Pocket Size

Judith, , ,

I’m always quick to point out that I’m not a watercolor artist. I do, however, enjoy playing with the medium. Especially now. As I’m finding more artistic freedom in what I do, I’m coming around to love watercolors — both my Japanese “gansai” and the more traditional transparent “western” watercolors.

Recently I purchased a new “pocket kit” — The Cotman set by Winsor & Newton. It’s very small, so small it would fit into the pocket of my jacket! Hmmm… so that’s why they call it a “pocket” set. Indeed! It will be quite easy to carry around wherever I go. It comes with its own brush, too.

There are several different sizes of the “Cotman” sets available. This portable “pocket” set contains 12 half-pans:

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

You’ll note that there’s a warm and a cool variety of each primary, plus all the “earthy” tones any artist might need, plus two greens thrown into the mix. There’s no black, but there’s no reason to include it since it can be easily mixed from the primaries.

Here’s a look at the set:

An advantage of this kit is that I can easily replace the colors by purchasing new half-pans. They’re available in a limited color range from Amazon, or you can purchase them from your favorite art supply store. You can, of course, even “upgrade” from the Cotman watercolor brand to Winsor & Newton’s “Professional” watercolors.

The Cotman colors are designed to be slightly less expensive. It is a “student grade” paint which replaces expensive pigments with less costly alternatives. For me, student grade is fine!

I’m already loving my little set. My only regret is that I didn’t purchase it through Amazon or another online retailer. I bought mine at an art store in the Kansas City area, and I paid much more for it than I would have if I’d ordered it from Amazon. Oh, well. Always look online first. Lesson learned.

Now, it’s time to play, but before I close here, I do want to point out again that this is a very small set. Remember it’s called a “pocket” set — and that’s exactly what it is. I’m mentioning this because when I read reviews at Amazon, many buyers were upset when they received their order and saw how small the kit is.

Comments from these unhappy customers point out “This is VERY SMALL… the size of my hand”,  “I was not expecting this tiny, tiny paint set”, “Smallest watercolor paint set I’ve seen”, and “So so tiny”. Yes, it is, and that’s exactly why I wanted it. The easier it is for me to carry my watercolors around, the more places I can take them.

So I’m happy with my new watercolor set, not quite so happy about the price I paid for it, but I’m all set now to head to my easel and have a lot of fun playing.

12 Comments

  2. You’re right about mixing your own blacks. When mixed from the primaries, I think the result is called “bistre.” Ultramarine mixed with either burnt sienna or burnt umber makes a dark, rich black. I try never to buy watercolors that contain black pigment. In fact, I was taught to look carefully at paint pigment info and usually avoid colors made from more than one pigment. Having fewer colors, but of higher quality, means you have the pleasure of mixing the (non-muddy) hues you need. There is so much to learn about watercolor, but luckily you can do wonderful things while learning…. I often enjoy the journey more than the destination. Cheers!

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  3. I have an ancient Cotman pocket watercolor kit, maybe 25 years old. It’s about the size of a fat pack of cigarettes, if there were such a thing. After I used up the supplied half pan paints I customized it by filling the pans with colors from my tube paints. They dry and harden, and work just fine. Cheaper too. 😊

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    1. I think the set is so cute! I have a small “Koi” set, but I prefer the Cotman, I think. I will probably change the colors a bit. Instead of refilling pans from the tubes paints I have, I’ll probably stick with the “Cotman” student grade in the kit. That way I’ll know exactly what paint I’m using.

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  4. i have several of these and as long as i am just using them for sketching on the go they are just fine. I have the Koi set, the one you have and another off brand. But it is just so hard for me t be happy with the results now that i have several Daniel Smith sets. Those are the best , still small enough to carry around but the downside is cost. At any rate i am so glad i got into watercolors after years and years of only using acrylics. water colors are way more portable and easy clean up..which is why i doubt i will ever get into oils..lol

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    1. I hear you on the clean-up! Even with water-mixable oils, there is still a lot of clean-up involved, plus our art club meetings are generally held in facilities that don’t allow any “toxic” materials, and that includes all oil paints. Some meeting rooms do allow the water-soluble, but even so, it’s so much easier to carry a watercolor palette and a few water-brushes than to deal with oil paints. That’s one of the main reasons why I started playing so much with my watercolors. I like playing with the colors. I like watching how the paint and water react. I’m not a real watercolor artist, but I’m getting very good at “just messing around.” 🙂

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