Paul Rubens Watercolor Paint, 36 Vibrant Colors Rich Pigments for Watercolor Painters, Students, Beginners, Hobbyist, Ideal for Many Watercolor Applications (5ml Each Tube)

I am a new painter so I may not be the most expert of voices, but I use Daniel Smith, almost exclusively. A few of my Windsor & Newton cotman can occasionally sneak in when called upon, from my very first beginner days, but otherwise DS is what I’ve used daily for the past 5 months. These were such a great deal, on sale from there $37.99 at the time of this review, I took a chance on them. I was worried if they might be really chalky or lightly pigmented where I’d have to do layers to build up the color, but to my surprise, there isn’t a whole lot of difference in these and my professional paints!! Watched right next to each other you could possibly pick them out with a trained eye, but in a painting, I feel you’d be hard pressed to discern which paints were used in which paintings. There’s a wide range of colors and whatever color isn’t provided already I can easily mix up. There’s an especially great selection of yellows going in to the ochres and raw sienna. These have a nice creamy texture and mix well with each other as well as my DS professionals. If you love color and would like some nice convenience colors, give these a try! They’re a great value (at barely over $1/tube) and the quality is really up there! I hope this helps anyone who’s on the fence or wondering if these are worth it since they may be considered “cheap” quality due to the price point, but I can happily say that isn’t the case here. These aren’t dollar store type watercolors. Thank goodness. Happy painting!🎨🖌️

This was a great set to get me started

A beautiful range of colors and Paul Rubens excepual quality.

Not impressed. Colors aren't as vibrant as other brands.

I bought this set thinking it was the latest version - 4th generation, which was supposedly the best set Paul Rubens ever made. To my delight, this set is so vibrant and pigmented. After comparing this to the the 4th generation, which are more than double the price of this set, I realized the paints in this set are mostly different from the colors in the 4th generation set. And, more importantly, most of the colors in this set are more on the transparent side as opposed to the ones in the 4th generation, which are more opaque. I prefer transparent colors which means I got the right set for me!

I'm just trying out these watercolors for the first time after purchasing them a couple of months ago. I am still learning wc myself but I'm not exactly a "student" either. I have a decent collection of many of the top pro brands like Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Holbein & Qor, so I'm familiar with how "the best" behave and look. I haven't swatched out all the colors in this set yet, but did do some of my fave colors as shown in the photos. I am NOT disappointed.The most impressive for me so far are the Permanent Red Deep, Permanent Red Violet & (both very vivid) and Naples Yellow Red...a lovely soft coral/peachy pastel color...but pretty opaque, almost gouache-like. I first swatched on a 9x12 inexpensive Artist's Loft wc paper and then did a few less colors on smaller 4x6 Fluid 100, 100% cotton paper. I think there is more granulation on the better paper. (the spots on the 4x6 are from a misting bottle.)The pigments (in general) used in this set are pretty similar to many of the ones familiar to watercolorists who use pro grades. (Pigment numbers are in tiny print on the sides of each tube.) One difference that's emerging for me is that I'm not seeing quite the same amount of transparency in these and for some colors, the same sort of vividness that I see in the more expensive pro grades. I won't say there's a "chalkiness" because there isn't. But there is maybe more opacity in certain colors than in the same pro grade transparent colors. At any rate, I really like this set and though I wouldn't make it my "go to" watercolor set, I will feel free to integrate some of my fave colors into various watercolor artworks without any concerns.

Beautiful colors. Well pigmented

i’ve known about these paints for quite some time, but with sooo many options on the market, i had a hard time picking which set i wanted. i ended up going with these tubes bc there’s a good selection of single pigment colors and they are very vibrant! i put them in a palette and let them dry so i can reactivate them later. they do great in the palette and dried down completely unlike some other brands.