Prima Marketing Art Philosophy Watercolor Confections: Tropicals

Great color theme!! The paints ae nice and high quality tin. I do wish they would include magnets to hold down the pans.

I think these Prima confections sets are great for anyone trying to get a watercolor set going.* The color tests in the photo were not done on watercolor paper, sorry! But you should be able to see how vibrant they are.Don't mind the weird textures you may see on some colors, that is not the paints' fault.Pros:- this is a very reasonable price for 12 watercolor pans & the tin palette case- colors are very very vibrant- colors are easy to re-wet & activate with a little bit of water on the brush- The colors dried very evenly and nicely- colors mix well, no problems- the pans snap very securely onto the plate (you should be bending the little metal flaps a bit toward the middle)- there is enough space in the middle for you to add 6-7 more half pans- The flap part of the palette have rolled edges, so you do not have to worry about water overflowing the edge (see photo compared to my other flat palette)- the ring on bottom of case is useful when holding case in handCons:(these are not terrible at all in my opinion, but I will list anything that could possibly be considered negative)- as in attached photo, the metal plate that holds the 12 spaces for the pans is not a "perfect fit" into the tin case. There is some space so yes, theplate will slide up and down slightly if you tilt the case if you do not secure with an adhesive of sort- the choice of colors in these sets are themed (thus "tropical) so if this is the only watercolor set you own, you may find yourself looking for someother colors for a more general & variety of possible color mixes. This is not the typical beginning set of colors so depending on your needs, this set may not be the one.Other misc. things I might want to point out:- the Winsor&Newton half pans are slightly smaller than usual, so with mixing those and the prima ones, I was able to fit 7 each on top/bottom row, and barely 7 on middle row (with using only the prima pans, only 6 will fit in each row)- the pans in the middle row will have to be secured somehow if you do decide to add some (with adhesive)- I know there are a lot of similar looking tin palettes out there using this kind of format. I attached a photo with my no-brand tin case and you can see that the Prima case is a bit fatter.- when you run out of a color, you can refill the empty pans with any tube color you may own+I forgot to mention the opacity.I think about half of the colors are semi-opaque to opaque.I personally prefer transparent but this is can be pro or con for someUpdate:-okay so since the 7 pans in the middle row have to be snuggly fit, it looks like after a few uses, there will be no need for a separate adhesive to keep them on the plate. Some of the paint and water during use will leak through the spaces in between so once they dry, the pans will naturally be somewhat stuck on. It is perfect. I've tested flipping it upside down and it seems all 3 rows of pans will stay on just fine unless you drop them on the ground accidentally.-As for the plate itself being smaller than the case and allowing room for sliding,if you do decide to fill in all 3 rows, the weight of the pans will prevent the plate from sliding too easily-I think the two side metal flaps (in middle row) can prevent the metal plate from falling out of the case if adjusted well

These watercolors never disapoint! Beautiful colors and highly pigmented. Excellent quality at an affordable price

Beautiful fun colors with vibrant performance. These paints are smooth and fairly opaque. Some of them a a bit transparent but for watercolors that’s expected. I was actually surprised to see how opaque some of them were! Of course they can all be watered down to be more translucent but these paints are wonderful and of great quality! There are a lot of fun to bring along on beach or hiking trips because the of the pocket size they fit perfectly in my bag without taking up a lot of space. The case is also pretty durable. Not saying you should be throwing it around but especially when we go hiking it gets a bit banged up in my bagged but you could never tell. Still looks brand new! Love this and will definitely purchase another one in the future.

