sketching group over a year ago. Painting outside presented several challenges for me and my initial attempts were frustrated by the difficulty in juggling brushes, paints, a water bottle- all while holding onto the sketchbook and trying to draw in it! After I discovered water brushes and stumbled on this Koi Sakura portable watercolor set, I was finally able to get down to the business of painting. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like watercolor as a medium and didn't want to spend too much. At less than $25 for the color range and portability, I felt I couldn't go wrong buying this set. At that time, I also purchased the Cotman 14-color watercolor set but didn't like the flimsy-feeling palette and the paints kept falling out. I needed something easier to manage. This 24-color set had all the shades I needed with a few colors I don't even use. It folds up neatly into a small, square box that fits into my shoulder bag. The colors are strong and more on the opaque side - which was my preference, initially. The problem I did have with the Sakura paints is that mixing colors created muddy results. I read somewhere to not mix more than 2 colors together if not using single pigmented watercolor brands. These are beginner/student quality but are much better than the retail store stuff that's all chalk and barely produces any color. I've only used the included brush a few times early on. It was too much work to take off the plug and then attach the brush end to the barrel (and then dismantle in reverse after I was done). Instead, I bought several other fuller length water brushes. I like the Niji, Kuretake and Pentel Aquash brushes and have used Derwent ones as well. I just store the other water brushes (won't fit the Sakura case) with my drawing pens and pencils that I bring along with me, in a pencil pouch. Now I'm ready for better quality paints and the price difference is considerable. I plan to keep this Koi set because the box is sturdy and well-made. I can replace the paints with better watercolors once I decide which to get. I've tried the Prima Marketing paints and was impressed with the color clarity and how more translucent they are compared to the Koi brand. I suppose this is part of the learning -- knowing what good paints look like on paper and what they can do!

I have a lot of really great things to say about this set, I'm probably going to miss something but here goes. I bought this about two weeks? ago and I was instantly impressed. It probably helps that I wasn't using very good stuff before. The brush releases the paint much easier than the derwent I was using before, which meant I didn't use as much water. The colours are fantastic and the paint itself is great, it's easy to use gradually instead of getting TOO much paint right away like my old watercolour pallet. The sponges on the side are extremely helpful for washing my brushes. It's so small and compact and there's even a spot for a brush, so I only have to grab the pallet and my sketchbook and I'm good to go. The only problem I really have with this is it seems harder to lift water and paint off my painting with this brush, it's not a huge deal since I always work with a kleenex or cloth next to me, but it's nicer to have that paintbrush precision. All in all, I am so happy with this, I told a friend all about it and she's asked me to order a set for her. And if you're like me and like to work small, I'd suggest also buying the smaller brush that I bought with this, (then you'll have a small and medium brush for a good price)

Lo uso para cuando voy de viaje, es muy portátil y son buenas acuarelas. Bastante bien pigmentadas y no dejan polvo blanco que he visto en muchas acuarelas para principiantes. Sólo no entiendo para que son las esponjas.

The header for this review is a cliche but it certainly describes the KOI field set of watercolours. The box is small enough to carry in a handbag or even a large pocket, yet it opens up to give plenty of mixing space and the strongly pigmented colours are a joy to use. They're easy to mix if you need a colour not in the box but the supplied colours offer a good range, covering all basic needs. The included waterbrush is also excellent: I'm not sure I prefer it to the Pentel waterbrushes but it's a pleasure to see a brush of such good quality included in what is a very reasonably priced palette of colours. If you want a set of good colours that are easily transportable and can't justify the expense of something like Schmincke or Holbein, these KOI watercolours are perfect.

Im Angebot bestellt. Sie sind so schön, ich traue mich noch nicht probieren.

very vibrant colors