Watercolor Kits on Holiday
abb...@hp2.imaging.bccancer.ubc.ca
pocket watercolour kit? It has a nifty design - includes water
bottle, a number of half-pan watercolours and brush. Here in
Vancouver it's retailing for anywhere between 60 and 80 dollars.
Thus, my question: is this kit really useful or is there a better
way (maybe cheaper, mayber not) to bring watercolours on
holiday for simple colour sketches????
Anyway, Thanks
Dave
ellie roberts
>From: abb...@hp2.imaging.bccancer.ubc.ca
>Subject: Watercolor Kits on Holiday
>Date: 25 Jul 1994 20:12:41 GMT
> Anyway, Thanks
> Dave
I have one of these W&N kits, and I like it very very much. I've also
experimented with "roll your own" travelling watercolor kits, but the
kit you speak of is what I tend to use when I don't want to carry a
small trunk of equipment. I do find that I also need a second, larger brush,
though, and I also carry a collapsible plastic cup, because I like to use two
watercontainers, one for rinsing my brush and another for "fresh" water.
By the way, the prices you mention seem quite high. I bought mine two years
ago for about $40, and I think the prices now is just slightly more than that
in most mail-order catalogs.
-ellie
Dr. John J. Heikkila
wrote:
I happened to buy one of these sets on sale here in Waterloo for
about $50. I've used it a lot. However, I have removed some of the
colors and replaced them with ones that were less fugitive. It's
great for small watercolor sketches. However, I have found that
the mixing areas are a bit too small so I carry an additional
small palette. The brush that is supplied is OK but I take along
a few others as well. This kit is best used in situations where
space and weight are a real issue. Lukas also makes a small metal
travel kit ($30) which also has 12 half-pans and mixing areas but no
water supply as is found in the W&N. You could also pick up a Cotman
travel set for about $20-30. Note these are all Canadian prices.
Finally, I have seen some people buy a set of cheap kid's watercolor
boxes for $3-10 and remove the existing paints and replace them
with better quality paints.
John
ellie roberts
>From: heik...@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Dr. John J. Heikkila)
>Subject: Re: Watercolor Kits on Holiday
>Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 16:55:55 GMT
>In article <3116bp$q...@nntp.ucs.ubc.ca>, abb...@hp2.imaging.bccancer.ubc.ca
>wrote:
...ruthless cutting of previous postings....
Lukas also makes a small metal
> travel kit ($30) which also has 12 half-pans and mixing areas but no
>water supply as is found in the W&N.
Lucas is a company I've not heard of; are they in the US? Sounds linteresting.
You could also pick up a Cotman
>travel set for about $20-30.
I've seen these sets, but they look like the pans are not replaceable once
used up. Is that true?
Note these are all Canadian prices.
>Finally, I have seen some people buy a set of cheap kid's watercolor
>boxes for $3-10 and remove the existing paints and replace them
>with better quality paints.
Great idea. You can also get plastic watercolor palettes (small ones) that
have places for 8 or 10 colors, and several mixing areas. My "next size"
watercolor set consists of this sort of thing -- equqivalent to the "cigar
box" mentioned a note or so back.
But I like the W&N because it's small enough to carry with me everywhere, not
just when I know I'm going to be painting. I just put this kit, and a 3X5
block of watercolor paper in my bag and then it's always there, should I come
across something I just HAVE to paint.
-ellie
> John
Charles Eicher
I recommend using little tupperware containers, the have numerous advantages:
1. Cheap!
2. The container makes a nice water dish, and the top makes a nice pallette.
3. You can store your colors in airtight conditions (unlike the W&N kit).
4. You can bring along tube colors, if you don't like pan colors.
5. They come in all sizes, from teeny, to long rectangles (ideal for
toting brushes).. I use one that my little sketchpad fits in.
-----------------------
Charles Eicher
cei...@ins.infonet.net
-----------------------
RayBX
heik...@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Dr. John J. Heikkila) writes:
>> I've seen these sets, but they look like the pans are not replaceable
once
>> used up. Is that true?
>>
>I have seen people just add tube color directly to the depressions in
>the Cotman set. Theoretically, this isn't ideal but I have seen many
>artists do this for field work.
Actually the Cotman sets are standard 1/2 pans. I bought one, pulled out
the Cotman colors and replaced them with my favorite Schminke and W&N half
pans. It's a great little kit, now that it's got real paint.
---Raymond
Dr. John J. Heikkila
> Lukas also makes a small metal
> > travel kit ($30) which also has 12 half-pans and mixing areas but no
> >water supply as is found in the W&N.
>
> Lucas is a company I've not heard of; are they in the US? Sounds linteresting.
Lukas is a German Artist supply company that has been around since
1829. They sell artists quality watercolor paints in both tube and
pan form. Their paints are fully characterized in the 'Wilcox Guide
to the Best Watercolor Paints' by M. Wilcox. A number of their
paints are given 4 star ratings but they also have a few fugitive
colors like all other companies including W&N. Sometime we should
start a thread talking about the Wilcox book.
> You could also pick up a Cotman
> >travel set for about $20-30.
>
> I've seen these sets, but they look like the pans are not replaceable once
> used up. Is that true?
>
I have seen people just add tube color directly to the depressions in
the Cotman set. Theoretically, this isn't ideal but I have seen many
artists do this for field work.
John
Dave Abbott
If you're a UK reader, may be you'll know something
about the Alwyn Crawshaw Travelling Watercolour Studio? I've only
seen ads for this but it looks quite impressive - from what I can
see, it contains a waterbottle, watercup, 6 half-pans of colour
in a small watercolour box with pallette plus a 5x7 watercolour pad.
The whole thing apparently weighs less than a pund and the claim
is made that you can even paint standing up comfortably with it.
Looks to be a good alternative to the W&N pocket watercolour kit.
Dave
dub...@imaging.bccancer.ubc.ca
> Actually the Cotman sets are standard 1/2 pans. I bought one, pulled out
>the Cotman colors and replaced them with my favorite Schminke and W&N half
>pans. It's a great little kit, now that it's got real paint.
>---Raymond
I bought my Cotman travel set for 16 dollars (Canadian) at Christmas. Good
deal. And yes , the half pans are entirely replaceable, so you can set up your
own pallette or put in Artist's quality colours, whatever. I do like mine, even
the little folding brush (Size 1?) is not too bad. Problem though is no water
bottle.
Also, I've noticed similar kits for about the same price by Talens, Lukas,
Pelikan and Daler-Rowney. I think only W&N comes with a brush though.
For me, the crucial part of a travel kit is to carry watercolours as
unobtrusively as possible so that I'm not tempted to leave them at home or in
the hotel room because they've become too much of a bother to carry about.
I'm surprised that some people carry tubes of paint, I'd think they'd
be inviting disaster besides IMHO being inconveninet
Dave
Flo Chien
>From: dub...@imaging.bccancer.ubc.ca
>Subject: Re: Watercolor Kits on Holiday
>Dave
I've got a now-ancient Pelikan box of watercolors, and carry little tubes of
W&N in a plastic container to supplement the box. It's worked for me for
years. The brushes (normal size) fit in a brush tube, and I carry pencils,
ruler, eraser, block of Arches and butter knife to cut paper off with,
pencil sharpener, sponge...all in a nylon attache-size bag. The tubes of
paint haven't been a problem, as they're in a container with a lid.
- Flo