Maybe 3 and a half stars.This paintbox (and other items in this order) arrived looking previously opened.I decided to keep it anyway, and once I got over the initial disappointment, was glad to have it. But warhouse could use some QC.This is crafting/hobbyist/student grade paint, as vs. artist grade. However, it is more than sufficiently vibrant for a sketchbook, card, or practice painting. It mixes well, goes on easily, and is suitable for pretty much anything that doesn't need to be archival. The colors are actually nice and well chosen for harmony within the set. The colors in the Tropicals set are more spectral than earthy, but there is a yellow-ochre mix and a brown, and I have been able to mix a variety of darks and grays with the colors provided. So it is pretty versatile.The box is handy, and has the nice rolled edges. Although it is a box of 12 half-pans, it can fit up to 21 half pans of the Prima Marketing size (which are slightly smaller than some). So it will continue to be used once the paint runs out.Regarding pigments, it is annoying that pigment information is not more readily available on their website; however the following information is from an online reviewer called the-spin-doctor.co.uk/2018/04/prima-watercolor-confections-pigment (dot html), who apparently asked them for more info and received it.I could have sworn that I saw pigment info on their own website once too, maybe in a blog post (?), but have been unable to relocate that.# Paint Name Pigments and Notes13 Grassland / Island PG7 Phthalocyanine Green Blue Shade14 Plantain / Coconut PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide (Synthetic) & PY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOT15 Thunderstorm / Hurricane PB29 Ultramarine Blue &PB27 Prussian Blue16 Avocado / Parrot PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide (Synthetic)PY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOTPB27 Prussian BluePR101 Red Iron Oxide (Synthetic)17 Tropicana / Hibiscus PO13 Benzidine OrangePR112 Naphthol Red AS-D18 Rainforest / Palms PG7 Phthalocyanine Green Blue ShadePB15:3 Phthalocyanine Blue Green ShadePY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOT19 Red Parrot / Pitaya PR57:1 Lithol Rubine20 North Isle / Reef PV23 Dioxazine Violet21 Sunset / Pineapple PY83 Diarylide Yellow HR22 Lush / Sunset PR81 Rhodamine 6G23 Wild Berry / Ocean PB27 Prussian Blue24 Cacao / Tiki PR101 Red Iron Oxide (Synthetic)PY14 Diarylide Yellow AAOTPR48:4 Permanent Red 2BPBk9 Bone Black (so no, these are not vegan)So far I have enjoyed these. Even if you are able and prefer to use artist-grade paints in your studio, it is nice to have some that you aren't so afraid to "waste" or get outside with or to leave in your glove compartment while you run an errand. Losing a tin of Schmincke or Sennelier or Daniel Smith might be heart-breaking, but these are much more easily and cheaply replaced. Better yet if the quality is actually pretty nice, as these are.I ignored the numbers on their swatch card, as the order made no sense for me. I just swatched the paint in an order that worked for me and wrote the color names and pigments in. The numbers are printed light enough that you can do that without creating confusion or clutter. But you could always make your own swatch card anyway.The Prima Marketing Tropicals set is nice to have overall. I gave it 4 stars (or actually 3.5 because of the shipping issue).Although these are nice, they are not in the same league as Daniel Smith or M Graham or Sennelier or Schmincke, etc. But they have their place, and they are good for what they are.Update:Still enjoying this set years later.I found i missed having a pure ultramarine or warm blue in the set. (This has a Prussian Blue PB27 ("Ocean") and a mix of ultramarine PB27 and Prussian Blue (Hurricane). Hurricane can be pushed more toward a pure blue by mixing it with Reef (PV23), but the result is still never quite as clean. I ended up adding a half pan of pure ultramirine for those times i just wanted a cleaner blue color.I do still like the set, but for only slightly more $, i would now recommend other options to start. It is still fun and worth having if you are drawn to it. But most of the higher grade paints have starter sets, and sales, and some even have 12-pan sets in a similar price range. That said, this or Cotman are still my "Shove it in the glove comparment and take it to the beach with the dogs" sets. So I use and enjoy them, but won't be replacing them when they run out.

I'm fairly new to watercolors, so I've been trying out a variety of paints. I like having pans because they're easier to transport and I tend not to waste so much. I still struggle with squeezing out too much paint from a tube. I have paints from several companies, some professional, some a step down, some cheaper versions and some really nice ones. I got these paints on the recommendation of a local artist who leads urban sketching workshops and they are just lovely. There's so much pigment and the color stays really true and vibrant. They're easy to blend. I have three sets and this one is the brightest. These colors are like candy! You can't beat it for the price.