SAKURA XNCW-48N Koi Watercolor Field 48 Color Sketch Set

This 48-color Sakura Koi watercolor set is incredible. I have a WInsor-Newton set and a Van Gogh set, and the Sakura Koi colors are more saturated, and they seem to become wet and usable more quickly. The colors are beautiful, and I love the handy palette that you can attach to swing out to the side or swing inward to be closed inside the case. It's a manageable size for painting when you are out and about. I wondered how well the water brush would work, and I was very pleasantly surprised. It's excellent! I thought I would need my usual set of different shaped brushes, but this brush is adaptable and can do some of the same things other brushes can do. I'm thrilled with this set, and I highly recommend it for anyone with a budding artist in the family or just for those who want to have fun with watercolors but want good quality paints. These paints make the time you spend on a painting worthwhile, because you end up with a beautiful result, and the thoughtful design of the case with its swing palette makes it convenient to use. I considered several different palettes; I'm really glad I chose this one.

Very small set, but perfect for when you need a travel set or you don't want to get out your huge palette of watercolors. Wonderful selection of blues. Amazing blues! Watch out for the deep red color, and test it first. It is very very staining and dark. Much more than the other colors, but it is good if that is what you need. Swatch out the colors first and you will be so impressed. I love them. Wonderful if you are making cards and so handy for when you are lazy and just want to use a quick set of your watercolors, just grab and go. Well worth the money.

A great compact watercolor set; easy for traveling. Colors are vivid and last a long time.

I’ve used this watercolor set for six months now, and I love it. The colors are vibrant and blend beautifully, the case is easy to use even when painting outdoors, and the water brush is more fun & useful than I expected (just know that it screws the opposite way from most things to fill the water chamber). Definitely recommend.

This is an excellent field sketch set for on the go painting. Also if you want to paint or sketch in an area with limited space, or just want to be able to grab some paper and this set quickly to paint outside on your patio without having to drag out a bunch of supplies (effectively losing your creative mojo due to the hassle) then this set is perfect. I really love its portability. I got the set of 48 because I wasn't sure how well the paints would mix. I found that they do mix ok, but not as easily as other more expensive paints. I gave it 4 stars because the paint cakes are very dry and it does take a bit of water to get them working, especially in my dry climate. Please note, the paint cakes do not come out, they are glued into the pans with a strong glue. The pan tray is a flimsy plastic also glued into the plastic pallet case. The paints cannot be easily removed and neither can the paint pan tray without ruining it. I just thought I would mention this in case someone is considering taking out the paint to put in professional grade paint.

I make one painting a day and so expect to go through a large amount of watercolors. Did not want to use my white nights & sennelier for daily painting , so I opted for a 48 set of these. They are wonderful - such attractive and packaging and bright colors. The only thing these are not so good for is wet on wet washes. The paint tends to get grainy. So I do my background washes with white nights watercolor and then fill in the details with these , plus a touch of metallic from my gambi paints. It works out well and these paints will last a long time. After which I plan on using the palette to hold my tube watercolors. Love this! I am also contemplating trying out plein air sketching with these. They are just so tempting .. they are begging me to take them outside!

The 36 and and 48 color kits fit a 5 x 7 card vs a 4 x 6 / post card on the top. So be aware that you get more colors for a large increase in size and weight. feels twice as big -- whereas the 30 color kit just packed in more colors. I love the thumb ring underneath. You also get color numbers printed under the half pans in both kits. If you go for the 48, you lose a sponge, which I love for wiping off the previous color but gain a dozen colors -- Permanent yellow light, gamboge, madder lake light, permanent blue violet, permanent blue red, Indanthrene blue, Pthalocyanine Green, Terra Verde Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Vandyke Brown. This gain of two yellows, four classic earth / warm colors is nice for a landscape painter I think. You basically get a serious paintbox. Will update once I swatch this box, but based on the previous 30 color which I also have, I love this brand for coloring books/postcards. Since you will probably carry another water container besides the brush which will let you do 2-5 colors before running out of water, (if you use wet on wet techniques etc on real watercolor paper I would say 2) you could just as easily carry a sponge or two...

Such a perfect set for travel or at home! There are a wide variety of colors which can be mixed to make new colors. But I haven’t felt the need to make any of my own colors because there’s such a great variety in this set. And the colors perform well. They’re smooth, blend well and are very bold and opaque if you use less water. Very impressed!