Photo review of watercolor box sets and travel kits collection

Time for another materials collection photo review. Thanks to luck, a passion for browsing through art supplies stores, and some great clearance deals, I've managed to gather a fairly large collection of watercolor sets through the years. Since watercolor pans can pretty much store indefinitely in moderately temperature-controlled environments, I have no qualms about snatching and hoarding a few sets when I come across a heavily discounted watercolor kit. Plus it is nice to have a few options when putting together a sketching kit depending on the limitations and number of people going on a sketching trip. While mastering watercolors to produce tight controlled realistic effects can be rather intimidating and challenging, relying on portable watercolor travel kits as a convenient source of quick colorful washes to brighten up waterproof black ink sketches can be pretty fun and relaxing if applied loosely. When partnered with a couple of good waterbrushes and a cleaning sponge, no other medium can compete in neatness and space-efficiency with a well chosen watercolor travel kit. They do not take up much space to carry or set up and can be used and go almost everywhere on a moment's notice. Try making sketches at a museum gallery with oils or acrylics without making prior arrangements (answer: "you can't"). To reinforce the convenience and usefulness of an always-ready-to-go watercolor pan set check out this thoughtful blog entry on impromptu journaling by Roz Stendahl.
Watercolor tube sets collection. The paint fresh out of the tubes tends to be the most watery with some Maimeri Blu and Daniel Smith tubes. Most of the tubes in this selection hold 5 ml or 15 ml which will last a fairly long time and can be used to replenish half-pans or fill empty pans a few times to build custom palettes. The main drawbacks of tube paints for me are that they are rather bulky, the vehicle can separate from the paint during prolonged storage, and sometimes the paint can dry completely inside the tube. Before that happens, it would be best to squeeze the remaining paint from older tubes into an empty plastic folding palette to create an easier-to-use lightweight custom palette or at least into an inexpensive plastic round 10-well tray palette that can be covered and stored for later use.The photo link above leads to my Flickr photostream with detailed size and material comparison comments in the photo tags. The converted Winsor & Newton Cotman studio set of 18 half pans loaded with 24 half pans of artists' watercolors (by placing six half pans in the two rectangular wells meant for paint tubes) is the oldest and more frequently used watercolor kit in my studio. The Winsor & Newton half pan compact enameled metal box set of 12 Artists' watercolors is my first choice to haul around in my sketching back pack since it is well-balanced, lightweight, and sturdy enough to withstand regular travel stress. I take extra sets along to work more efficiently when there is the chance of holding an impromptu watercoloring/sketching session with my nieces.
The Maimeri Blu metal boxes are rather heavy and bulky, so they work better for studio use. The 12 half pan set takes almost twice as much room as the more compact Winsor & Newton metal box half pan set of 12, and it is a bit more unwieldy given its long rectangular shape. The Maimeri Blu watercolors yield particularly bright color swatches. Upon removing their gold wrapping, several paint cakes were found to be loose inside their half pans. A few drops of gum arabic solution were used to secure them in place. Some of the watercolor cakes had cracked or shrunk considerably, so a few drops of glycerine were added after consulting the plasticizer function in watercolor formulation at the Handprint website. I would not recommend using the metal box holding clips on your fine brushes, for they are likely to scratch the lacquered finish of the wooden handles.
Color chart for Maimeri Blu 24 half pan set of Artists' watercolors. Looks like I got a mislabeled or defective half pan of Cobalt Violet judging from the pale pink of its color swatch which is supposed to be a much darker deep violet hue.
Brainstorming a potential kids' activity to follow a short tour on a Warhol exhibit and illustrate the principles of color theory in selecting effective color combinations. Outlines were drawn with a blue wax crayon and colored with watercolor washes using a flat waterbrush.