![]() All watercolor paint brands are compared on the following brand quality criteria: the number and balanced distribution of "colors" around the color wheel, the paint color appearance (lightness, chroma, hue, texture), the proportion of paint "colors" made with lightfast (as opposed to impermanent or fugitive) pigments, paint handling attributes (transparency, staining, tinting strength or pigment concentration, and activity wet in wet), vehicle formulation and paint consistency, presence of fillers/brighteners (assessed by microscopic analysis), the proportion of single pigment formulations (as opposed to "convenience" mixtures of two or more pigments), the quality and functional convenience of the paint packaging, the accuracy of manufacturer technical information (specifically regarding pigment ingredients and paint lightfastness), the clarity and accuracy of paint marketing names, the presence of ingredient and lightfastness information on paint labels, and the paints' average unit price. My reviews are based on extensive product sampling and testing conducted throughout 1999-2000, with annual updates and quality checks since then, and a complete retesting for lightfastness in 2004. I've put those comments here, separate from the guide to watercolor pigments where the focus is on the attributes of watercolor pigments. I emailed or spoke with each manufacturer for technical information about their products, and compared this information to their marketing claims.Īlong the way, I developed definite opinions about the quality of products and documentation offered by each company. I sampled mostly single pigment paints from different paint brands, to get a sense for the variations in a pigment's quality and handling characteristics across manufacturers. My approach was to sample widely from "artists' quality" paints focusing on the watercolor brands most commonly offered by retailers, recommended in art instruction books, used by professional artists, or claiming an unusual brand style. ![]() This page presents my observations on the brand standards and brand styles of commercial watercolor paints.
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