Review: Sennelier Aqua-Mini Watercolor Set of 8 Half Pans

I’ve been wanting to try Sennelier L’Aquarelle French Artists’ Watercolors, so I picked up the Aqua-Mini Set of 8 Half Pans.

Sennelier-Aqua-Mini

This set contains the following colors:

(574) Primary Yellow (PY 74)
(675) French Vermillion (PR 242)
(344) Cinerous Blue (PB 15:3, PW 4)
(314) French Ultramarine Blue (PB 29, PV 15)
(805) Phthalo Light Green (PG 7, PY 153)
(819) Sap Green (PB 29, PY 153)
(202) Burnt Umber (PBr 7)
(703) Payne’s Gray (PV 19, PB 15:1, PBk 7)

Sennelier-Aqua-Mini-Set-Swatches

PRODUCT:

These honey-based watercolors reactivate so easily and remain somewhat moist. They are so pigmented, smooth, creamy, and they are wonderful for building up layers of translucent glazes with a beautiful glow.

Only 3 out of 8 paints are single pigments. The rest of the colors are mixes, which I personally don’t mind, as they are rich, vibrant colors, and they are all reliable pigments with a lightfast rating of I or II.

I just wish they had included a cool yellow and a cool red rather than 2 greens (which can be easily mixed).

VALUE:

On average, this set sells for around $20 (more or less). At this price point, each half pan costs around $2.50. I bought mine from Amazon for $16.87, so do keep an eye out.

PACKAGING:

The set comes in a white metal box with a transparent window so that you can see your colors easily, and it includes a tiny watercolor brush. The brush is too small to comfortably paint with, but it appears well made.

The box is about the size of an Altoids tin, so it could easily fit in your pocket, which makes it perfect for traveling. However, the flimsy plastic holder inside takes up most of the space, so I transferred the paints into half pans and removed the cheap plastic liner. Now, I can add more paints!

Without the cheap plastic insert, the box can hold a total of 12 half pans, so I plan to add Lemon Yellow, Rose Madder Lake, Yellow Ochre, and Burnt Sienna to make it a well-rounded palette.

OVERALL:

I think this set is a great introduction to Sennelier. The paints are just amazing to work with. Other than my Cinerous Blue looking noticeably smaller, I have no real complaints about the paints. I can wholeheartedly recommend this set for travel, plein air painting, and urban sketching.

Jen de Leon