Windsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Set
Windsor & Newton is a well known and popular UK based brand known for manufacturing high quality artist's materials, particularly paints and pigments.
All quality brands offer a budget version of their paints often called "student" set or something like that. Windsor & Newton they call their affordable range cotman. But, how good is the cotman range? Is this an affordable option for people interested in getting into watercolour, or are they cheap and nasty paints that are best avoided?
Cotman watercolours use a watered down version of their fine art pigment, making it more affordable that the professional watercolours, whilst still maintaining the high quality that you'd expect from Windsor & Newton.
What you get
The Cotman series is available in a variety of sets including 12 half pans, 24 half pans, 48 half pans studio set, 12 half pans field kit and in paint tubes. The most common being the 12 half pans in a plastic case with a small paintbrush and fold out pallet. The colours included in the set are:
- Lemon Yellow Hue
- Cadmium Yellow Hue
- Cadmium Red Pale Hue
- Alizarin Crimson Hue
- Ultramarine
- Intense Blue (Phthalo Blue)
- Viridian Hue
- Sap Green
- Yellow Ochre
- Burnt Sienna
- Burnt Umber
- Chinese White
For me the stand out colours are cadmium red. A deep fiery, orangy red that is not included in the proffessional set. The cadmium yellow has a deep golden hue that stands out stong and vibrant. The Phthalo blue has a subblte green undertone giving it a cooler hue as where the ultramarine is more violet making it warmer. The Chinese white is an opaque white, but to be honest is probably best replaced with gouache.
Quality
Do not let the name cotman off, these paints are of a very good quality. I have the cotman and the professional set and it's hard tell the difference in quality to be honest. The professional are a little more vibrant, but I still use the cotman paints, especcially the cadmium red. The paint blocks dilute very easily with a bit of water and give a strong vibrant colour when applied to paper. They mix well and look great when dried. The fold out pallet is very useful and although small is perfectly adequate for smaller pieces. The small paintbrush is convenient and fits into the case quite nicely, although, you'd be better off buying a better one. Personally, I don't use it.
For beginners?
The cotman range from Windsor & Newton is an excellent choice for all types of artists and at all levels. They are affordable making them a good choice for someone who is just getting started or someone who is looking to upgrade to a more quality brand. The handy pocket sized case makes this set easy to take with you everywhere you go and the little paint brush means that you are always ready to paint.
The paint colour selection is more than enough for any beginner and the colours can be mixed to create different shades and varients as desired.
Comments
Post a Comment