MASSIVES Advantages of Buying Watercolor SETS - EVEN if You Have ALL the Colors Already!

I've been a fan of Prima Confections watercolor sets for years and can't wait to demo the latest palette I picked up. Instead of a straight-up product review today, I'd LOVE to share with you WHY I continue to collect watercolor sets (even though I have a bazillion colors already!), and how a prepackaged watercolor set can benefit YOU in your own art!

Today's video is perfect for watercolor beginners who might not know which watercolor sets to buy, people looking for a little stress relief/ enjoyable art therapy activities, and advanced watercolorists looking for ways to challenge their creativity by limiting themselves to ONE palette of color.

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If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm a HUGE FAN of Daniel Smith watercolors and totally love creating my own watercolor palettes filled with shades I love.

I've also enjoyed watercolor sets by Prima for years - and recommend their Complexions Set to ALL my students because it's amazing to have a little palette filled with SO many perfect pre-mixed skin tones right at your fingertips. 

These cute little sets by Prima like the "Terrain" one I'm demo-ing today, are a great "value set" because you get 12 colors for $20-25.

In case you're not familiar with Prima Confections Watercolor sets, these are NOT fine art quality paints, they're basically mid-range products and considered a "craft-grade" product. This doesn't mean they're bad in any way or that you have to spend more money on your supplies- they just may not all be light-fast, so if you're creating a gift or a commission for someone, your work could fade over time. Just something to be aware of :) 

If you're just creating for fun, Prima sets are awesome because they're super affordable and the color combos they've developed are beautiful and richly pigmented. 

How to Unwrap Watercolor Half Pans

If you're completely new to watercolor and bring a set home like the one I'm working with today, it may feel overwhelming to just get started.

​Make sure youclick over to watch today's video because the demo shows you exactly how to unwrap each tiny half-pan of watercolor and assemble your palette before you start painting.

This can feel really tedious, but just pop on some music or a podcast and get going. Before you know it, you'll be ready to swatch. 

Why You NEED to Swatch Watercolors

Watercolor swatching is something I used to ignore for YEARS! I just couldn't be bothered. I've got 3 kids and was always way too busy. Plus, when they were little, I had zero time to create, and didn't want to suck up all my artsy time with swatching before I even got to the good part of making something!! 

Here's what I learned the hard way, and want to help you avoid...

I spent YEARS grabbing the wrong colors and diving right into my creation process. Years, throwing what I *thought* I wanted on my paper based on the color cap or what it looked like in the pan, etc.

​There are SO many things wrong with those choices! For starters, check out the first color in the second row of the set I'm demo-ing today. It looks like a super dark blue, almost black right? 

It's NOT!! When I took the time to swatch this set today, I was a little shocked at how light this blue came out on my paper. Check it out...

If the old me had grabbed this and started painting, expecting a dark navy to appear on my paper, I would've been SO MAD because it's totally not, right?! Swatching your set ahead of time REALLY helps avoid future frustrations like this and eliminates the guessing game of not knowing what's REALLY in your palette.

One of the things I really love about the Prima sets is they come with a tiny blank swatch card (shown above & below), that I can fill out myself and pop right back into my case.

I also love that the swatch card provided by Prima has been printed on watercolor paper (SUPER important if you're a newbie - never swatch watercolors or water-soluble products on just any old paper - you need a thicker, sturdier paper that can absorb the water - so always use watercolor paper or watercolor journals). 

As you'll see in today's video, I not only swatch directly onto the swatch card that came with my Prima set, I ALSO swatch into a cute, rectangular watercolor journal at the same time. This might feel like overkill, but I've found that it can be easy to lose these little swatch cards for my watercolor sets, and I kinda love having a little reference book of colors as a backup. 

Color Swatching Reference Books

To make swatching more fun, I've created a number of resources to help you. I've got a FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet and TWO books about swatching, my latest one, Swatch! Copy! Color! ...

and my Fun Fab Swatch Pad, created with my beloved Facebook Group a couple of years ago!! ​

You can swatch directly into the books for markers, colored pencils, and other dry products.

