Artist Watercolor Paint

I put off buying these for months and months because I have all the Finetecs, a bunch of Twinkling H2Os and I have the full set of Rivenvale metallics (what I consider, and still consider, the BEST metallic watercolor on the market- hands down) so the Rubens just seemed like more of a "another metallic watercolor, must have for my collection but don't really need" purchase. But the Finetecs/Rivenvale don't have pastel/bright colors, and the Twinkling H2Os are really too difficult to use often (ridiculous jars they come in, plus they are very difficult to rewet and paint large areas with- tired of sacrificing storage space and brushes and time to those paints) so I decided to get these to just have those kind of tropical/bright colors and have a set that is more suited for white paper. The Finetecs have great earthy colors, but their main downfall is that they don't show well on white paper. I wasn't expecting much from the Rubens but I was *very* surprised at the quality. Very, very surprised. They do need a drop of water to activate, but once they are wet and you move your brush in the pan, the paint immediately comes to life. The paints are creamy, full bodies, and rich in both pigment *and* shimmer. They are true metallics- not just watercolor paint based with a tiny bit of shimmer that barely shows up. The colors are saturated on white paper and can be made either opaque or transparent based on water usage. While they are not as opaque out of the pan as the Finetecs and the Rivenvales, if you work the paint a little with a brush (not enough to damage the brush, though- they are a nice consistency, unlike the Twinkling H2Os) you can get a gouache-like consistency. And the shimmer/sparkle is beautiful and bright. The Rubens don't do as well on dark papers, which is kind of a bummer, but considering I got these so I could do more metallic work on white watercolor paper they work perfectly. The Rubens are a little more "straightforward" of a metallic, like most of the Finetecs, in that the micas in each paint match the pigment- the Twinkling H2Os do this thing where they mix different pigments/dyes with different micas and shimmers so that the paints come in a totally unique range of colors/effects but the Rubens are much easier to use and they can be mixed, unlike the Twinkling (because of the color combos in the dye/pigment of each Twinkling jar, a lot of times you'll mix two colors and get mud even if the colors, in theory, should be fine together). I think I'm going to finally clear out the Twinklings and have the Rubens be my go to metallic-on-white palette. I like them so much that if Rubens introduced a different set of shimmer colors or another set of speciality colors (the Rubens do have a range of candy color pastel watercolors and color shifting watercolors available overseas, so I DO hope they put those in pan form and introduce them to the US market very soon) I wouldn't hesitate to order them without reading a single review or seeing a video about them- the quality is there. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

When I received these paints, I had a few minor issues. I contacted the seller, and they were very generous in how they handled the situation. Very responsive. These paints are packaged so professionally. From the box they come in to the wrapping of the paints themselves. Everything is very nicely done. The paints are very creamy and rewet very well. I’ve had other metallic paints before but these beat any of them hands down. So sparky, so shimmery. Because of the way they are packaged and the sparkle effect, these would make an amazing gift for any artist who loves rainbow colors and sparkle, especially young girls getting into or interested in art. My only suggestion to to consider a different color tin option. Not every female (or male) enjoys pink, so to have a different tin color option would meet the needs of those people. These paints are so fun to use, and honestly the color is just really amazing! If you want to see them in action, go on YouTube and type in “Paul Rubens Watercolor” and you will find some fantastic reviews of these paints in action.

I absolutely love this set! The colors are amazing and I mix them with normal watercolors to get certain colors and it works amazing! The quality is amazing and totally worth the price. I've had this set for 5 years and the colors are still phenomenal!

I personally like the pink palette because I can quickly tell it apart from my other watercolor palettes in the drawer. The packaging was very nice, not necessary, but shows caring. Swatches on both black and white paper were vivid, with string glittery or pearlescent appearance. More opaque than standard watercolors, but not at all chalky. Colors also not lost in the shine, although swatching recommended because color appearance varied on black versus white paper. More expensive than the craft store glitter paints, but also much better quality. I use and like Finetec, and these are comparable, but have a wider color range in one palette. Like most of this type of paint, they benefit from a spritz of pre-setting before use to mobilize the paint.

I wasn't expecting much from a glitter watercolor palette. I've had a few and by nature watercolor tends to not have enough coverage or opacity for the glitter to show up on white paper. However this palette performed very well! Using the swatch card that comes with the palette I colored one side of the page with waterproof ink to see how the colors performed on both light and dark paper. The result was a buttery almost smooth coverage for most of the colors. The range of colors is wonderful. For the paint to work best you do need to use less water. The more water the more dilated the paint becomes and the less shimmery. Overall I am glad I gave this palette a try and the cute pink tin is an added bonus!

I was incredibly impressed by the packaging when this arrived. The set comes in a box wrapped in a chamois cloth. It has a good heft to it and feels like quality material. Opening the tin the colors are wrapped in foil stickers that identify the color....in Chinese. There was a swatch card inside with a translation and I found the name in English on the side of the pan as I was unwrapping them which was helpful. Once they were all unwrapped they were GORGEOUS. I could just stare at the pan with the pretty colors but we must experiment. I used a flat brush for swatching and found it’s tricky to get the color to apply evenly. It seems particularly temperamental with the amount of water for some colors, so this is something I’ll need to work at to get it right. It definitely improves as it dries though. This is paint to use in a particular setting - when you want the pearlescent look so it won’t become my go to set but I can definitely see this used in special settings.

I love working with this watercolor. I found that I use a lot more of this pigment to get the saturation I want than typical bricks, but the dopamine I get from seeing the glitter swirl around on my paper makes this worth it. The watercolor takes longer to dry completely than I am used to, but once it's dried COMPLETELY the water resistance is great. If you try to go over it too early, it can spread glitter. However, the glitter cleans up fairly well. I have not needed to work at cleaning my brushes more than usual. The colors blend beautifully, and are just overall very fun to work with.

These paints are very pretty. Great quality and a lot of mica for a small amount. You do not need a lot. I love the container and it even gives you a pallette too. The case is metal and pretty. I really like these paints!

I loved everything about this purchase. Colors are great and very shiny;) great to add shimmer to regular paint colours. Fast delivery with Prime! Comes in a beautiful box. Colour swatch paper included. One little thing is that Color pigments and names of colours are written very small because they’re “subtitles” to the Mandarin characters…iiiii!

Worth it and up to the mark

The paints are fun and add a bit of extra dimension to water colour paintings.

They are wonderful colours. Swift delivery would purchase them again. Love the whole set

I see why now people like this set. Really is probably the best bang-for-your-buck metallic watercolor set you can get even though I feel a lot of the colors still weren't as opaque as I'd like. That being said they are still beautiful and will last a long time.