An adoration and appreciation of watercolour is less common than you’d think.
Thanks to those horrible, dried-up crusty tins of horror handed out during primary school art lessons, many budding artists shunned the medium before learning to work with it.
That’s a real shame because watercolours are some of the most affordable, efficacious and long-lasting paints on the market. Watercolour painting is also an excellent hobby and we’ve been doing it for millennia.
Watercolour art dates all the way back to the Palaeolithic period when early Homo sapiens daubed scenes from their everyday life onto cave walls. The Ancient Egyptians were also known to dabble with watercolour, committing stories to papyrus, and it continued to dominate through the Middle Ages in Europe. But watercolours got its real big break in the Renaissance period.
English Romantic painter William Turner’s ethereal watercolours reaped praise through the 18th and 19th Centuries. When early portable watercolours were manufactured in tubes, it allowed artists such as Monet to unshackle from the studio, and paint landscapes outside. Who knows, we may not have Impression of a Sunrise (1872), a watercolour regarded as the first Impressionist painting, without it.
Meanwhile Georgia O’Keeffe’s whimsical and beautifully pigmented botanical watercolours offer an entirely abstract, modern approach to the medium.
So, you see? Watercolour needn’t just mean serene landscapes. The possibilities for artistic expression are endless, and the medium has produced some of the most important works in art’s history, be it in their final form or as historical sketches found in forgotten notebooks belonging to old masters.
What are watercolours made out of?
Historically, watercolour was made up of pigments taken from earth or from vegetable fibres. The ingredients were ground into a fine powder and mixed with a binding agent – often sugar, bone hide glue and later down the line, gum arabic - to form paint.
Today, budget-friendly watercolours are made up of lower quality pigments, or ‘hues’ and gum arabic, while professional versions consist of A-grade pigments with equally high-grade gum arabic as a binder.
What’s the difference between watercolour and gouache?
Traditional watercolour is more transparent than gouache, which gives an opaque finish. Though some artists find gouache easier to work with thanks to its thicker form and higher pigment content, traditional watercolour allows you to build up layers in a more transient yet detail-orientated manner. Its fluid, ethereal washes are preferred by many artists.
How many colours does one really need on a watercolour palette?
Beginners might need a little more help when it comes to accessing a wider variety of colours. Mixing aficionados, however, can usually get by with a limited set of traditional colours and a bit of knowledge of colour theory.
If you’re keen to try a new hobby and give your eyes a break from endless screens, we’ve rounded up a selection of the best watercolour paint sets to buy in the UK. Some are large sets with lots of colours to use, while others are compact designs that are perfect for using on the move or packing on your next trip away.
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Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Tin - 24 Half Pans
A beautiful, lightweight tin of 24 half pans complete with a 12” manikin for sketching the human form, we’ve been coveting this professional set of watercolours from Winsor & Newton since our school days.
Though a paintbrush isn’t included in this set, there’s ample room in the central tray for one or two of your favourite brushes when you’re painting on the go. You can also purchase individual half pans if you’re in the mood to swap out certain colours for new ones. Art Discount recommends pairing this set with a sable or imitation sable-style brush for the best results.
With a recommended retail price of £165.85, this is by far the best value for money Winsor & Newton professional-grade watercolour set that we’ve ever come across.
Buy now £67.95, Art Discount
Winsor & Newton Cotman 45 Half Pan Studio Set Watercolours
While the Winsor & Newton Cotman range technically offers lower-grade watercolours than the professional pans due to a slight difference in pigment, newbie watercolourists won’t notice. Far from inferior, the Cotman range is simply different – better suited to hobbyists and amateur artists rather than professionals.
Art Discount has once again come to the rescue with their unbeatably cheap prices, offering a whopping set of 45 half pan watercolours for over 50 per cent off the RRP.
Buy now £45.55, Art Discount
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Floral Pocket Set
The perfect set for travellers with a penchant for en plein air painting, this miniature Winsor & Newton Cotman set offers a low-cost way to try your hand at the craft. A tried-and-true pocket set which includes eight colours and a small travel brush, there’s also space for four additional half-pans of your choosing. The hues have been chosen by professional watercolour artists to make mixing and creating new colours an absolute breeze, while also remaining accessible to beginners.
An alternative travel set is the Winsor & Newton Cotman Compact Box, which features a small water holder, ample space for mixing and a thumbhole for holding when painting with an easel.
Buy now £13.85, Amazon
Daler-Rowney Aquafine 48 Half Pan Watercolour Studio Set
Though Winsor & Newton watercolours tend to be the top pick for artists, Daler-Rowney’s Aquafine half pans are equally worth a look. Mutable, wonderfully vibrant and yet perfectly transparent, Daler-Rowney Aquafine delivers high-quality lightfastness. We also love the fact that both pan holders can be removed to free up additional mixing space. The brand also offers a handy travel slider set featuring 20 half pans.
Buy now £45.00, Cass Art
Sennelier Watercolour Wooden Box Set of 24 Half Pans
A luxury option for the experienced watercolourist, painting with a Sennelier wooden box filled with 24 stunning half pans is an event on its own. Not only does this set come with two high-quality brushes in different sizes, but it also has a dedicated test sheet of watercolour paper which sits in the lid of your set to remind you what each hue looks like when diluted and on paper.
Buy now £109.95, Cass Art
Derwent Metallic Paint Pan Palette Set of 12
If you’re experimenting with detail and accents in your watercolour pieces, we highly recommend scooping up one of Derwent’s metallic paint palettes. Producing outstanding effects on both light and dark paper, the paint is a dream to work with and highly buildable.
Derwent’s set also comes with a practical blotting sponge, which you can replace as and when you need to by cutting up an old dish sponge or using paper towels.
Buy now £24.01, Amazon
Rosa Gallery Watercolours - Classic - Set of 21 Assorted Whole Pans
For when half-pans simply won’t cut it, Rosa Gallery Watercolours has got you covered with an incredible value-for-money set of 21 assorted whole pan watercolours. Vibrant, highly pigmented and incredibly lightfast, these watercolours are made in Ukraine using a mixture of organic and inorganic pigments.
Buy now £49.99, SAA
35 Colours Japanese Watercolour set
Japanese Gansai watercolour is slightly closer to gouache in consistency and formulation due to a higher level of pigment than traditional watercolours. It nevertheless retains that unique translucent-to-opaque quality if layered. This selection of 35 beautiful hues includes gold and copper metallic shades. All 35 colours can also be used on darker paper bases.
Buy now £59.99, Great Art
Viviva Colorsheets Watercolour Original Set
A slightly kooky, alternative option for non-traditionalists, these watercolour sheets are an incredibly fuss-free means of painting while travelling. Ensuring no spillages yet plenty of vibrant pigments, these coloursheets are activated just like any old watercolour - they just happen to be two-dimensional.
Buy now £19.00, Viviva Colours
Chromatek Watercolor Brush Pen Set 30
Perfect for getting the kiddos into painting with watercolours, these fantastically easy-to-use pens blend with ease, allowing budding artists to achieve more detail and gain further control over their brush strokes with each and every swipe.
Buy now £20.99, Amazon