​Remember, for watercolor swatching and swatching water-soluble art supplies, you always need to be working on watercolor paper or watercolor journals. 

If you love the swatching backgrounds or faces in these books, feel free to freehand them into your own watercolor journals to make swatching even more fun for you at home!! 

Why I LOVE Collecting Watercolor Sets
(Even Though I Already Have a Bazillion Colors!)

This is huge. And it totally goes along with why I always tell my mixed media art students to buy scrapbook paper pads or collections. It's so simple- whatever has been packaged into these sets - whether it's watercolors or scrapbook paper, already GOES TOGETHER!!

This may seem super simple, but this means you can do your art projects with CONFIDENCE AND EASE because you already know the colors and patterns will work together in your project. You can spend more time CREATING, and less time wondering what colors of paint to grab, etc! I don't know about you, but I'd much rather spend more time creating and less time planning :) 

Another reason I love collecting watercolor sets is because it's fun when a set comes along filled with my FAVORITE COLORS!!

This might feel super simple too, but I've learned over the years, I gravitate to blues and greens. Why fight that?! Lean into it and own that part of you!! If you find a watercolor set pre-filled with your favorite colors - grab it!!  The colors will make you happy and you'll enjoy your art time with them even more. 

AND if you love your art, you're gonna wanna to MORE of it. And if you do more of it-  you're gonna get really good at it!! 

Sneak peak at NEXT WEEK's video in some of my fave colors!!! 

Which Mixed Media Art Supplies
Go Well With Watercolors?

When it comes to combining other art supplies with watercolors to create a mixed media piece, there are a TON of things you can do! You do need to be careful, because not everything will "play nicely" with watercolor.

Before you add any art supplies on TOP of your dry watercolor layers, ask yourself :

​DO I WANT THIS WATERCOLOR TO MOVE? (Because it will!).

​If you're a watercolor beginner or mixed media beginner, it's important to understand that dry watercolor WILL re-activate if you add more water to it, or add another water-soluble art supply on top of it like I do in today's video with my watercolor markers.

If you really love the way your dry watercolor layer looks, and don't want it to re-activate, DON'T add any doodles or additional shading with a water-soluble product. Reach or something permanent like Molotow fineliners, colored pencils, etc. 

If you DO want your dry watercolor layer to move or blend - try adding some shading with water-soluble supplies like watercolor markers, watercolor pencils or NeoColor IIs! 

Not sure if your art supplies are water-soluble? TEST THEM OUT! Simply swatch them off to the side and add a little water. Do your lines melt into puddles, or stay put? This will help you feel more prepared before using the supplies on top of your artwork. 

If you feel like you'd like some tried and true art supply combos to play around with at home, check out my FREE Mixed Media Hot Dog Packet! This is SUPER helpful and will give you tons of ideas, not only from me, but from a bunch of my artsy friends!! 

Make sure you click over to WATCH today's video, because I have packed this one FULL of even MORE tips and tricks I didn't even get to here - like what makes a good composition, and how advanced watercolorists can enjoy pre-filled watercolor sets as well to challenge themselves!

​Plus, I don't know about you, but it's so fun to just watch the timelapse of a project coming together isn't it?? Join me over on YouTube for today's super fun video!! 

Wanna Learn How to Draw the Girl in Today's Demo?

Awesome!! She's a lesson in my Celtic Collective art club membership over at Awesome Art School. I run this club with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon. This club is all about fantasy art and features online art lessons on fairies, unicorns, mermaids, mythical creatures, castles and so much more!! We'd love to have you join us! Learn more here. 

What to Watch Next

If you're a watercolor newbie and need a fun and easy watercolor painting idea, look no further than this video: 

If you'd like to learn how to create your own watercolor palette instead of using a pre-packaged watercolor palette created by someone else, check out these videos: 

As always, thanks for hanging out with me!! I hope you learned a TON and had FUN!! 

Need More Resources? 

​❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
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