Paul RubensArtist Grade Watercolor Paint, 48 Colors Solid Cakes with Portable Metal Box for Artists, Beginners, Hobbyists, Students

First off I am not sponcered, and I am not a professional artist. Professional equating to making a living at art. I'm intermediate at best.Now that's not to say that my work is bad. But I always felt like my work needed better quality supplies or tools. The song and dance (advice) from many other artist's is that supplies don't matter, if they don't then why do so many of these same people use expensive supplies? (I believe this to be a partial truth.) I often feel like they tell us this because they want to make poor people like me or budget artists feel better. Or you know novice artists too but that's another story. I'm glad I sucked it up and bought quality supplies this last year. It's a dream come true.Advice that is good. While it's true that better supplies won't make you a better artist, they do make your life easier, and you have to fight less problems, it does also enhance your work but not for what you think on a personal skill level. If you're not sure you are going to like a particular media or stick with it. Buy cheap and test it out first then you won't be at a hard loss. (I suggest maybe Paul Rubens do a single testor or sample pan for people to try out.)(Or you buy a small batch from them as a concession.) It's okay to do this if you're not ready to invest. You will usually know really fast if you want an upgrade or want to stick with something. I almost gave up on watercolor because of cheap supplies but realized I did this on purpose to put my feelers out for the media and that cheap wasn't a reflection on other products like this.I'm a novice in watercolor and already desired something better. Just with my search sheet alone I felt 100 times better and knew I was going to be able to learn faster having supplies that actually work.I spent a year doing research on supplies. Watching YouTube sponsored and unsponsored reviews, read articles, etc... This is a product that really does earn it's reputation. Not to mention, this may sound weird but in this case, you can trust Chinese made, or Asian on its affinity for watercolor and calligraphy.You can tell this company takes pride in it's work.I strongly recommend buying this product because after just comparing my crappy $13.00 watercolor chalky paints... Lol I could list off a large list of why you should buy this product but I'll keep the list concise instead of going on too much longer.1. Activation Time Shortened2. Less water needed.3. More pigment pickup, only need to wet a small area. A little goes a long way.4. Vibrance, Saturation, and Quality5. Better control over amount of paint used and how.6. Easy to use.7. Quality case, snaps, and removability.8. Wonderful color palette.9. Bonus on the special presentation, boxing, packaging, etc.. It made me cry to open it. It was like a dream. It felt very... Designer but not lame cheap designer. The cloth was a massive bonus too!10. Fast shipping even without Amazon Prime.11. The test swatch card. Huge deal for me.Also so you are not caught off guard the actual pans are about the size of a dime/penny. Half pans. It might seem like a little, but I have a feeling judging based on how little you need to use that it will last a long time, and that the price is fair.You will not go wrong on this brand. I wish I could rate this higher because there was a massively noticable difference between my cheap paint and these.I do have 1 question. The swatch card that came with it. Is this an indicator of your paper quality too? I noticed you sell paper. That paper is fantastic, it was a dream to work with.Thank you Paul Rubens!(Edited to include update: New image sample landscape piece. Confirmed the control and use, vibrancy is outstanding! I'm a novice watercolorist and it's been a huge blessing having higher quality tools. I can't stop talking about these!!!)Edited to add a better art example. ♥️

Exactly what I wanted

Very nice paint for the price, I enjoy using them.

I purchased the 48 Paul Rubens watercolor palette and I loved the transparency of these watercolors and the color selection and quality was phenomenal! The pink tin was a bonus, as it seemed to be the same as my high end tins as well. And we all know that most people buy cheap paints just for the tin! These paints were comparable to most student grade paints and even some high end paints. While I would not say they are equal to Daniel Smith, Sennelier, Schmincke, Winsor and Newton or White Nights, they are still not bad quality, and actually worth the purchase. Again, they are VERY transparent, and do not seem opaque at all (some of the colors are a little weak but layering solves that problem); they have an interesting texture when they dry that I find very interesting; they mix very good and create nice, clean colors (no muddiness or chalkiness at all); and they rewet nicely!Although, if I wanted to rebuy this set , I would wait until it is on sale because I bought it for around 74 dollars and I did not know that the price could even drop to around 54 dollars as it is right now. This is a bit upsetting as I feel they should have made that the price originally as well, because to be honest, even the White Nights are priced around 50, not 70. Anyways, if it is still the original price, I would have just settled for a smaller set of a more professional/artist grade watercolor! But if you are a beginner, and do not care about lightfast info or professional quality, then I would buy the 24 version of this palette if it is also on sale, or the student grade version of this (which has been agreed to be the pretty excellent watercolor by meilang). The pretty excellent watercolor is also sold under the same seller on Amazon and has been agreed to be the best student grade watercolor by most youtubers.

I do like these paints! :)My original review included a caution and photo/video of glitter that accidentally found it’s way into a few of my non-glitter paint half-pans. In that review I also said I really do like the paints overall, and that stands true. The seller was very helpful and responsive with the glitter issue, and that alone is worth five stars. As far as the paints are concerned, the colors are richly pigmented, vibrant, and a joy to work with. I spent way too many hours researching these watercolors before buying them, and am happy to say I they have exceeded my expectations. Enjoy!