Review: Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Sketchers’ Pocket Box

I really liked the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Studio Set that I reviewed earlier, so I picked up the Sketchers’ Pocket Box to travel with.

Winsor-Newton-Cotman-Watercolors-Sketchers-Pocket-Box

This watercolor set contains a pocket brush and 12 Cotman half pans:

Lemon Yellow Hue
Cadmium Yellow Hue
Cadmium Red Pale Hue
Alizarin Crimson Hue
Ultramarine
Intense Blue (Phthalo Blue)
Viridian Hue
Sap Green
Yellow Ochre
Burnt Sienna
Burnt Umber
Chinese White

Winsor-Newton-Cotman-Sketchers-Pocket-Box-Swatches

PRODUCT:

The paints are great for student-grade. They perform well and are very easy to work with. You can read more about it in my previous review.

The color selection is nice and includes most of the basic colors—one warm and one cool version of yellow, red, blue, and green plus some neutrals.

My only complaint? I don’t find Chinese White all that useful, and I don’t understand why most brands include this in their watercolor sets. I’d much rather have Payne’s Gray or another convenience color like purple.

VALUE:

This set usually sells for under $20. At this price point, each half pan costs no more than $1.67 (not counting the brush). I bought mine from Amazon for $12.99 ($1.08 per pan—what a deal!), so keep an eye out.

PACKAGING:

The box is small and portable. It’s lightweight, but it doesn’t feel cheap or fragile. I intend to reuse the case when the original paints are gone.

The brush appears well made, but I probably won’t use it because the handle is a bit too small for my large hands.

The pans were individually wrapped with a thin sheet of plastic and a paper label containing the pigment information. Each pan is labeled, which is great.

The paints do easily fall out of their pans when new, so I just added a drop of glycerine underneath (water will work too), and I haven’t had an issue since.

The pans don’t always stay in the case, so I used removable glue dots to temporarily hold the pans in place. (Double-sided tape would work as well.)

OVERALL:

Can’t really beat it for the price. It’s a great little set for a beginner or anyone into plein air painting or urban sketching.

Jen de Leon