Winsor & Newton 390639 Cotman Watercolor Paint Field Box Set - 12 Half Pans | Professional Artist Travel Kit for Outdoor Sketching & Plein Air Painting

This travel paint kit has everything you could possibly think of for painting on the go. It has the trays to mix the paint, a small collapsable brush, a sponge, the lid doubles as a container to clean your brush in, and a water container. It even has a ring on the back of the case so you can hold it easily when in use!!This case has genuinely everything you’d need when painting in one package. And talk about affordable!!I seriously can’t get enough of this or recommend this enough. This is probably the most convenient, affordable and exciting thing I’ve bought myself!If you have an art lover as a family member or friend, get this for them and they will LOVE it!I originally got this for myself to jump into a medium I struggled with. When I started working I realized I needed some thing that was small and self-contained. I ended up picking this up and it was absolutely the best thing I ever purchased. I ended up getting a second set for my friend so that we can go and paint together. The colors are bright they maintain their color. I also like that you can take the pans out and rearrange them however you like. The extra flip out pallets are very nice and helpful and I appreciate the water cup. There are a lot of other travel kids out there that do not pack as much in such a small container there is zero wasted space. Unless you’re looking for a broader range of colors you can’t go wrong.The design is brilliant. Everything collapses into a small, easy to carry form factor. The included brush is a little small, so unless you generally work small I'd reccomend exploring other collapsible brushes that suit your needs.The paints are amazing. The Cotman line is considered Winsor and Newtons student grade paints. After using other brands, such as Raler and Downey, I find the Cotman series to be much higher quality. The paint mixes beautifully, the colors are vibrant, and they play well on the paper.Considering the cost of the colors alone, you are basically getting the travel pallete for free. I personally love to always have my art stuff on hand, and using my old watercolor tubes, brushes and pallets made it almost impossible. This conveniently and efficiently solves that problem. 10/10 reccomend this productW/N Cotman colors are great and this set has a good variety. Mine did not come with instructions on how to remove the pans to unwrap them, so make sure you carefully fiddle with that middle strip and it should tilt out for easy removal. There's not room to add more colors, but these are standard half pans so you can trade out colors with other half pans as desired. There is plenty of space for color mixing and the bottle for water seems to seal tight. The ONLY thing that leaves a little to be desired is the brush. It's TINY which makes it harder to control and almost impossible to use if you have any kind of hand issues. I have a set of travel brushes that I will use instead.I was shocked at how small the kit was when folded up but then that is really a good thing.Our granddaughter (age 16 and the budding artist) says it's perfect and she loves all the features it has.We would definitely buy this again.Mixing areas are thin and flimsy. They bend easily a one is trying to mix. With that being said however bending prevents breaking. Color choices are okay I guess. For the life of me I'll never understand why these companies add white and never include a good dark. Get rid of the white add a Paynes grey or another sufficient dark one could mix a great contrast color with. Stop putting white in these sets. I'm not even displeased with 3 yellows. It'll get the job done cotman is a good quality "student" grade paint. I say "student" in quotes because I know plenty of professionals who use cotman paints. The more you know, the better you are, the less you need. Great starter set if the white was changed out for a Paynes grey. Would recommend over the professional set everyday of the week. I've put this little set through hell and back and it's still going strong. Even the brush is okay. It holds a lot of water for it's size. Not a great point on the brush but it'll wet up a 5x7 sheet quickly and with ease. Much more control than a water brush. If you are thinking about buying this for your kid you can't go wrong.My teen takes this everywhere! At first, I felt it was a little expensive but then I saw how much it was at places like Michael's and Hobby Lobby.It keeps my teen off electronics and phones and I notice how much they pay attention to the world now when we travel which is very cool. No more having to force our teen to look up from electronics. You can't put a price on that.Perfect for travel. Compact. Excellent selection of colours. Dinky little sponge to use for effects, or just to clean the brush. Suggest taking a larger travel brush along. The little travel brush that comes with the set, is really small; Not suitable for washes. Great for detail ;)I am in love with this set! I’ve had it during the summer and found it perfect for bringing around (if you have more colors you simply change them and bring the ones you want to use)This kit has everything you need to paint on the go. The colour pigments are great, the cap is a handy little water cup and it has a water bottle you can fill before leaving home. Did need to use a larger brush but the one in the kit was great for fine lines.I was looking for a small set to take on holiday. I was surprised how small it was- though it was nicely put together, incorporating a water bottle that doubles as a palette area, a brush, water holder and a sponge. The sponge was about the size of my fingernail and the brush suited only to painting miniatures. and for larger hands it was just too dinky. Ended up returning it for a larger set that would also take 2-3 brushes. Too small to be practical, but a marvel of design.This item is fab, a totally neat little package with everything you could wish for in a travel set, it weighs almost nothing and folds in on itself so that you end up with a box slightly smaller that the size of a pack of butter with everything neatly folded away. It fits easily into a bag or a coat pocket without any trouble. For your cash you get a good selection of paints, fold out palettes, water pot (lid) and a dinky water bottle and sponge plus a brush-what more do you need, it is cleverly designed with a lot of thought to the practicalities of painting on the go. The only downside was that in mine the paintbrush was missing & despite e-mailing I haven't had a reply but hey that's my problem! Lovely lovely thing-go for it if painting on the go is what you like to do, or if you are an occasional holiday painter like me.Bought as a Christmas present for my wife who is delighted with it and will make good use of it.