Jen de Leon

The Sketcher Set by Daniel Smith includes a travel case with 6 colors selected by urban-sketcher artist Liz Steel plus nine empty half pans.

Hansa Yellow Medium (PY 97) is a semi-transparent, low-staining, bright, neutral yellow color (neither warm nor cool) with a high tinting strength.

Quinacridone Rose (PV 19) is an extremely transparent, vivid red-violet hue that is beautiful on its own or mixed with blues to create beautiful purples.

Ultramarine Blue (PB 29) is a very transparent, warm blue shade with granulating and medium staining properties.

Cerulean Blue Chromium (PB 36) is a lovely semi-transparent, muted blue color that is low-staining and granulating. It is often used to render skies.

Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr 7) is a transparent, warm mid-valued yellow-brown shade with granulating and low staining properties.

Transparent Red Oxide (PR 101) is a stunning, granulating, transparent burnt orange.

PRODUCT:

This set contains a bright primary triad (Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Rose, and Ultramarine Blue) that will allow you to mix bright, clean colors.

It also includes an earth primary triad (Cerulean Blue Chromium, Monte Amiata Natural Sienna, and Transparent Red Oxide) that will let you create browns and muted hues.

All of the paints selected for this set have a lightfast rating of I (Excellent) and re-wet easily with a damp brush.

VALUE:

At $35.95, each half pan is costing $5.99, which is not bad in comparison to other brands. (I bought this at $26.69 during a sale.)

To put this in perspective, Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor Half Pans cost $6.47-8.70 each. Sennelier French Artists’ Watercolor Half Pans cost $5.61-8.12 each. Holbein Artists’ Watercolor Half Pans cost $9.07-13.81 each.

PACKAGING:

The travel case is lightweight and compact, but it’s not well designed. You can read more about it in my previous review.

OVERALL:

This is a versatile set that makes color mixing quick and easy. It’s perfect for beginners and urban sketchers.

However, if you want to use this on the go, I would suggest transferring the pans into a metal box (or an Altoids tin). That’s what I did. 😉

Please let me know if you have any questions.