The Edit — Craft
Watercolor Sets for Beginners: Pans, Tubes and Paper
4 paint sets and 2 paper pads for a first year of watercolor: Cotman in pans and in tubes, Kuretake's Gansai Tambi from Japan, a 50-colour ARTISTRO kit, and the 140 lb paper that decides how it all looks.
This guide is research-led: we have not handled these units ourselves. If you buy through our links we may earn a commission — it never changes a pick.Research-led, nothing handled. We may earn from links; it never changes a pick. How we choose
The 4 paint sets and 2 paper pads here are grouped by format, pans, tubes and paper, and each is read against what its listing and maker state, as How we choose describes. Nothing here was handled or tested.
Best for A first set
Watch for Small pans for big washes
Best for Big washes
Watch for Needs a palette
Best for Bright, bold colour
Watch for Less suited to glazing
Best for A gift to try it
Watch for Pigments not named
Best for Daily practice
Watch for Not for the final piece
Best for The piece you keep
Watch for Price per sheet
Cotman pans are the set to start with
Pans are dried paint in small blocks, wetted with the brush. The Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketchers’ Pocket Set puts half pans in a box that fits a coat pocket. Its listing calls the paint lightfast and permanent, made with fine art pigments, and pitched at beginners. That matters for a first year, because a painting given away as a present should not fade on the recipient’s wall.
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Sketchers' Pocket Set
Cotman watercolor in half pans in a pocket box, sold as lightfast and permanent and made for beginners.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Format | Pans, pocket box |
|---|---|
| Grade | Cotman, Winsor & Newton's introductory range |
Cotman in pans, in a pocket box, for a first year of painting.
Buy it if
- A beginner who wants to paint anywhere
Don't buy it if
- Large washes, which drain a small pan
Cotman tubes suit big skies and washes
Tubes hold soft paint you squeeze onto a palette, so a large wash comes ready at full strength. The Cotman 20-colour tube set holds 5 ml of each, the same Cotman range as the pocket set. It needs a palette with wells, and a beginner who paints small may never squeeze much out.
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Set, 20 Colors, 5ml Tubes
20 Cotman colours in 5 ml tubes, sold as lightfast and permanent.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Format | 20 tubes, 5 ml each |
|---|---|
| Grade | Cotman, introductory |
20 Cotman tubes, for washes that need a lot of paint.
Buy it if
- A painter mixing big skies and washes
Don't buy it if
- A beginner with no palette to squeeze into
Kuretake’s Gansai Tambi gives bright, opaque colour
Japanese gansai paint sits between watercolour and gouache. The Kuretake Gansai Tambi 24-colour set is made in Japan and sold as non-toxic, in pans. It suits illustration, lettering and card making, where a colour should read strongly from across the room. It is less suited to a painter who wants thin glazes of one colour over another.
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Set, 24 Colors II
24 Japanese watercolours in pans, made in Japan and sold as non-toxic.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Format | 24 pans |
|---|---|
| Made in | Japan |
24 Japanese colours in pans, for bright illustration.
Buy it if
- Illustration, lettering and card making
Don't buy it if
- A painter after soft, transparent glazes
The ARTISTRO 50-colour kit is the gift for someone trying it
A box of 50 colours looks generous under a tree. The ARTISTRO 50-colour set comes with a palette and water brush pens, so it works on a train with no jar of water. Its listing does not name the pigments or call the paint lightfast, as Cotman’s does. For a curious friend, that is fine; for someone who means to sell their paintings, start with Cotman.
ARTISTRO 50-Colour Watercolor Set with Palette and Brush Pens
50 colours in a portable palette with water brush pens, sold for adults and kids.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Colours | 50 |
|---|---|
| Includes | Palette, brush pens |
50 colours and brush pens, as a gift to try watercolor.
Buy it if
- A gift for someone who wants to try it
Don't buy it if
- A painter who wants to know what pigment is in each pan
140 lb paper matters more than the paint
Paper under 140 lb, or 300 gsm, buckles when it gets wet, and a wash pools in the dips. Both pads here are 140 lb cold press. The Soucolor 40-sheet pad is sold as acid-free and comes in enough sheets to practise daily. The Arches 9 x 12 pad is the one to save for a painting you mean to frame. The paper weight guide explains what gsm and cold press mean.
Soucolor Watercolor Paper Pad, 9 x 12 in, 140 lb, 40 Sheets
40 sheets of 140 lb (300 gsm) cold press paper, sold as acid-free.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Weight | 140 lb / 300 gsm |
|---|---|
| Sheets | 40, cold press |
40 sheets of 140 lb paper, for practice.
Buy it if
- Painting every day without counting sheets
Don't buy it if
- The painting you want to frame
Arches Watercolor Paper Pad, 140 lb Cold Press, 9 x 12 in
Arches 140 lb cold press paper in a 9 x 12 inch pad.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Weight | 140 lb |
|---|---|
| Surface | Cold press |
Arches 140 lb cold press, for the painting you keep.
Buy it if
- A painting meant for a frame or a gift
Don't buy it if
- Daily practice, at its price per sheet
| Set | Format | Colours | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotman Pocket Set | Half pans | Small set | A first year |
| Cotman tubes | 5 ml tubes | 20 | Big washes |
| Kuretake Gansai Tambi | Pans | 24 | Bright illustration |
| ARTISTRO | Pans, brush pens | 50 | A gift |
Check the label for lightfastness before you buy
The word that separates a set that lasts from one that fades is lightfast. Cotman’s listings use it; many big-box sets don’t say. If a colour is a “hue”, it is a stand-in mix for a costlier pigment, and the lightfastness guide explains how to read the codes. For more gifts for makers, see the beginner craft kits.
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Keep reading
Explainer
Watercolor Paper GSM: Is 300 gsm Good Enough?300 gsm is the line.
Explainer
Lightfastness: Whether a Painting SurvivesRead the pigment code, not the colour name.
Explainer
Yarn Weight and Needle Size, Without GuessworkUse the ball band to get into the right needle range, then let the gauge swatch overrule it.
Best first set
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Sketchers' Pocket Set