Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Pan Set

I needed a watercolor pan set for plein-air painting and sketchbook journaling.  Most of the artist sets were priced higher than I wanted to pay considering I didn't want a double investment in both tube and pan colors.  The opposite end of the spectrum just didn't pass muster so I was happy when I came across Winsor & Newton Cotman colors.  WB artist line is highly popular with watercolor professionals and the student line is reputed to be quite good.  The variety of palettes, from compact cases to all in one field boxes, also attracted me - in the instance, it was their sketcher pocket box set.

Winsor & Newton Sketcher Pocket Box Set

This particular set consist of 12 half pans with most of the essential hues and a collapsable brush.  At around 2"x4", it fits nicely in a pocket or purse.  The case is made of sturdy plastic and although perhaps not as attractive as metal tins, certainly is more robust for the field.  However, unlike traditional sets that clip into rails, the pans sit in the molded wells of the case which causes them to rattle and sometime fall askew when transported.

While it can be observed that some of the colors were not as intense when compared to the best artist colors, it was nevertheless highly satisfactory and better, with many single pigment colors, than most any other student set.  The discrepancy was mostly found in the 'hues' that were used to replace some of the more costly colors although they do also make real cadmiums and cobolt colors (none were in this set).  

Overall - the price, quality and size were perfect for my intended purpose.  Have a handy waterbrush loaded and this set is perfect on the go.  My only complaint was the lack of black in this pallet on an outing to the Arboretum last weekend, but in the future, I intend to refill the empty pans with my choice of artist tube colors.

I tested the set out on an illustration of my brother.

Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"