FIND my favorite art supplies for bullet journaling, functional planning, and watercolor at my Amazon Shop
http://www.amazon.com/shop/keylimeink...

SHOW NOTES
I’m always looking for high quality budget watercolors, and the Art Whale 48 Half Pan set comes out as one of the best on Amazon according to my tests.

FAVORITE WATERCOLORS

Updated August 2023: If I were starting over today, I would begin with a 24 or 48 half pan set of Art Whale and then replace each color I use most with Schmincke Horadam over time.

Art Whale Watercolors
24 half pans: https://amzn.to/3rZRhVd
48 half pans: https://amzn.to/3KwQf9I
(Student Grade // company is based in Miami, Florida; paints are made in China; pigment information is provided; pans are standard sized and can be moved; tins are fantastic and will serve you well for a long time; these are highly pigmented, extremely easy to rewet, and over 70% of the colors should be lightfast based on pigment numbers; the only caveat is that burnt sienna and umber are mislabled, so you'll want to switch the names when you make a swatch chart)

Schmincke Horadam Watercolors
half pans at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370b
tubes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370e
tubes, full pans, and half pans at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XKR0U6
(Artist quality // topofthe line watercolors made by a highly reputable, longstanding, familyowned company in Germany; my favorite brand overall; I recommend purchasing individual colors since the readymade sets don't usually have an ideal selection)

OTHER WATERCOLORS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Canson XL Watercolor Paper
at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NtgePq
at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3uzf8
(FSC Certified; used for all my watercolor swatching)

Canva
free Canva Pro 30 day trial: https://www.canva.com/pro
(I used this program to make my swatch cards)

Clarice Gomes Designs (Watercolor Tutorials)
Instagram:   / helloclariceg  

Da Vinci
Set of 12 Full Pans: https://davincipaints.com/davincisw...
Open Stock Tubes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/3ufrq
Open Stock Tubes at Da Vinci: https://davincipaints.com/shopdavin...
(Artist quality // made in California)

Daniel Smith
Open Stock at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3n47h
Open Stock at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XFlIhn
(Artist quality // made in Seattle)

F Club Empty Watercolor Pans
full: https://amzn.to/3H4DcLk
half: https://amzn.to/3Wgj3Gt

Isaro
at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3L6yHBg
(Artist quality // made in Belgium)

Leuchtturm1917 Journal
80gsm: https://amzn.to/3Ad4egH
(FSC Certified paper)

Niji Watercolors By Yasutomo
12 half pans or 24 half pans at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370r
(Student grade // Based in California, and the paints themselves are made in China)

Paul Rubens Artist
48 half pans: https://amzn.to/3QvIxxb
(Artist quality // made in China)

Princeton Aqua Elite Long Round #8 Brush
https://amzn.to/3FB48RK

Roman Szmal
at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/4cI83u0
(Artist quality // made in Poland)

Sennelier
Aqua Mini Set of 8 Half Pans: https://amzn.to/3TpPTVz
Open Stock at Blick: http://shrsl.com/3zdhq
Open Stock at Jackson’s: https://tidd.ly/4bo02JB
(Artist quality // made in France)

Tombow Mono Waterproof Drawing Pens
set of 3 sizes at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4614RpR
set of 3 sizes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/421dh
individual sizes and sets at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XG9F39


Van Gogh
12+3 Half Pans at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fsHRvt
(Student grade // made in The Netherlands)

White Nights
35 full pans (newest set, mostly lightfast and transparent): https://amzn.to/3QC9EXu
36 full pans (original set, more opaque): https://amzn.to/3FBtmPN
(Artist quality // made in Russia)

NO LONGER AVAILABLE / NOT RECOMMENDED
ArtiBox, Artistik, Artsy, Cotman, GenCrafts, Jane Davenport, Loew Cornell, Mei Liang, Prang, Sakura Koi, Superior/Tinge

DISCLOSURES
KeyLimeInk is an affiliate of Amazon, Blick, Da Vinci, Etsy, and Jackson's. Art Whale, Da Vinci, GenCrafts, Isaro, and Mei Liang sent samples for review.